LAS VEGAS — The No. 3 seed BYU women’s basketball team fell to No. 6 seed Pepperdine 62-51 in the WCC Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Orleans Arena.

Final Boxscore

"First of all, I want to congratulate Pepperdine," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "They played a really good game. We struggled today offensively and defensively. They may have tried a little bit too hard. I’m proud of our team. Even though they didn’t play their best, they never gave up. It’s been a hard but rewarding season. A lot of our players had to adjust to different roles this year."

Paisley Johnson led the team with 15 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Sara Hamson followed with 11 points, five rebounds, four blocks and one steal, while Brenna Chase Drollinger contributed 10 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Jasmine Moody added seven points and three rebounds for the Cougars (18-11) and Kaylee Smiler chipped in four points off the bench while also adding two rebounds and one assist.

Playing from behind for most of the game, BYU couldn’t quite get over the hump despite outscoring the Waves (16-14) in the paint 26-16 and tying the game at 45 early in the fourth.  

Two baskets in the paint by Hamson and a pair of free throws by Moody tied the game at six, four minutes into the contest. Back-to-back layups by Johnson and Smiler followed by a pair of free throws by Drollinger then tied the game at 12. Pepperdine, however, finished the quarter on a 4-1 run to take a 16-13 advantage.

The Waves opened the second quarter with three consecutive baskets to go up 22-13. BYU answered with a 10-0 run highlighted by layups from Hamson, Johnson and Salmon to take a 23-22 lead with just over a minute left in the half. Pepperdine then scored five unanswered points to take a 27-23 lead into the locker room.

Johnson drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing on the Cougars’ first offensive possession of the second half to bring BYU within one, 27-26. The Waves then scored seven consecutive points before a triple by Drollinger brought the score to 34-29 for Pepperdine. Another trey by Drollinger followed by a steal and a layup by Johnson brought the Cougars within two, 36-34, with 6:31 left in the third.

After Drollinger found Smiler for a fast-break layup, Drollinger hit a left-handed floater in the lane to tie the game at 40 with two minutes left in the third quarter. The Waves then went on a 5-1 run before Smiler found a cutting Hamson for a layup to bring the Cougars within two, 45-43, at the end of the third.

Moody made a hook-shot in the paint to tie the game at 45 before Pepperdine went on a 6-0 run to go up 51-45 three minutes into the fourth. Johnson then hit a baseline jumper, but the Waves proceeded to score four unanswered points to take a 55-47 advantage with 5:05 left.

Hamson made a shot in the paint while being fouled to cut BYU’s deficit to six, 55-49, with 2:18 remaining. Pepperdine then completed a three-point play to take a 58-49 lead with 1:38 left. The Cougars failed to convert on their next two offensive possessions and were forced to intentionally foul on the defensive end to stop the clock. The Waves made four consecutive free throws to go up 62-49 with 55 seconds left.

Malli Valgardson Perri made one last shot in the paint before time expired, bringing the final score to 62-51 for Pepperdine.

Team Notes

• For the ninth time on the year, three Cougar players finished a game with double figures in points. Paisley Johnson (15), Sara Hamson (11), Brenna Drollinger (10).
• The Cougars shot 32.7 percent from the field, 20 from behind the arc and 75 percent from the free-throw line.
• BYU picked up 14 points in the paint compared with eight for Pepperdine in the first half of action. For the game, the Cougars tallied 26 points in the paint compared with 15 for the Waves.

Player Notes

• Sara Hamson pulled down five rebounds and got four blocks in the first half, the most after the first 20 minutes of action. She also scored six points to tie for team bests. She picked up her 10th game with double-digit points finishing with 11 before fouling out. Her stat line included tying for team bests in rebounds with five and recording a game-high four blocks.
• Paisley Johnson tied in points with six heading into halftime. With her team-best 15 total points in the game, she recorded her 22nd game with double-figure points. She tied with team bests in rebounds with five, dished out two assists and got one steal.
• With 10 points, Brenna Drollinger picked up her 17th game with 10+points. She tied for team highs in assists with three and had a game-high three steals.
• Babalu Ugwu came off the bench tying for team bests in rebounds with five and in assists with three while playing 16 minutes.

PROVO, Utah— BYU women’s basketball heads to the 2020 UCU WCC Women’s Basketball Championships as the No. 3 seed. The Cougars and San Diego had identical 13-5 records with the Toreros claiming the No. 2 seed by virtue of a tiebreaking series against Portland.

