First quarter surge leads BYU to 101-74 victory over Utah State

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball cruised to a 101-74 win over in-state rival Utah State at the Marriott Center on Tuesday afternoon. 

"They’re well taught, Juddy’s (head coach Jeff Judkins) done a great job with them," BYU assistant coach Lee Cummard said. "They know exactly what we’re going to do. We had a great game plan coming in that Juddy implemented before we knew any different and they came out and they were locked in from the jump."

The Cougars shot 56 percent on the day while holding the Aggies to 37 percent shooting in a game where head coach Jeff Judkins was absent from the arena for precautionary reasons awaiting a Covid-19 test result. Assistant coach Lee Cummard acted as the head coach for the game. 

Following the game, Judkins did not make the trip to the St. Pete Showcase today. Judkins tested positive for COVID-19 and will stay home to quarantine. The remainder of the team has been tested and it’s been determined by BYU’s sports medicine staff that they are safe to travel with no other positive tests in the team travel party. Assistant coach Lee Cummard will assume head coaching duties while Judkins is in quarantine.

BYU out-rebounded Utah State 42 to 30, amassed 50 points in the paint to the Aggies’ 18 and also tallied 10 steals and 10 blocks in the game.

BYU had five players finish in double figures. Shaylee Gonzales led all scorers with 24 points, while Lauren Gustin added 18 and Paisley Harding contributed 15. Tegan Graham scored 14 and Emma Calvert finished with 10. 

Gonzales also added seven rebounds and six assists while Graham recorded five rebounds and seven assists. 

The 101 points were the most points scored since March 19, 2011 when BYU hit 102 against Utah State in the NIT. 

BOX SCORE

First Quarter

The Cougars began the game with five consecutive stops, also getting two layups by Gustin, one by Gonzales and a jumper by Graham to go up 8-0 early.

Holding the Aggies scoreless through the first 3:45 of the game, BYU gave up just 11 Utah State points in the quarter while five different BYU scorers, including Gonzales’ 13, paced the Cougars to a 36-11 lead.

Since women’s basketball switched from halves to quarters in the 2015-16 season, 36 is the most points BYU has scored in any quarter. 

Second Quarter

The Cougars’ offensive success continued in the second, highlighted by the extra pass leading to 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. 

Utah State closed the final minute of the half on a 6-0 run, but Harding, Gustin and Graham joined Gonzales (15) in double figures with 15, 12 and 11 points, respectively, through the first 20 minutes as BYU took a 56-31 lead into the half. 

Third Quarter

After each team scored to open the second half, BYU held Utah State scoreless for 3:43, going on a 10-0 run in that span to lead 68-34.

Neither team went on a run of more than four-points the remainder of the quarter and the Cougars led 79-48 heading into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

The Aggies went on a run of four and a run of six to cut the BYU lead to 24, but that was as low as the lead would get as the two teams traded baskets in the final four minutes, allowing the Cougars to close out the 27-point victory.

The Cougars will travel to St. Petersburg, Florida to participate in the St. Pete Showcase, playing Florida State on Thursday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. EST and either West Virginia or Purdue on Saturday, Nov. 27. Games will be streamed on FloSports.