PROVO, Utah – Cassie Broadhead hit two clutch free throws with 1.8 seconds left to give BYU women’s basketball a 65-63 victory over Portland at the Marriott Center on Thursday.

"It was a tough game," BYU women's basketball head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I thought defensivley we did a good job at the end. You have to give a lot of credit to a kid who hasn't played a lot of minutes this year, Cassie Broadhead, making that play with the game tied."

Morgan Bailey led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals. Lexi Eaton scored 16 points and tallied eight rebounds, while Makenzi Morrison chipped in 10 points hitting 2 of 4 shots from beyond the arc.

After winning the tipoff, the Cougars (20-8, 12-5 West Coast Conference) scored on its first possession of the game when Bailey hit a cutting Xojian Harry in the paint for an uncontested layup. Following an Eaton wing 3-pointer on its second possession of the game, BYU scored only one basket over the next seven minutes in the first half falling behind 15-7 to Portland (4-24, 2-15 WCC).

Eaton drove baseline for a layup at the 11:32 mark, ending the 12-2 Portland run and sparking a 9-2 run for the Cougars to cut the Pilot lead to one, 17-16.

With 51 seconds left in the first half, BYU took its first lead since the 18:48 mark when Eaton converted a 3-point play making a five-foot jumper while being fouled. After the ensuing free throw, the Cougars led 30-29.

BYU held a 32-29 lead at the break with Eaton leading the way with 16 points, converting on 6 of 10 shots from the field. Eaton was also active on the glass pulling down seven rebounds.

Portland began the second half much like the first half going on a 10-2 run to take a 39-34 lead two minutes in to the half. Harry buried a straight-away 3-pointer and a left-handed finger roll by Bailey a minute later tied the game up, 39-39 with 16:37 left in the half.

The Cougars took a 45-44 lead with a Morrison 3-pointer assisted by Kylie Maeda with 12:05 left in the half. Less than 30 seconds later, Maeda’s corner 3-pointer put BYU up 50-46. Morrison and Maeda’s shots sparked a 19-7 run that gave the Cougars a 10-point lead with 6:03 left in the game.  

The Pilots fought back over the final five minutes with a 12-2 run that tied the game at 63 with 13.8 seconds left. With five seconds left, Cassie Broadhead received a pass on the left wing, drove left past the Portland defender and drew a foul with 1.3 seconds left. Broadhead drained the following two free throws to put the Cougars back up by two. A deep 3-point shot by Portland as time expired went long and BYU held on to defeat the Pilots, 65-63.

The Cougars will play their final home game of the season against Gonzaga on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143. Live stats will also be available on the BYU women's basketball schedule page.

Postgame notes

Team

With 51 seconds left in the first half, BYU took the lead back 30-29 after a made free throw by Eaton. Maeda found Bailey by the bucket to extend the halftime lead to 32-29.

BYU won the game late with free throws made by Broadhead to seal the 65-63 victory. The Cougars shot 46 percent on the game and the Pilots shot 44 percent.

This is the 10th game of the season where BYU has had three players score in double figures. Eaton, Bailey and Morrison all scored in double digits.

After the first 20 minutes of action, both teams had 17 rebounds. Despite losing the game, Portland outrebounded BYU 33 to 29.

BYU dished out 10 assists in the first half, while Portland had seven. The Cougars ended the game with 18, compared to 15 from the Pilots. This is the 22nd game that BYU has had more assists than its opponents.

In the first half, the Cougars had five steals and the Pilots had three. The teams combined for 13 first-half turnovers. BYU ended the game with 10 steals compared to Portland's nine. 

This is the sixth straight season and ninth overall that Judkins has led his team to 20-win seasons.

Player

Lexi Eaton

Eaton led the team in scoring and rebounding in the first half with 16 points and seven boards, respectively. She finished with 16 points to go along with her eight rebounds.

Morgan Bailey

Bailey had six points and four rebounds after the first 20 minutes of action. She ended the game with a team-high in both points and rebounds, 17 and 12 respectively. This is her 14th double-double of the season and 22nd of her career.

Makenzi Morrison

Morrison had 10 points, including two 3-pointers. She also had two steals.

Kylie Maeda

Maeda had five points and team-highs in assists and steals with five and three.

Xojian Harry

Harry scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds in the win.

Cassie Broadhead

Broadhead sealed the game after making two free throws with one second left. She finished the game with four points and two assists.

Game notes for game #29 vs. Gonzaga

Game notes for game #28 vs. Portland

PROVO, Utah— The final week of regular season West Coast Conference action has the Cougar women (19-8, 11-5) at home for their last two league games.

BYU hosts Portland (4-23, 2-14) Thurs., Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. MST. On Sat., Feb. 28, the WCC regular season champions Gonzaga Bulldogs (22-5, 14-1) come to Provo for a 2 p.m. MST tip. Both games will air live on BYUtv and Saturday's game will also air on BYU Radio. The Cougars are in fifth place in the league standings, while the Pilots are in last place entering the final week of games.

About BYU
Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 6.4 boards a contest. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, is in second place in scoring, tallying 18.1 points while leading the way in rebounding, averaging 10.7 boards per game. Bailey became BYU’s 26th player to eclipse 1,000 points in the USF game in San Francisco. The team’s assist leader is Kylie Maeda, who averages 4.4 assists a game.

