Final Box Score

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PROVO, Utah – Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher had a career-high 27 points to lead the Cougars to a 78-62 victory over UVU in BYU's season opener Friday at the Marriott Center.

“I thought the team played really well tonight,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “I liked Makenzi shooting the ball like she can and I thought that Kylie played a really good defensive game tonight.”

Pulsipher shot 6 of 10 from 3-point range and 8 of 14 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Lexi Eaton Rydalch also had a strong offensive performance with 19 points and four assists while shooting 7 of 8 from the free throw line. As a team the Cougars (1-0) had 23 assists on 26 made baskets.

At the start of the game the Wolverines (0-1) jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks in part to back-to-back turnovers on the first two opening Cougar offensive possessions.

Pulsipher opened the scoring for BYU with a 3-pointer with 7:30 left in the first quarter, her first of six 3-pointers in the game.

Less than a minute later Rydalch hit two free throws to give the Cougars a 5-4 lead and Micalee Orton hit a baseline jumper on the next possesion to extend the lead to three, 7-4.

After relatively slow starts, both offenses came alive after a timeout when Rydalch hit a 3-pointer with 4:05 left in the first quarter. UVU’s Quynee Huggins answered with a 3-pointer to tie the score at 10-10 before Pulsipher hit another 3-pointer to make the score 13-10 in favor of BYU.

UVU finished the first quarter with a 6-5 run to take a 16-15 lead. BYU shot 3 of 6 from 3-point range despite five turnovers in the opening 10 minutes. Both teams shot 40 percent from the field.

In the second quarter, Rydalch scored eight points to help the Cougar offense retake the lead. The Cougars went on a 13-2 run in the opening 5:15. The run began when Kylie Maeda hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. On the next possession, Cassie Broadhead hit a pair of free throws for her first two points of the game. Rydalch scored on the next three straight possessions to give the Cougars a 28-18 lead.

On the defensive end, Pulsipher drew a charge with 5:20 remaining as part of a Cougar defensive effort that forced seven Wolverine turnovers in the second quarter alone. Pulsipher scored six points in the last five minutes to give BYU a 36-25 halftime lead.  

BYU finished the half shooting a perfect 14 for 14 from the free throw line. Rydalch led BYU with 13 points while Pulsipher had 12. Maeda led the team with three assists. Amanda Wayment helped the Cougars down low with five rebounds in the first half and finished with a career-high seven boards.

Mariah Seals led UVU in the first half scoring with nine points and three assists.

In the second half, Pulsipher picked up right where she left off hitting another 3-pointer on the first BYU possession of the second half. Micaelee Orton scored back-to-back layups on the following two possessions and Pulsipher nailed another 3-pointer to cap off a 10-2 run over a three minute stretch that extended the lead to 17, 46-29.

With 2:26 left in the third quarter Pulsipher sank her fourth 3-pointer of the quarter with a shot from the top of the arc, breaking her previous career record of 25 points. The basket made the score 59-36 in favor of BYU.

Broadhead added a free throw before taking a charge on the next UVU possesion, helping the Cougars hold the Wolverines to only 17 points in the third quarter.

The Cougars finished the quarter with a 20-point lead 62-42 outscoring UVU 26-15. BYU shot 80 percent from three point range in the third quarter while still staying a near perfect 16-18 from the free throw line.  

In the fourth quarter, Jasmine Moody opened the scoring when she caught a pass from Broadhead in the low post and banked it off the glass for her first bucket of the afternoon. BYU went on an  8-6 run with baskets from Kalani Purcell, Moody and Kristine Fuller Nielson before Rydalch added her second 3-pointer of the game from the right of the circle with 5:49 left in the game to make it 73-51 for the Cougars.

With 3:53 remaining in the game, Pulsipher made her final point when she stole the ball in the backcourt and was fouled on the shot attempt. Pulsipher knocked down the first free throw to finish the afternoon with 27 points.

For the game, BYU shot 85 percent from the free throw line and went 9 of 20 from 3-point range, making five 3-pointer off eight attempts in the second half.

