MALIBU, Calif.—In one of the BYU women’s basketball team’s lowest scoring games of the year, Pepperdine shut down the No. 22 Cougars, 61-49, Thursday night.

The loss was only the third time this season BYU (20-4, 8-2) has scored less than 50 points in a game. It was also the team’s first loss in more than a month, with its last loss coming against Saint Mary’s Dec. 31.

"We knew this was going to be one of hardest road stretches of season," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "Pepperdine played really well. We had too many turnovers and we were a little out of sync tonight. We'll bounce back, we just have to take care of business at home starting with the Saint Mary's game Saturday."

Senior co-captain Kristen Riley scored her third-straight double-double with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Steed helped out with 10 points, eight assists and three steals and Jennifer Hamson had five blocks to lead the game.

The Cougars shot 36.7 percent from the field to best Pepperdine (11-10, 6-4), who shot 35.3 percent, but the Waves won from behind the arc. Pepperdine shot 35.7 from 3-point and held BYU to 16.7 percent. BYU also outrebounded 36-34, but its 23-13 turnover ratio proved tough to overcome.

Kim Parker’s five straight points increased a BYU scoring run to 8-1, giving the Cougars a six-point lead after a points exchange to start the half. Two 3-minute silent streaks by BYU kept the Cougars’ score well below their average of 35 points in the first half. Free throws off a foul on Riley put the Waves only one point behind going into halftime with a score of 23-22.

BYU held Pepperdine to shooting only 22.6 percent from the field in the first half, but Pepperdine held the Cougars to 12.5 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Waves’ Lauren Bell was the only player in double figures at halftime with 10 on 50 percent shooting.

Pepperdine’s 8-0 run to start the second half left the Cougars reeling with a 30-23 deficit. Hamson broke the Waves’ run with a layup, but Pepperdine steals plagued BYU. The Waves took the largest lead of the game thus far on a Kelsey Patrick layup to go up 38-26.

Steed tried to energize the Cougars with only their second made 3-pointer of the night, but it wasn’t enough to push BYU past a double-figure deficit. Pepperdine maintained a 10-point lead or more until the two-minute warning when Riley took it to the basket for an old-fashioned 3-point play, cutting the Waves’ lead to seven.

BYU fouls sent Pepperdine to the line for five free throws to end the game 61-49.

Pepperdine’s Bell led the game with 26 points, shooting 64.3 percent from the field.

The Cougars return to the Marriott Center to take on Saint Mary’s at 1 p.m. Saturday. The conference rematch follows BYU’s celebration of female athletes as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which will take place starting at 9 a.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Postgame Notes

Team

The Cougars picked up 28 of their total points in the paint and had 12 second chance points.

BYU grabbed 36 rebounds to Pepperdine’s 34 marking the 16^th time this season that it has had more boards than its opponents.

Player

Kristen Riley tallied her third straight double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds for her sixth of the year and the 10^th of her career. The points mark her 11^th double-digit outing of the year and the 38^th overall.

Haley Steed recorded a game high in assists, dishing out eight. She also had 10 points, marking the ninth contest that she’s had double digits in points and the 37^th of her career, and had a team high in steals with three.

Sophomore center Jennifer Hamson came off the bench to tie her season best in blocks with five to go along with her five points and two rebounds.

Third Straight Road Game, at Pepperdine in WCC Action

Tied for first place in the latest WCC standing and on a nine-game win streak, the No. 22 Cougar women’s basketball team (20-3, 8-1) is set to play its third straight league game on the road.BYU travels to Malibu, Calif., to take on Pepperdine (10-10, 5-4) on Thurs., Feb. 2 at 7 p.m., PT from Firestone Fieldhouse on the Waves campus.

2011-12 Team Summary
- Shooting from field: (.449, 618-1375)
- Shooting from three-point line: (.362, 159-439)
- Shooting from free-throw line: (.727, 279-384)
- Average points per game: 72.8
- Average rebounds per game: 40.3
- Average assists per game: 18.8
- Average steals per game: 9.7
- Average blocks per game: 6.0
- Average turnovers per game: 16.0

2011-12 Player Summary
-Leading scorer: Senior Kristen Riley - averages 11.1 points
-Leading rebounder: Riley - averages 7.2 boards per game
-Assist & Steals leader: Senior co-captain Haley Steed - 154 and 48 respectively.
-Top blocker: Jennifer Hamson - 56 total
-Best field goal percentage: Dani Peterson - (.586, 68-116)
-Best free throw percentage: Kim Parker - (.820, 41-50)
-Best 3-pt field goal percentage: Stephanie Vermunt - (.557, 34-61)

Winningest Coach in BYU History
- BYU head coach Jeff Judkins became the all-time winningest coach in BYU women’s basketball history, picking up his 220th career win when the Cougars defeated Pepperdine, 80-56 Thurs. Jan. 12, 2012. Judkins record on that night was 220-111 (.665) in his 11th season as head coach of the Cougars. He passed former BYU coach Courtney Leishman (1977-89) who finished at BYU with a 219-124 (.638) record.