BYU vs. Pepperdine Game Notes

2020 WCC Women's Basketball Championships Bracket

Ticket Information

BYU will play No 6 seed Pepperdine in the second quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 7, at 3 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv, the BYUtv App, on NBCSCA/Root NW and on the WCC Network.

In Thursday’s first-round matchup, No. 7 seed St. Mary’s takes on No. 10 seed LMU. Then on Friday, No. 6 seed Pepperdine plays the winner between SMC and LMU. That winner will then play BYU in the semifinals.

ABOUT BYU

• With an 18-10, 13-5 record, BYU women’s basketball tied with San Diego for second place in the WCC race and enters the WCC Championships as the No. 3 seed
• The team averages 60.5 ppg and 40.1 rpg; is 18-5 when it gets more blocks than opponents; is 16-2 when dishing out more assists than opponents; is 16-1 when leading at the half
• BYU is holding opponents to just 54.5 points and is allowing only 37.8 rebounds a game
• The Cougars are nationally ranked second in field goal percentage defense (31.9); third in blocked shots per game (6.8) and in blocked shots (189); 11th in scoring defense (54.5); 16th in defensive rebounds (29.0)
• In the WCC, BYU is first in field goal percentage defense, in rebounding offense, in blocked shots and in defensive rebounds; ranks second in scoring defense; places third in scoring margin, in 3-point field goal percentage defense, in assists and in 3-point field goals made
• Paisley Johnson leads in scoring with a 15.2 average; ranks 28th all-time in career points with 1,057; Brenna Drollinger tallies 12.3 points; is 20th all-time in career points with 1,294; leads in assists and steals with 4.3 and & 1.8 averages
• Sara Hamson leads in rebounds and blocks, with 8.0 boards and 4.75 blocks; ranks first in the nation in blocked shots (133) and in blocked shots per game (4.75); ranks third all-time at BYU in career blocks with 332 (needs 8 to tie her sister Jennifer with 340 career blocks and nine to rank second all-time at BYU)
• Three Cougar players received WCC accolades as announced by the league Tuesday; Sara Hamson was named WCC Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year;  it’s the second honor for Hamson as she picked up the same award her freshman campaign; Drollinger and Johnson were named to the WCC Women’s Basketball First Team; the award is the third for Drollinger; Hamson made the WCC Women’s Basketball Second Team; both Drollinger and Hamson were named to the 2019-20 Preseason All-WCC Team; all of the league awards are voted on by the 10 head coaches

PEPPERDINE SERIES HISTORY 

• The Cougars hold a 21-3 record in the all-time series with Pepperdine; this will be just the third time that the Cougars and Waves meet in the quarterfinals of the WCC Champs;
• in the previous two matchups, BYU has won both games (a 72-59 win on March 4, 2016 and a 77-51 win on March 7, 2014); last year, the two teams met in the semifinals with the Cougars picking up the 68-63 win 
• In this year’s conference race, BYU swept the series, winning 65-47 in Malibu on Dec. 30 and then tallied  a two-point, 66-66 victory in Provo on Feb. 27; Saturday’s contest between the two foes marks just nine days since playing each other;  

ABOUT PEPPERDINE

• Pepperdine advanced to the second quarterfinal game of the 2020 UCU WCC Women’s Basketball Championships with an 87-72 victory over St. Mary’s in the second round; the Waves finished the league race in sixth place
• Three players are scoring in double figures for the Waves led by 11.4 points a game from Hannah Friend; she’s followed by Malia Bambrick who’s contributing 10.6 points a contest; the final player who puts up double-digit points is Barbara Sitanggan who’s tallying 10.1 points, a team-best 4.8 assists and a team-high 2.4 steals a game
• Monique Andriuolo tops the leaderboard in rebounds with 7.3 boards a game; Andriuolo has the most blocks on the team with 37 for a 1.3 average
• Pepperdine shoots 65.9 points and is pulling down 37.8 boards while holding opponents to 65.8 points and 41.6 rebounds; the Waves shoot 37.6 percent from the field; 32.7 percent from behind the arc and 67.2 percent from the charity stripe

UP NEXT

A win in the quarterfinals would send the Cougars into the second semifinal on Monday, March 9 where they will play No. 2 seed San Diego. That game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. PDT.