Pepperdine University
BYU
Waves Fall to WCC Newcomer BYU 80-56
1/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2012
PROVO, Utah - Despite holding an early lead, the Pepperdine women's basketball team fell 80-56 at West Coast Conference newcomer Brigham Young on Thursday night. Senior guard Lauren Bell paced the Waves with 16 points and three assists in the team's second visit to Provo all-time.
The hot shooting of the Cougars (15-3, 4-1 WCC) proved to be too much for the Waves (8-8, 3-2 WCC), as they shot over 50 percent in both halves to average 54.1 percent (33-of-61) in the game.
Joining Bell (San Bruno, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) with double-figure scoring was fellow senior guard Jazmine Jackson (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) who tallied 14 points and led the team with six rebounds. Katie Menton (Coarsegold, Calif./Yosemite HS) had 11 points and had three assists.
The Waves held an early lead through the first five minutes of the game in part due to sharp shooting from Kelsey Patrick (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak HS), but the Cougars would overcome the deficit at the 13:58 mark in the first half to take an 11-10 lead.
The Waves would tie things back up at 15-15 with 10:55 to go by Skye Barnett (Albuquerque, N.M./Cibola HS). However a Cougar free throw would spark a 13-2 run by BYU through the 5:37 mark, 28-17.
The Waves would cut the lead down to five with 2:36 to go, but the Cougars would close out the half on a 7-0 run to take a 12-point, 37-27 lead into halftime. In the half, the Waves had 10 points off turnovers to the Cougars' six and added 12 points in the paint. Bell led the team with eight points at the half.
In the second half, the Waves would cut the lead to seven, 39-32 with 18:28 to play, but that is as close as they would come, as they were unable to overcome the Cougars' 56.3 percent shooting in the half.
The Cougars would push their lead to 11, 47-36 with 15:26 to play in the game and would never relinquish the double-figure lead through the final buzzer. Menton's nine second half points and eight from Bell was not enough to overcome the deficit.
The Waves will regroup and return to Malibu to host Santa Clara on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. PT.
