BYU at Colorado State Box Score

FORT COLLINS, Colo.— BYU women’s basketball fell to Colorado State 56-54 Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena.

"Our second quarters hurt us in both games this week," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We fought back in the second half, but we also made mistakes. They did a good job of getting Cassie (Devashrayee) off balance on the last possession."

Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee scored a game-high 19 points in the loss, while Brenna Chase recorded 13 points. Maria Albiero also added nine points for the Cougars, and Shalae Salmon logged 13 rebounds.

After Colorado State (5-2) took the early 8-2 lead, Chase knocked down a deep 3-pointer to put BYU (3-4) within three, 8-5. Another Chase basket tied the game at 11-all with 3:06 left in the first quarter. 

At the 1:35 mark, Paisley Johnson gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, 14-11, as the freshman converted a 3-point play in the paint. BYU took the 14-11 lead into the second quarter and held the Rams scoreless through the last five minutes of the first quarter.

Amanda Wayment extended the Cougar lead to five, 18-13, as she finished on the right block. The Rams responded with a 9-1 run to retake the lead midway through the second quarter. CSU increased its lead to five, 24-19, on a layup by Annie Brady at the 2:06 mark. 

The Rams took the 29-19 lead into halftime, as BYU battled poor shooting through the second quarter. Chase and Devashrayee combined for 13 of the Cougar’s 19 first-half points.

Colorado State continued its run in the third quarter. The Rams logged a 15-point lead, 37-22, at the 5:24 mark as Veronika Mirkovic hit an open 3. 

Albiero scored seven-straight BYU points to put the Cougars back within seven, 41-34, with 36 seconds left in the quarter. A Devashrayee layup with 16 second left sent BYU into the fourth quarter down five, 41-36.

With 6:55 to go in the game, Grace Colaivalu scored to increase the Rams’ lead to eight, 48-40. A Devashrayee layup followed by a Chase floater brought BYU within three, 48-45, as teams headed into the media timeout.

Colorado State pulled ahead by seven, 54-47, forcing a Cougar timeout with 2:33 on the clock. Devashrayee and Albiero responded with back-to-back baskets to cut into the Rams’ advantage and make it a one possession game, 54-51, with 2:19 left.

With 38 seconds left, Devashrayee drove into the paint and scored to put BYU within two, 56-54. BYU held the Rams on the next possession, getting the ball back with 7.6 seconds left on the clock. The Cougars weren’t able to convert on their last possession.

BYU women’s basketball will return to the Marriott Center to take on in-state foe Utah State on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Tip off will be at 3 p.m. MST.

Postgame Notes at Colorado State 

Team
BYU was up by three, 14-11 after the first quarter, but went on a five-minute shooting slump and was down by 10, 29-19, at the break. At the end of three, BYU was down by just five points, 41-36 after back-to-back baskets by freshman Maria Albiero and Devashrayee. The Cougars were down by just two with under three seconds left in the game, 56-54 but there were unable to score on the last possession.

The Cougars had two more rebounds than the Rams in the first half 22 to 20. For the game, they got the advantage with 43 boards compared with 37 for CSU.

Through the first 20 minutes of action, the Cougars shot 21 percent from the field compared with 48 percent for the Rams. For the game, BYU shot 36.7 percent from the field while CSU shot 39.0 percent from the field.

CSU had 20 points in the paint compared to just six for BYU in the first half. For the game the two teams finished with 28 each.

The Cougars had the advantage in points off of turnovers, getting seven points from Ram miscues. CSU had none. BYU ended the game with 13 points from CSU miscues compared with just one point for Colorado State.

With two players scoring in double figures, BYU has had at least two players scoring in double digits in all games played. Devashrayee had 19 and Chase had 13.

Player
Brenna Chase led the way for the Cougars in the first half with seven points. She finished the game with her seventh-straight double digit outing in points with 13.

Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee had six points and one rebound in the first 20 minutes of action. She picked up her 42nd contest with double-digit points with a game-best 19. Devashrayee also grabbed six rebounds while going 5 of 8 from the charity stripe and 7 of 17 from the field. She played all 40 minutes.

Shalae Salmon had a first-half high eight rebounds. She finished the game with 13 for game highs in that category. The boards are season bests for Salmon.

Amanda Wayment pulled down six rebounds and had three points along with one assist in the first half. She scored five points in the game.

Malia Nawahine was one of two players to play all 40 minutes. She had three points, five rebounds and two steals in the game.

