Purcell and Broadhead record career-bests as Cougars fall to Beavers, 65-56

BYU vs. Oregon State Box Score

WAILUKU, Hawaii - In BYU's second and final contest of the Maui Wahine Classic, senior Kalani Purcell and junior Cassie Broadhead recorded a career-highs in points as the Cougars fell to Oregon State 65-56 on Saturday at the War Memorial Sports Complex.  

"This was a great win by Oregon State," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. "We had our chances but we didn’t capitalize on them, and we didn’t have a good third quarter. We need to have more support from our players and that didn’t happen in this game."

Purcell finished the game with 21 points, two more than her previous record of 19. She also finished the game with 10 rebounds, claiming a double-double. She also recorded three assists. Broadhead also logged a career-best 20 points, two more than her previous best of 18. She also contributed six rebounds before she fouled out of the contest. Purcell and Broadhead were the only Cougars to score in double figures against the Beavers.

Senior Kristine Nielson ended the game with seven points and senior Makenzi Pulsipher added four points and five rebounds. 

The first period was one of tie games and turnovers for both teams. BYU found the first points of the game with a Pulsipher jumper only eight seconds into the contest, and Oregon State shortly tied the game up. But each team then went scoreless for the next three minutes, turning the ball over on both ends of the court.

Points from Broadhead, Nielson and Purcell kept giving the Cougars brief leads, but the Beavers tied it back up at four, six and seven throughout the first period. Another jumper from Pulsipher was quickly followed by two Beaver 3-pointers as the Cougars trailed for the first time of the game, and the first period ended 13-10.

The Cougars continued to trail much of the second quarter despite points from Purcell, Micaelee Orton, who came off the bench for BYU, and Broadhead. A 6-0 run for the Beavers that began at the 7:23 mark ended just over a minute later, when Purcell hit a jumper at the 6:06 mark.  But missed shots from BYU and points for Oregon State kept coming, and the Beavers found their large lead of the game to be 13, at 33-20 with 1:43 remaining. That score would hold into the halftime locker room.

The Cougars got on the board quick into the third period with five-straight points from Purcell and Broadhead. BYU was able to close the Oregon State edge to only five at the 3:57 mark, forcing the Beavers into a timeout. That score held until Neilson found the bucket for two which was followed by a Brodhead jumper with 14 seconds left, and the Cougars were within one. But a 3-pointer from the Beavers again lengthened their advantage to four with only three seconds left in the period, 41-37.

Both teams failed to score a point in the final period until nearly three mintues in, but it was the Beavers who found the basket first. They hit a 3-pointer that was followed by a BYU jumper by Nielson. A jumper followed by a Purcell trey which brought the contest closer, 46-44. A sudden Beaver 8-2 run had them ahead of the Cougars by ten at the 3:52 mark, 54-44. Oregon State was able to maintain a lead for the remainder of the game, despite the Cougers pulling within five, and BYU fell to the Beavers 65-56.

The Cougars will return back to Provo to take on Weber State at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 11:00 a.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143. 

Postgame Notes

Team

At halftime, BYU had grabbed 16 rebounds while Oregon State had pulled down 24. The Cougars finished the game with 34 total rebounds. Oregon State had 45.

BYU had the advantage in steals through the first half with five to Oregon State’s two. The Cougars finished with six steals to Oregon State’s three.

Oregon State dished out five assists in the first half of the game. BYU had just recorded one assist.

For the fourth time this year, two players finished in double digit scoring. Purcell (21), Broadhead (20).

Player

Kalani Purcell led all BYU players through the first 20 minutes of action with six points and three rebounds. She finished the contest with her second double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. The points were career and game highs while the rebounds tied for game bests. Purcell also dished out a team-best three assists.

Before fouling out of the game, Cassie Broadhead had picked up career highs in points with 20 for her sixth game in double figure scoring. She grabbed six rebounds, had two steals and played all 40 minutes.

After 20 minute of play, Makenzi Pulsipher had scored four points, grabbed three rebounds and had recorded a team-best three steals. For the game, she finished with four points, five rebounds and a game-high four steals.