Morgan Bailey's 25 points not enough as Cougars lose to Jackrabbits

BROOKINGS, South Dakota – Despite a 25-point effort from Morgan Bailey, BYU women’s basketball could not keep pace with South Dakota State and dropped the opener on the road, 75-65.

"We got them at our place last year, and they got us here at their place," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. " It was good to see Morgan have a good game for us tonight. I thought that we did some good things today and we struggled in other areas. Our team will learn from this and hopefully we can move forward in the right direction."

SDSU (1-0) extended its 22-game home winning streak by forcing 19 turnovers and outrebounding BYU (0-1) by a 38-29 advantage.

Bailey led all scorers with 25 points on 10 of 20 shooting, and also contributed eight rebounds and four assists in the losing effort. Morrison was the only other Cougar scoring in double figures with 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting including 3 of 4 beyond the arc.

BYU held a small lead for most of the first half as Bailey scored eight points early. SDSU took over in the last four minutes of the half going on a 14-0 run building a nine-point lead. A short jumper by Bailey followed by a couple free throws from Cassie Broadhead and Ashley Garfield brought the Cougars to within five at the half, 31-26. Garfield pulled down six boards in the first half and finished with eight, tying for team bests in that category.

The Jackrabbits caused nine BYU turnovers and held the Cougars to only nine made first half field goals on 35 percent shooting.

The second half began as the first half ended with another big SDSU run and BYU never recovered. The Jackrabbits went on a 20-6 run and built a 19-point lead. The Cougars kept pounding the bail inside to Bailey with success, but couldn’t get enough stops on the defensive end.

BYU finished shooting 42 percent from the field for the game, 33 percent from the 3-point line, and made 70 percent from the charity stripe.

BYU returns to Provo for its home opener next Wednesday, Nov. 19, against Cal State Northridge. The game will begin at 11:00 a.m. MST in the Marriott Center and will be broadcast live on BYUtv and BYU – Sirius XM 143. Last season the Cougars defeated the Matadors 82-66 in Northidge, California.

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU dished out seven assists in the first 20 minutes of action and ended the game with 14, one more than South Dakota State.

In their first road game of the year, the Cougars shot 42 percent from the field, 33 percent from behind the arc and 70 percent from the free throw line.

Player

Morgan Bailey led all scorers with 12 at the break and finished with a career-high 25. It’s her first double digit outing in scoring this year and the 31^st of her career. She also dished out a team-high four assists and tied for team bests in rebounds with eight.

Makenzi Morrison finished the game with 11 points, nine from 3-point range making it the first double figure outing in scoring of her career.

Ashley Garfield pulled down six boards in the first half and finished with eight, tying for team bests in that category.