Record Breaking Players
- Haley Steed has recorded 479 assists as of 01/30/12, which places her in fourth place all-time. She needs 26 to tie for third place with All-American and current WNBA player Erin Thorn’s 505 career total.
- Steed has 195 steals to date and needs 34 to tie for seventh place with Karina Zapata’s career high 229.
- Steed has made 166 3-pointers as of 01/30/12 putting her in sixth place overall. She needs five to tie for fifth place with Thais Kidd's career best 171.
- Kristen Riley has 76 blocks as of 01/30/12 and needs three to tie for fifth place all-time with Cathy Nixon’s 79.
- Riley has grabbed 640 rebounds as of 1/30/12, putting her in eighth place overall. She needs 33 to tie for seventh with her sister Lauren Varley (Riley) who ended her career with a total of 673 rebounds.
- As of 01/30/12, 6-7 sophomore center Jennifer Hamson has tallied 101 blocks and needs 24 to tie for fourth place all-time with the 125 recorded by Jill Adams.

Cougs Break Into Top 25
The week of Jan. 23 and with an 18-3, 7-1 mark the team broke into the AP Poll with a No. 23 ranking. They receiving votes (1) the week of 1/16/12 as well as the week of 12/26/11 when the Cougars were 11-2. 

The week of 12/26/11 they also received one vote in the USA Today ESPN Coaches Poll. On Jan. 24 they got (5) votes in the USA Today ESPN Coaches Poll. In the poll for the week of Jan. 31 the team got (8) votes.

Last Time in the Polls
The last time that BYU was ranked in the polls was during the 2006-07 season.
On Monday, Nov. 13, 2006, the Cougars were ranked No. 24
On Friday, Nov. 17, 2006, the Cougars were ranked No. 18
On Wednesday, Nov. 27. 2006, the Cougars were ranked No. 23
On Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006, the Cougars were ranked No. 22

Win Streak
BYU is currently on a nine-game win streak, winning the last eight league games. Earlier this season the Cougars won 10 games in a row, which was the longest current winning streak in the West Coast Conference before losing its debut game competing in the WCC, a 48-54 decision at Saint Mary’s.

Last season BYU went on a 12-game win streak during the 2011 Mountain West Conference race.

The longest win streak in the program’s history is 15 games played from 12/31/92 to 2/26/93.

THURSDAY WCC OPPONENT
PEPPERDINE
Entering the week of Jan. 30, Pepperdine is in fourth place in the WCC standings with a (10-10, 5-4) mark. Most recently the Waves lost on the road to San Diego 70-39. Pepperdine has three players that are scoring double digits in points led by 15.2 from Jasmine Jackson who also grabs team high 5.1 boards a game. Next is Lauren Bell who contributes 12.4 points and gets 3.5 rebounds a contest. She’s followed by Katie Menton who tallies 12.2 points while grabbing 4.8 rebounds per game. The Waves are averaging 61.1 points while shooting 36 percent from the field, 28 percent from behind the arc and 72 percent at the free throw line. Jackson has the most assists on the squad with 40 and teammate Bell gets the most steals with 58 to date. Head coach Julie Rousseau is in her eighth season at the helm of the women’s basketball program.

Series Breakdown
Overall Series Record: BYU leads the series 3-1
BYU Record in Provo: 2-0
BYU Record in Malibu: 0-1
BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0
BYU Record under coach Judkins: 2-0
BYU Record in Overtime Games: n/a

Last Meeting
In the first matchup between these two new WCC foes, the Cougars picked up the 80-56 victory in Provo on 1/12/12. The win gave coach Judkins his 220th career win making him the winningest coach in BYU women’s basketball history.
BYU senior Haley Steed set a career high with 14 assists, collecting her third career double-double with 11 points in addition to four steals and three rebounds. Freshman guard Lexi Eaton had a team-high 15 points, to go with three steals, two blocks and a career-best seven boards.
Tied 15-15 early, an initial 9-0 run helped BYU jump out to an early 24-15 lead behind strong play by Steed. After a steal and jumper in transition, Steed assisted on two-straight 3-point baskets first by Stephanie Vermunt and then by Eaton.
The Cougars went into halftime up by 10 points, 37-27, thanks to Eaton’s hot hand. The freshman netted nine of BYU’s last 16 points before halftime over the final seven minutes of the first period.
The Cougars turned to center Jennifer Hamson off the bench in the second half, using the sophomore to bury the Waves with a 13-2 run to take a decisive 58-38 lead with 12:16 remaining. Hamson scored the first nine points of the run on layups and BYU held Pepperdine to a single field goal over the final nine minutes for the victory. Hamson finished with 13 points and five blocks in 19 minutes of play and was joined by Vermunt’s 12 points on 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc in giving the Cougar bench a 30-4 margin over their Pepperdine counterparts.

Travel Itinerary
Team Flight: (1/1/12): Delta #1299 departs Salt Lake City at 11:20 p.m., arriving in Los Angeles at 12:27 p.m.
Team Flight: (2/3/12): Delta #2190 departs Los Angeles at 10:15 a.m., arriving in Salt Lake City at 1:05 p.m.
Hotel: Marriott Warner Center Woodland Hills, 21850 Oxnard Street, 818-887-4800, 818-340-5893, fax.

What’s Next
BYU then returns home for its next five league games beginning on Feb. 4 when they host Saint Mary’s in a 1 p.m. tip off.
The following week No. 20 Gonzaga will make its first ever trip to the Marriott Center on Feb. 9. That game tips off at 7 p.m. and will air live worldwide on BYUtv.
On Thurs., Feb. 16 the Cougars will host San Francisco in a 7 p.m., start. The game against the Dons will air live worldwide on BYUtv.