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PROVO, Utah – After dropping a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, BYU defeated Santa Clara 72-66 in double overtime on Thursday night at the Marriott Center in the Cougars’ fourth consecutive win.

"First of all, I’ve been in this business a long time and I can’t be more proud of my team," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I'm proud of what they did tonight and how they won that game. If you would have seen the score, you would have thought there was no way we could do it. I’m just happy with these guys—they deserved to win this game."

Cassie Broadhead led BYU’s offense with 28 points while Makenzi Pulsipher added 15 points. Kalani Purcell was just one assist shy of a triple double with 10 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists.

BYU (13-7, 7-2 WCC) built a 14-point lead with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter before Santa Clara (9-11, 4-5 WCC) went on a 16-2 run to tie the score 57-57 and send the game into overtime.

Down by four, Kristine Nielson hit a three with 12 seconds to go. Santa Clara converted two free throws, but a pass from Purcell to Broadhead for a 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the game into double overtime, 65-65.

Broadhead and Amanda Wayment combined for a quick four-point lead before another Broadhead shot extended the Cougars’ advantage 71-65. BYU held Santa Clara to just one point before the Cougars won the game 72-66 in double overtime.

Broadhead hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Cougars a 5-1 lead to start the game. The Broncos battled back to tie the game at seven apiece. After neither team scored for over three minutes, Broadhead converted another three, but the Cougars couldn’t hold on to the momentum on just 18.8 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter.

BYU found themselves trailing by four at the beginning of the second quarter but fought back for a 22-21 lead on a Purcell layup with 5:42 to go. Both teams struggled to make shots, but a Wayment layup sparked a 7-0 run to finish the quarter with a 31-24 lead.

The Cougars carried offensive energy from the locker room as Broadhead converted a 3-point play for BYU’s first double-digit lead of the game with 6:57 to go. She then capped off the Cougars’ 10-0 run with a 3-pointer for a 41-26 advantage, the largest of the game.

BYU allowed just six Santa Clara points in the third quarter as the Broncos prevented BYU from scoring for over five minutes. Pulsipher ended the drought on a shot from the top of the arc for a 43-30 lead to finish the period.

Santa Clara cut the deficit to nine but the Cougars quickly extended the lead back to 13 on a Pulsipher 3-pointer with 8:15 to go in the fourth quarter. Purcell earned her 12th double-double of the season, pushing BYU ahead 55-41 on a layup. The Cougars led by as many as 14 before Santa Clara sparked a comeback to send the game into overtime.

BYU hits the road to California to play Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. PST. The game will be streamed on TheW.tv and carried live on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU women’s schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

In its first overtime game of the season, BYU women’s basketball defeated Santa Clara 72-66.

With the win, BYU is now 6-1 during the month of January and 3-3 when playing on Thursday.

For the sixth time in the 2016-17 season, three Cougars scored in double figures—Broadhead (28), Pulsipher (15) and Purcell (10).

The Cougars converted seven 3-point field goals against the Broncos. BYU is 12-4 when the team makes more than five treys in a single game.

BYU dished out 21 assists to Santa Clara’s 14, and the Cougars scored 32 points in the paint, while the Broncos tallied 22.

Player

Cassie Broadhead scored 10 points in the first half, putting her in double figures for the 19th time this year. The senior finished the contest with a game-high 28. Broadhead hit a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime. She also had seven assists and five rebounds.

Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher ended the game with 15 points. With her 15 points, Pulsipher has now recorded double digits in 14 games this season, with six coming in conference play. Pulsipher also tallied five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Kalani Purcell totaled eight points, seven rebounds and three assists going into halftime. She finished with 10 points and 17 rebounds for the double-double. Purcell’s double-double makes for her 12th of the season. She now has three 15+ rebounding games this year. The New Zealand native neared a triple-double, recording nine assists in the contest. She also had three steals and two blocks.

PROVO, Utah—Riding a three-game win streak, the BYU women’s basketball team  (12-7, 6-2) remains tied with Gonzaga for first place in the latest West Coast Conference standings.

BYU at LMU Game Notes

BYU vs. Santa Clara Game Notes

On tap for this week, the Cougar women host Santa Clara (9-10, 4-4) Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. MT. The contest between the Cougars and Broncos will be carried live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio.

On Saturday, Jan. 28, BYU travels to Los Angeles to battle LMU (8-11, 3-5) at 2 p.m. PT. That game can be heard live on BYU Radio and can be streamed on the Internet at TheW.tv.

