PROVO, Utah – In its first match of West Coast Conference play, Morgan Bailey and Ashley Garfield led the BYU women’s basketball team to an 80-58 home victory over San Francisco on Saturday.

"I thought the effort in the first 10 minutes was one of the best defensive efforts we've had in a long, long time," head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I thought we were aggressive and took them out of their stuff. They started going 1-on-1 and trying to beat us off the dribble. I thought Morgan (Bailey) played another good, solid game. Garfield, she's tough, she rebounds and came in today and gave us a spark. I think Xojian (Harry) had a very good game this afternoon."

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Bailey and Garfield led all scorers with 14 points apiece and with 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Xojian Harry contributed a career-high 11 points. Kim Parker Beeston and Stephanie Vermunt Seaborn also scored in double digits with 10 points each.

Denae Williams led the Dons with 12 points.

Haley Steed hit a shot from beyond the arc putting her team up 3-0 to start things off for the Cougars. Following several more failed drives to the basket, the Cougars scored on three consecutive possessions with two layups and a 3-pointer, extending their lead to 10-0. The Don’s first scored with 15:28 left on the clock on a layup from Taj Winston. Seaborn answered right back hitting a three from the corner, and Garfield scored back-to-back buckets following back-to-back offensive rebounds putting the Cougars up 19-10.

Following three and a half minutes without any baskets from either team, San Francisco’s Taylor Porter hit one of two free throws. The next trip down the floor, Beeston fed Harry who knocked down her first shot of the night putting the Cougars up 21-11. Harry scored the next six points for the Cougars with a 3-pointer and a three-point play. The Cougars led 27-13 with five minutes left in the first half. With less than three minutes to go, the Cougars extended their led to 13 finding Kylie Maeda in the corner for another trey. With 12 seconds left on the clock, Steed found Seaborn on the baseline who hit one last shot for the Cougars before going into the half.

The Cougars led 34-22 at the half. Harry led the Cougars with eight points.

To begin the second half, both teams struggled on the offensive end until Bailey knocked down two free throws. Bailey scored again on an assist from Steed putting the Cougars up 38-23. The next trip down the floor Steed found Keilani Unga for her first basket of the afternoon. In the next three minutes, BYU went on a 12-2 run with 3-pointers from Harry and Beeston, and jumpers from Bailey and Steed. The Cougars led 50-25 with 14:50 left on the clock. The Dons broke the run following another layup from Winston. Following the layup Beeston answered back with a layup and a three putting the Cougars up by 23.

With 10 minutes left in the game, the Cougars extended their lead to 26 with a three from Garfield. Trying to get some momentum, the Dons had several attempts from three without any conversions. During an out-of-bounds play with six minutes left, Maeda found Seaborn who knocked down a baseline jumper. Seaborn scored again from beyond the arc with four minutes left extending the Cougars' lead to 30, their largest lead of the game.

The Cougars hit the road for their first away game in league play against San Diego Thursday at 7 p.m. PST.

Notes

Team

The Cougars took the first 10 points of the game, keeping San Francisco scoreless until the 15:28 mark. The run was highlighted by two 3-pointers from Haley Steed.

Going into halftime, BYU kept the Dons scoreless from beyond the arc and shooting 25 percent from the field.

BYU went on a 12-2 run at the beginning of the second half to lead 50-25. The Cougars had their largest lead with 4:22 left to play, when they went up 76-45 on a Keilani Unga jumper.

Saturday’s game was the first time this season five Cougars have scored in double figures.

Two Cougars—Morgan Bailey and Ashley Garfield—had double-doubles against the Dons.

BYU shot 44 percent on the game and held San Francisco to 33 percent.

The Cougars won the boards battle with 49 to San Francisco’s 33. BYU also won in the assists battle 24-9 and on second-chance points 17-6.

Player

Morgan Bailey hit double figures first, taking a layup on an assist from Steed with 18:35 left in the second half. Bailey finished with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Her first was against Dartmouth.

Xojian Harry reached double figures at the 16:34 mark on her second 3-pointer of the afternoon, tying her career high of 3-pointers in a game. She finished with a career-high 11 points.

