Hamson leads Cougars over Pacific

STOCKTON, Calif. – Jennifer Hamson led BYU women’s basketball to an 88-57 win over Pacific Saturday on the road at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

“We didn’t have Morgan (Bailey) the first night we played Pacific,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “Today, we had a good one-two punch. If Jennifer (Hamson) didn’t have it, she got the ball down to Morgan quite easily. This was the best we’ve played together as a team, and it shows on the stats.”

Hamson led all scorers with 25 points and seven blocks while picking up career highs in rebounds (18) and assists (4). Lexi Eaton (19), Morgan Bailey (17) and Kim Beeston (15) all scored in double figures for the Cougars. Kylie Maeda tied her career-high seven assists.

BYU (17-5, 7-4) shot 58 percent from the floor while holding Pacific (11-10, 6-5) to just 27 percent shooting on the night. The Cougars outrebounded the Tigers 39-27 and led the two teams 44-16 in points in the paint.

Hamson and Bailey got things started for the Cougars in the first half by combining for 11 points to give BYU an early 11-7 lead.

Following a steal from Xojian Harry, Maeda assisted Hamson to give the Cougars a double-digit lead at 20-10 with 11:25 left in the first half.

BYU held on to its double-digit advantage with help from a Eaton 3-pointer that put the Cougars ahead 33-17.

After being ahead by as many as 18 points, the Tigers fought back to cut BYU’s lead down to 10 at the break, 43-33. Hamson took a double-double of 19 points and 11 boards into the locker room while Eaton contributed 11 points at the midway point.

With both teams trading points, Beeston hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend her team’s lead back to double digits. That started a 23-4 run that put the Cougars ahead 68-42 following consecutive Bailey layups.

It was all BYU from that point as the Cougars ran away with an 88-57 victory.

BYU stays on the road next week as they take on Santa Clara Thursday at 7 p.m. PST. The Cougars beat the Broncos in Provo last month 61-44. Links to live stats will be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page. 

Postgame Notes

Team

After 20 minutes of action, the Cougar team had two players in double-digit scoring, Jennifer Hamson (19) and Lexi Eaton (11) while shooting 90 percent from the free throw line and 50 percent from the field. In the first half, Pacific did not have any players with double figure points.

BYU finished the game with four players recording double figures in points making it the seventh time that the team had four players recording double digits in scoring.

Hamson (25), Eaton (19), Bailey (17) and Beeston (15).

The Cougars got 44 points in the paint compared with just 16 for the Tigers. They also had 19 points from Tiger miscues.

BYU recorded its eighth game this year tallying 80-plus points with the 88 scored against Pacific.

For the 19th time this year, BYU got more blocks than its opponent with seven compared with just three for Pacific. All seven of the team’s blocks were from Hamson.

Player

Jennifer Hamson picked up her 14th double-double of the year after just 20 minutes of play, leading all scorers with 19 points and 11 rebounds while shooting .818 (9-11) from the field heading into the break. She finished the game with 25 and a career-high 18 rebounds to go along with a game-best seven blocks. The points and the rebounds were also game highs.

Lexi Eaton was perfect from the free throw line going 6 for 6 in the first 20 minutes of play, tallying 11 points. She would finish the game with 19 points making it the 16th game this year that she’s recorded double digits in points. She remained perfect at the charity stripe, making all seven attempted, and pulled down three rebounds while dishing out four assists.

Kim Beeston recorded her sixth straight game and the 16th on the year scoring in double figures with 15 against the Tigers, 12 of the points coming from 3-point range. She also had a team-high two steals.

Morgan Bailey was the fourth player for BYU to record double figures in points with 17, while shooting 8 for 10 from the field. The points made it the ninth game she’s finished with 10-plus points.

Kylie Maeda picked up her eighth game leading the team in assists with a game high seven, five of which came in the first half.