BYU hosts Pacific Saturday

BYU Game Notes vs. Pacific

PROVO, Utah — Midway through the second week of West Coast Conference action, BYU women’s basketball (9-4, 1-1) is set to host its second league foe this week.

Pacific (8-5, 1-1) comes to the Marriott Center Saturday, Jan. 2, in a 2 p.m. start. The game can be seen live on BYUtv and will be simulcast on BYU Radio on Sirius XM 143.

BYU at a Glance
Entering the second week of WCC action, BYU has three players that are scoring in double figures. All-American senior guard Lexi Eaton Rydalch leads the way with 23.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher follows with 11.7 points. All-American Kalani Purcell, a junior college transfer from Hutchinson Community College and Hamilton, New Zealand, is the third player scoring in double digits with 10.5 points and with a team best 11.9 rebounds is averaging a double-double.

The Cougars are scoring 67.5 points per game, shooting 42 percent from the field, 68 percent from the free throw line and 36 percent from 3-point range. BYU is holding opponents to 60.7 points per game.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 23.2 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 11.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 3.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison Pulsipher, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32, K. Purcell, .85 bpg

PACIFIC at a Glance
Pacific was selected to finish sixth in this year’s WCC preseason poll. Last season they compiled a 21-10 record and had a 13-5 league mark. Pacific also competed in the first round of the WNIT postseason tournament.

After a 69-56 loss at San Diego, the Tigers have an 8-6, 1-2 record heading into Saturday’s game in the Marriott Center.

For Pacific, Hailie Eackles tops the leaderboard in scoring averaging 14.2 points per game. GeAnna Luaulu-Summers follows with 10.9 points and a team-best 5.1 rebounds a contest. Rounding out the double figure scoring for the Tigers is Desire Finnie who contributes 10.0 points per game and 3.0 boards.

The Tigers are scoring 68.2 points per game while shooting 37 percent from the field, 31 percent from behind the arc and 67 percent from the free throw line.

• Head coach: Bradley Davis, First year
• Team’s leading scorer: #23 H. Eackles, 14.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #15 G. Luaulu-Summers, 5.2 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 G. Luaulu-Summers, 4.1 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #22 D. Finnie, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20 U. Coleman, .85 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-3. In last year’s regular season meetings, each team won on it’s own home court. When playing in Provo, Pacific has a 2-3 mark.

On January 15, the Cougars recorded the 89-72 victory. Morgan Bailey and Lexi Eaton combined for 63 points in the win. Eaton finished the game with 32 points and eight assists while Bailey picked up her eighth double-double of the year tying her career-high in points with 31 to go along with 11 rebounds. Kylie Maeda added six points and career-high nine assists in the winning effort. Makenzi Morrison also dished out a career-high six assists to go with her seven points. BYU shot 55 percent from the field, 64 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Pacific shot 41 percent from the field, 45 percent from behind the arc and 69 percent at the charity stripe. Lualu-Summers led the Tigers with 18 points off the bench. Unique Coleman contributed 11 points with 13 from N. Queenland.

On Feb. 14 in Stockton, the Tigers picked up the 86-82 win behind 17 points from Hailie Eackles. Madison Parrish scored 15 while Kendall Kenyon picked up a double-double from 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Lexi Eaton’s 29 points along with nine rebounds led BYU. Morgan Bailey had another double-double with 28 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. Kylie Maeda contributed 11 points with 10 coming from Makenzi Morrison.

BYU had to come from behind in the contest and got close but eventually fell by four points.

Next Up
After Saturday’s home game vs. the Tigers, the Cougar women head to northern California for their next two league games. BYU is at Santa Clara on Thursday and at San Francisco on Saturday.