Kim Parker Beeston also hit double digits, draining her second trey with 13:17 left in the second half. She finished with 10 points and collected a season-high eight assists.

At the 7:03 mark in the second half, Ashley Garfield reached double figures with a layup. She ended the game with a career-high 14 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.

Steed had eight assists, tying with Beeston to lead the Cougars. She also had eight points and eight rebounds.

BYU women’s basketball (9-4) prepares to compete for a first ever West Coast Conference regular season title as the 2013 WCC campaign begins this week. The Cougars finished their nonconference schedule riding a six-game win streak. They open up WCC play hosting the University of San Francisco this Saturday at 2 p.m., in a game that can be seen live on BYUtv. BYU was selected to finish first in conference play as voted by the league’s coaches. Last year the Cougars finished second with a 12-4 record, winning their first WCC championship and representing the league as the automatic qualifier in the NCAA tournament.

BYU Capsule
BYU has outrebounded its opponents in eight of the games played, including the last six. In all but two contests (at Boston College and at Washington State) the Cougars dished out more assists than their opponents. BYU has enjoyed a halftime lead in all but two games to date (vs. Seattle and at Washington State). Entering WCC action, the BYU bench has outscored the opponent’s bench 250 to 162. When comparing points in the paint, the Cougars have scored 362 points to 300 from opponents.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), enters his 12th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Jennifer Hamson, 13.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 8.8 rpg
• Team’s assist leader: #33 Haley Steed, 7.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #33 Steed, 2.2 spg

BYU’S PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
#33 Haley Steed – (5-4 guard, GS.) 9.3 ppg; 4.2 rpg; 7.5 apg
#4 Kim Parker Beeston – (5-11 guard, Jr.) 10.0 ppg; 4.2 rpg; 2.0 apg
#11 Xojian Harry – (5-10 guard, So.) 3.9 ppg; 1.3 rpg; 0.5 apg
#45 Keilani Unga – (6-2 forward, Sr.) 5.9 ppg; 4.4 rpg; 0.8 apg
#5 Jennifer Hamson – (6-7 center, Jr.) 13.6 ppg; 8.8 rpg; 0.8 apg

San Francisco Capsule
San Francisco enters the first week of WCC action with a 7-6 record. They host Saint Mary’s on Thursday before making the trip to Provo for Saturday’s game. The Dons have lost their last two games to Fresno State and to Pacific. During the year they’ve picked up wins over the University of Hawai’i, UC Davis, Boise State, UTSA, San Jose State and Cal Poly. When playing on the road, USF is 2-4 to date.

• Head coach: Jennifer Azzi is in her second year with USF
• Team’s leading scorer: #45 Mel Khlok, 16.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 Taylor Proctor, 7.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #45 Khlok, 3.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #45 Khlok, 2.6 spg

Series History
BYU leads the series 7-1

Last Meeting
BYU and USF played twice during the 2012 WCC race with each team winning on the road.

The Cougars beat the Dons 76-67 in San Francisco on Jan. 7, 2012 with three players scoring in double figures. Kristen Riley led the way with 19 followed by 13 from Haley Steed and 11 from Lexi Eaton. Steed shot 5-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc. BYU outrebounded the Dons 41 to 33.

In the second meeting it was USF who came into the Marriott Center on Feb. 16 to defeat the Cougars 71-64. It was the first and only conference loss at home for BYU last year. At the time of the matchup, the Cougars were ranked No. 23 nationally. It was the Dons first win over a ranked opponent since 1996. For BYU, Riley recorded her eighth season double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Steed had 15 points and Eaton contributed 12.

The Dons shot 37.9 percent from the field to best the Cougars, who shot 31.6 percent. San Francisco also won from behind the arc, shooting 18.1 from 3-point while holding BYU to 10 percent. Despite falling behind in shooting, BYU outrebounded USF, 51-39.

What’s Next
The Cougars take their first WCC road trip of the year taking on San Diego on Thurs.,Jan. 10 at 7 p.m., PST before returningto the Marriott Center on Sat., Jan. 12 for a home game vs. league foe Pepperdine. That game tips off at 2 p.m.MST.

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