The Cougars play their next game on Thursday, Nov. 19 against No. 18 Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast live on BYU Radio, on Sirius XM 143 and on the internet at byuradio.org. Live stats will be available on the BYU women's basketball schedule page.

PROVO, Utah— The 2015-16 basketball season gets underway this week and the Cougar women are eager to take the court. BYU opens the year hosting in-state rival Utah Valley, Friday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. The game between the Cougars and Wolverines airs live on BYUtv and will be simulcast on the internet on BYU Radio and on Sirius XM 143.

ABOUT BYU
Three returning starters and nine letterwinners anchor this year’s team that has high hopes of continuing the tradition of having winning seasons, clinching conference championships and advancing in the NCAA tournament. BYU is coming off a year that saw the team pick up its sixth straight 20-plus win season with a 23-10 record and the ninth under head coach Jeff Judkins. The Cougars also clinched the 2015 West Coast Conference championship and competed in the first round of the NCAA postseason tournament.

Senior All-American Lexi Eaton Rydalch is back for her final year in a BYU uniform as the team’s leading scorer (20.5) and leading rebounder (6.5). Point guard Kylie Maeda also returns as the second senior on the squad. Maeda is the team’s assist leader (4.2) while also contributing 6.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.  Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher is the third returning starter on the 2015-16 squad. Pulsipher has the team’s best 3-point field goal percentage, shooting .411 and adds 9.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

The experienced play from five bench players will be vital to the team’s lofty goals for the season.  Juniors Kristine Fuller Nielson and Micaelee Orton have the most experience, being on teams that played in back-to-back NCAA tournaments and won a conference championship title. Sophomores Cassie Broadhead and Alohi Robins-Hardy averaged over eight minutes of playing time last season. Amanda Wayment, the third sophomore, played in 10 games averaging three minutes of playing time.  Brooke Romney also returns for her second season with the Cougar program. She played on the 2012-13 team and then left on an LDS mission.

Six newcomers will don the blue and white this season including JC transfer Kalani Purcell, from Hamilton, New Zealand. In her two years at Hutchinson Community College (Kansas), she averaged a double-double with 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game and guided the team to a 72-2 record including back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA national championship game. She also brings a lot of international playing experience having been a member of the New Zealand National Team in 2013 and 2015.

Freshmen Shelbee Molen, Jasmine Moody, MaCayla Hanks and Eternity Galeai begin their college careers this season. Haley Bodnar, another freshmen, will sit out this season per NCAA rules since transferring from Purdue. These players come from very successful high school programs, are athletic, have a good understanding of the game of basketball and will be ready to contribute.

The Cougars finished the 2014-15 season shooting 43 percent from the field, 35 percent from behind the arc and 72 percent at the free throw line. They were averaging 68.1 points per game.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 20.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 6.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #03 K. Maeda, 4.2 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison Pulsipher, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #21, L. Eaton Rydalch, .33 bpg

ABOUT UTAH VALLEY
Utah Valley University returns nine letterwinners including all five starters from last season’s team that went 11-19 on the year and finished in sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference.

UVU was picked to finish in sixth place in this year’s WAC race. Junior Rhaiah Spooner-Knight was selected to the All-WAC first team.

The Wolverine played an exhibition game last week where they fell 67-53 to Colorado State University-Pueblo.

At the end of last season, UVU was shooting 42 percent from the field, 34 percent from the 3-point line and 68 percent from the charity stripe. The team was averaging 61.7 points per game.

• Head coach: Cathy Nixon (BYU, ‘89) 21st season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 R. Spooner-Knight, 13.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #13 K. Norris, 7.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #03 M. Seals, 2,7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #03 M.Seals, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #40 S. Loggins, 1.2 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 5-0.

Last Time: The two in-state foes played during the 2010-11 campaign. In that contest played on Dec. 9, the Cougars recorded the 74-47 victory in Orem.

What’s Next
After the home game with UVU, the Cougar team takes its first road trip of the year. BYU is at No. 18 Oklahoma on Thurs., Nov. 19 and at former Mountain West Conference foe Colorado State, Sat., Nov. 21. Both games can be heard live on BYU Radio and on Sirius XM 143.