Freshman Maria Albiero came off the bench providing a spark for the Cougars late in the game. She tallied season bests in points and in rebounds with nine and four, respectively.

BYU at Northern Colorado Game Notes

PROVO, Utah — With a 3-2 record on the year, BYU women’s basketball takes its second road trip of the season traveling to Colorado for this week’s games.

The Cougars are in Greeley taking on Northern Colorado (4-2) Thurs., Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. MST. On Sat., Dec. 2, BYU is at Colorado State (3-2) in a 2 p.m. tilt. Both games can be heard live on BYU Radio Sirius XM 143 and online at byuradio.org/listen.

ABOUT BYU
BYU dropped a closely-contested 79-63 home game against Georgia on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars cut the Bulldogs’ lead to nine, 60-51, with under eight minutes left in the game, but that was as close as they would get.

In all games played to date, BYU has had at least two players score in double figures and in the first four contests, the Cougar team had put up at least 70 points. They have also outrebounded their opponents in all but the game at Eastern Washington.

BYU is shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 38.2 percent from 3-point range and 71.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Last season, the Cougars finished the year with a 10-3 mark while playing at home, including a perfect 9-0 mark in conference play. So far this year, BYU is 2-1 at home.

Head coach Jeff Judkins enters his 17th season at the helm of the women’s basketball program where he has amassed a 354-164 record.

This year’s team consists of two returning starters, six letterwinners and eight newcomers.

BYU Player Stat Leaders                                       
Scoring: #20 C. Devashrayee (20.8 ppg)
Rebounding: #03 S. Salmon (10.8 rpg)
Assists: #20 C. Devashrayee (4.4 apg)
Steals: #03 B. Chase (2.6 bpg)
Blocks: #03 S. Hamson (2.5 bpg)

ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO
The Northern Colorado Bears have a 4-2 record to date and a 2-0 mark when playing at home. NC is coming off two road losses at Quinnipiac and at Fordham.

Northern Colorado was picked to finish first in the Big Sky Conference race. The Bears are the third program from the Big Sky league that BYU has played in its preseason schedule. The Cougars defeated both Southern Utah and Eastern Washington earlier this month.

The Bears are averaging 63.0 points per game, shooting 39.7 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from behind the arc and 82.8 percent from the charity stripe.

Head coach Kamie Ethridge is in her fourth season at the helm of the Northern Colorado women’s basketball program. She has compiled a 61-37 record to date.

NC Player Stat Leaders
Scoring: #02 S. Scott (16.5 ppg)
Rebounding: #02 S. Scott (5.8 rpg)
Assists: #01 K. Leger-Walker (4.3 apg)
Steals: #10 S. Smith  (2.7 spg)
Blocks: #13 C. Smith (1.0 bpg)

Series History
This will be the first time these two programs have played each other in over 38 years, having played last  March 3, 1979. In that matchup, BYU won 98-49 in Provo. The Cougars lead the overall series 5-3. When playing in Greeley, BYU is 1-2 all-time.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
Entering this week’s games, Colorado State has a 3-2 record. They are at Denver on Thursday before hosting BYU on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams were picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference race after a fourth-straight league crown last year.

Colorado State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last year’s team that finished the season with a 25-9 record.

Head coach Ryun Williams is in his sixth season with CSU where he has compiled a 117-47 record.

The Rams are scoring 68.0 points and pull down 41.0 rebounds per contest. The team shoots 41.8 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from 3-point range and 70.4 percent from the free throw line.

CSU Player Stat Leaders
Scoring: #35 L. Devos (12.6 ppg)
Rebounding: #15 V. Mirkovic (6.8 rpg)
Assists: #35 L. Devos (2.6 apg)
Steals: #23 G. Colaivalu (1.2 spg)
Blocks: #35 L. Devos (0.8 bpg)

Series History
BYU leads the overall series vs. CSU 54-23. When playing in Ft. Collins, the Cougars are 19-15. The two teams met last during the 2015-16 campaign in a game played at Moby Arena on Nov. 21. In that contest, CSU picked up the 61-55 victory. Coach Judkins has an 18-6 record vs. the Rams.

What’s Next
After the road swing through Colorado, the Cougar women return to play games at home hosting two in-state rivals. BYU hosts Utah State on Wed., Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. On Sat., Dec. 9, the Cougar women host in-state rival Utah in a 2 p.m. tip off. Both games will air live on BYUtv.