BYU AT A GLANCE
Junior guard Cassie Broadhead, who leads the WCC in scoring, is one of three Cougar players putting up double-digit points, averaging a team-best 18.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher is next contributing 12.9 points and 3.7 boards to the Cougars’ offensive threat. Senior All-American Kalani Purcell and this week’s WCC Player of the Week, rounds out the scoring output for BYU with a double-double 12.4 points and a team-and league-high 10.0 boards per game.

Heading into the fifth week of conference play, the Cougars are scoring 66.6 points per game while shooting 43.0 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from behind the arc and 70.1 percent from the free-throw line. The team also grabs 35.8 rebounds a contest.

BYU leads in assists, in 3-point field goals made, field goal percentage, rebounding defense and in field goal percentage defense in conference-only stats. They rank second in steals, rebounding margin and in assist/turnover ratio.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), 16th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 C. Broadhead, 18.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 10.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 Pulsipher/#20 Broadhead/#32 Purcell, 2.1 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20 C. Broadhead, 1.0 bpg

SANTA CLARA AT A GLANCE
Entering the fifth week of the WCC regular season race, Santa Clara has compiled a (9-10, 4-4) record. They are tied for third place with Pacific in the most updated WCC standings. 

The Broncos have league wins over BYU, Portland, LMU and Pepperdine. Thursday night’s game in Provo will be the second meeting between the two teams. In Los Angeles on December 29, SCU picked up a 64-63 win.

Santa Clara has four players scoring in double figures, led by Lori Parkinson’s 12.4 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game. Emily Wolph is next contributing 12.1 points with teammate Morgan McGuire chipping in 11.1 points a contest. Marie Bertholdt is the fourth player with double-digit scoring and she puts up 10.1 points a game.

The Broncos score 62.1 points a game and shoot 39.0 percent from the field, 31.2 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent from the charity stripe. SCU pulls down 38.1 rebounds a game.

• Head coach: Bill Carr (USF, ‘87), First season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 L. Parkinson, 12.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #20 L. Parkinson, 7.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #25 E. Wolph, 4.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #20 L. Parkinson, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32 M. McGwire, 1.3 bpg

THE SERIES
BYU leads the series 13-2.  This will be the second time these two league foes have played. In the first game on Dec. 29 in Los Angeles, the Broncos picked up the one-point 64-63 victory. Four BYU players recorded double figures in points in the contest, led by 21 points from Broadhead, 15 from Purcell, 13 from Pulsipher and a career-high 10 points from Salmon. The Cougars shot 46.7 percent from the field and had season-best shooting from 3-point range (60.0) and from the free-throw line (93.8).

McGwire, Wolph and Bertholdt all had double digits in points with 16, 14 and 11, respectively. Santa Clara shot 42.9 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from behind the arc and 58.8 percent from the charity stripe.

LMU AT A GLANCE
Loyola Marymount has compiled an 8-11, 3- 5 record to date getting league wins over Pepperdine, Portland and Santa Clara. When playing at home, LMU has a 5-5 record including a 3-1 mark in WCC play. The Lions are at Pacific on Thursday before hosting BYU on Saturday afternoon. This will be the second time the two league foes have played this season. In the first game played in Provo on Dec. 31, the Cougars got the 76-59 home win.

Jackie Johnson leads the way in scoring for the Lions with 16.2 points and a team-high 9.4 boards a contest. Cheyanne Wallace tallies 12.8 points a game with teammate Leslie Lopez-Woods putting up 11.9 points a contest.

LMU is shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 68.4 percent from the free-throw line while scoring 63.8 points and pulling down 37.3 boards a game.

• Head coach: Charity Elliott (Southwest Missouri State, ‘92), Fifth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #43 J. Johnson, 16.2 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #43 J. Johnson, 9.4 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #11 A. Velasco, 5.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #43 J. Johnson, 1.8 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #43 J. Johnson, 2.6 bpg

THE SERIES
BYU leads the series 13-1. When playing in Los Angeles, BYU has a 4-1 mark. Head coach Jeff Judkins is 11-1 vs. the Lions.

COMING UP
After Thursday’s home game against SCU and Saturday’s road game at LMU, the Cougar women continue league play on the road. They are at Gonzaga on Thursday, Feb. 2 and at Portland on Saturday, Feb. 4.