BYU falls 61-58 to Loyola Marymount in WCC action

LOS ANGELES – Despite having a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter, the BYU women’s basketball team lost its first conference game of the season, falling 61-58 to LMU at Gersten Pavilion on Thursday.

BYU vs. Loyola Marymount Final Box Score

“We had a great comeback and made some good plays to get back in the game,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “We needed to execute the game plan better in the last closing seconds. We need to start the game off better then we have been, especially on the road. We keep having to play from behind and that’s hard especially on the road.”

Paisley Johnson led the team with 16 points, three rebounds and a team-best six assists. Jasmine Moody recorded 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sarah Hamson contributed a game-high four blocks, along with 11 rebounds and one steal.

The Cougars opened the first quarter with back-to-back layups by Babalu Ugwu in the paint. However, the Lions jumped ahead to a 16-6 lead with less than three minutes left on the clock in the first quarter. Brenna Chase scored a three-point jumper before LMU ended the first quarter with the advantage, 16-11.

Free throws and layups by four BYU players cut into the Lions lead in the second quarter, 23-19. With less than a minute left in the first half, layups by Moody and Shalae Salmon cut the deficit to three, 26-23.  

BYU came out in the third period with back-to-back layups in the paint by Johnson to take its first lead of the game, 27-26. A 3-point bucket by the Lions gave them the lead back at 34-30. BYU kept it within four after Johnson and Moody hit a pair of layups in the paint and headed into the final quarter down 42-38.

Hamson hit a jumper to make the score 42-40 for BYU with nine minutes remaining in the game. With only three minutes left in the game, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to bring the score within four, 54-50. Johnson hit a 3-pointer in the last two minutes of the game to cut the deficit down to one point, 53-54.

Back-to-back free throws by Moody gave the Cougars their second lead of the game, 55-54. After the third timeout called in the final minute on the clock, a Johnson free throw extended BYU’s lead 58-56. LMU responded with three points in the last ten seconds to take the game, 61-58.

On the game, BYU shot 44 percent from the field, 13 percent from 3 and 67 percent from the free-throw line. 

The Cougars continue WCC play on the road as they face Pepperdine on Feb. 2, at 2 p.m. PST. The game will have a live video stream on theW.tv.

Postgame Notes

Team
With the 61-58 loss at LMU, BYU is now 17-4, 9-1 on the season. The Lions snapped BYU’s 11-game streak.

In the rebounds category, BYU grabbed 21 in the first half to LMU’s 19. At the conclusion of the game, the Cougars pulled down 37 rebounds to the Lions 34.

For the fifth time on the year, BYU had two players score in double digits. Paisley Johnson (16), Jasmine Moody (13).

LMU went into halftime leading the way in assists with nine. The Cougars had dished out eight. For the game, both teams finished with 18 each.

In the game, BYU shot 44 percent from the field, 67 percent from the free throw line and 13 percent from behind 3-point range.

Player
Sophomore guard Paisley Johnson picked up her 18th game with 10+points with a team-high 16. She dished out a team-best six assists and pulled down three rebounds.

Senior forward Jasmine Moody came off the bench and recorded her third and second-straight game with double-digit points finishing with 13. She also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Sophomore center Sara Hamson recorded a game-high four blocks while grabbing a team-best 11 rebounds and one steal.

Junior guard Brenna Chase finished the game with eight points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.