BYU is averaging 69.0 points per game, while shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 70.1 percent at the free-throw line and 35.8 percent from 3-point land. In 21 games (most recent at Pacific) the Cougars have dished out more assists than their opponents and have pulled down more rebounds in 14 contests to date. When leading at the break, they are 15-2 and have scored at least 80 points in six games (most recent, 82 at Pacific)

The team has had four players score in double figures in four contests, (most recent at Pacific) and has had three players finish with double-digit points in nine games (most recent at Saint Mary’s).

BYU head coach Jeff Judkins recorded his 300th win with the 77-58 home victory over Pepperdine on Feb. 5, 2015. The team is one win away from the program’s sixth straight 20-win season, the eighth under Judkins.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 21.1 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 10.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.4 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .54 bpg

About PORTLAND
The Pilots has compiled a 4-23, 2-14 record to date. They are coming off home losses to Pacific and Saint Mary’s. The team’s two league wins were over LMU and Pepperdine.

Cassandra Brown, Kari Luttinen and Jasmine Wooton are the three Portland players scoring double digits.  Brown tops the list with 17.8 points, Luttinen follows with 14.0 points and Wooton contributes 11.3 points to the Pilots offensive output. Cassandra Thompson grabs the most rebounds with 6.5 boards a game. As a team, the Pilots are putting up 63.6 points, grabbing 35.1 rebounds and shooting 40.6 percent from the field, 36.5 from behind the arc and 74.1 from the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Cheryl Sorenson (Washington, ‘03) First year
• Team’s leading scorer: #22 C. Brown, 17.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #30 C. Thompson, 6.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 J. Wooton, 3.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 K. Luttinen, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #35 S. Zaragoza, 1.3 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 15-4. When playing in Provo, the Pilots are 2-6.

Last Meeting
In the first meeting, the Cougars recorded the 83-79 win in Portland on Dec. 29.

Morgan Bailey had a game- and career-high 31 points and with a game-high 11 rebounds, picking up her fifth double-double of the year. Kylie Maeda and Lexi Eaton also tallied double digits in points with 17 and 16, respectively. The 17 points for Maeda were season and career bests.

In the waning minutes of the game, Maeda hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one and another Bailey bucket gave the Cougars their first lead of the second half at 80-79 with 39 seconds showing on the clock.

A Pilot turnover gave BYU the ball with 24 seconds on the clock. Eaton hit two shots from the charity stripe to give the Cougars an 82-79 edge and a free throw from Morrison sealed the BYU win.

The Cougars were down by 10, 75-65 with 5:48 left in the game.

ABOUT GONZAGA
Gonzaga clinched the 2014 WCC regular season title last week and will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament. The Bulldogs have compiled a 22-5, 15-1 record and are at San Diego on Thursday before heading to Provo to play BYU on Saturday.

Three players are scoring in double digits for Gonzaga, led by 13.7 points from Sunny Greinacher, while teammate Keani Albanez contributes 12.9 points. Elle Tinkle rounds out the double-figure scoring with 12.0 points. Shelby Cheslek tops the leaderboard in the rebound category, averaging 8.7 boards per contest. The Zags score 72.3 points and grab 40.9 rebounds, while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 76.9 percent at the free-throw line. From 3-point range, Gonzaga is shooting 36.3 percent.

• Head coach: Lisa Fortier (Cal State Monterey Bay, 2004) First Season
• Team’s leading scorer: #14 S. Greinacher, 13.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #44 S. Cheslek, 8.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #5 G. Stirton, 3.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #24 K. Albanez, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 S. Cheslek, 1.5 bpg

Series History
The Bulldogs lead the series 10-6 and in Provo, Gonzaga is 2-3. Head coach Jeff Judkins is 3-9 against the Zags.

Last Meeting
The first meeting between these two league foes was playing in Spokane on Dec. 27, with Gonzaga recording the 78-62 victory. Lexi Eaton and Morgan Bailey led the way for BYU with 13 points apiece while Ashley Garfield and Xojian Harry topped the rebound category with seven each.

The Cougars found themselves down by eight, 29-21, with less than eight minutes left in the first half. BYU tried to hold Gonzaga to a single-digit lead before the half after Eaton made a jump shot with 38 seconds left, but Georgia Stirton made a layup to take the 45-34 lead going into halftime. Gonzaga made 12 of 13 free throws while BYU only shot two of four.

Bailey led the Cougars early in the second half with the first three field goals. A pair of made free throws from Morrison made it 42-48 with 16:50 remaining. Gonzaga answered back with a 10-0 run to push the lead back to double digits, 58-42, with 14:15 left.

A layup by Bailey with 10:42 remaining cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 10, 63-53. With 3:40 left, Garfield made a bucket to make it 58-74, but the Cougars were not able to score again until Kristine Fuller made a jumper with 50 seconds left. Alohi Robins-Hardy made two free throws to make the final score 62-78.

Up Next
After the final two WCC regular season games, the Cougars will prepare to compete in the 2015 WCC women’s basketball championships held in Las Vegas from Mar. 5-10 at the Orleans Arena. The winner of the conference championship receives an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.