No. 1 seed BYU set to defend its WCC Championship crown

BYU vs. Pepperdine Notes

PROVO, Utah— BYU women’s basketball (24-5, 16-2) enters the 2016 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championships as the No. 1 seed after winning its first WCC regular season title. The Cougars are the defending tournament champions.

BYU will play in one of two quarterfinal games on Friday at noon PT. The Cougars will play No. 9 seed Pepperdine (6-23, 2-16).

No. 1 Seed BYU at a Glance
After leading the West Coast Conference in scoring, and becoming the all-time leading scorer in WCC women’s basketball history, Lexi Eaton Rydalch was named Player of the Year. Teammate Kalani Purcell was named WCC Newcomer of the Year with head coach Jeff Judkins picking up his first Coach of the Year award since joining the WCC.

BYU took three of the top four league awards, with San Diego’s Maya Hood being named the Defensive Player of the Year. The Cougars have won four straight player of the year honors.

Rydalch and Purcell were named to the 2015-16 All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team with Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher being named to the Second Team. Kylie Maeda was an All-WCC Honorable Mention selection.

BYU broke into the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll last week at No. 22 after being one spot out of the top 25 the previous week. With the loss at Gonzaga, the team is two spots out of the top 25 in the poll released Tuesday. The Cougars were last in the Coaches Poll in the 2013-14 season when they finished the year ranked 18th after getting votes heading into that year’s WCC tournament. That season BYU advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to UConn, who went on to win the NCAA Championship.

Three Cougar players are scoring in double figures with a team-best 24.1 points from senior All-American Lexi Eaton Rydalch. She’s BYU’s second all-time leading scorer and the WCC’s all-time leading scorer. Rydalch ranks second on the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.7 boards a game. Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher is second contributing 12.7 points to the Cougars’ offensive threat. All-American Kalani Purcell, a JC transfer from Hutchinson Community College and Hamilton, New Zealand, rounds out the scoring with 11.5 points, and with a team-best 12.5 rebounds, is averaging a double-double. Purcell tops the league in rebounds and assists while Rydalch leads the way in scoring.

The Cougars are scoring 69.1 points and grabbing 38.0 rebounds while shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 69.0 percent from the free-throw line and 36.9 percent from 3-point range. BYU is holding opponents to 60.8 points per game.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 24.1 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 12.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.8 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher, 2.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32, K. Purcell, .89 bpg

No. 9 seed PEPPERDINE at a Glance
Pepperdine enters the WCC tournament as the No. 9 seed with a 2-16 mark and a 6-23 overall record.

Erica Ogwumike leads the way in points and rebounds for the Waves with 18.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, respectively.

Pepperdine is averaging 63.2 points per game, grabbing 35.8 rebounds, while shooting 38.6 percent from the field, 32.8 percent from behind the arc and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Ryan Weisenberg, Third season
• Team’s leading scorer: #13 E. Ogwumike, 18.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #13 E. Ogwumike, 7.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #11 P Fecske, 3.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #13 E. Ogwumike, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 K. Brockway, .59 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series with Pepperdine, 12-2.

The Cougars and Waves have had one previous meeting in the WCC tournament. They played in the quarterfinals of the 2013-14 championship. In that meeting, Pepperdine was the No. 10 seed and BYU was the No. 2 seed. The Cougars won that contest 77-51.

BYU swept this season’s series over Pepperdine, winning in Provo 69-64 on Jan. 23 and 77-66 on Jan. 30 in Malibu.

In the game at Pepperdine, BYU was led by a game-high 37 points from Rydalch and a double-double from Purcell, who tallied 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. The Cougars shot 47.3 percent from the field, 27.3 from 3-point range and 75.9 percent from the free throw line. BYU outrebounded the Waves 37-35, had 11 assists to their 10 and had the advantage in steals 11 to 6.

In Provo, the Cougars recorded the 69-64 victory led by 21 points from Rydalch, 16 from Purcell and 13 from Pulsipher. Purcell had a career-high 24 rebounds, collecting a double-double in the game. The 24 rebounds are the second-most in BYU history in a single game. She nearly had a triple-double with a game-best eight assists and went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. BYU shot 36.2 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from the 3-point line and 67.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Coming Up
A win in the quarterfinals would send the Cougars to one of two semifinal games to be played on Monday, March 7 at noon PT.