Cougars fall in final minutes 51-45 to San Diego

SAN DIEGO — Despite a game-high 19 points from Paisley Johnson, the BYU women’s basketball team fell 51-45 to San Diego on Saturday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

BYU at San Diego Final Box Score

"This was a tough loss for us," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I think their pressure bothered us. We didn’t execute our game plan and didn’t put the ball where it needed to be.  We didn’t execute on offense or defense the last four minutes of the game and that’s the difference." 

Johnson tallied 19 points on six of 15 shooting to lead all scorers. She also added three steals, two assists and one rebound. Brenna Chase Drollinger, Shalae Salmon and Maria Albiero each recorded six points, while Sara Hamson contributed four points to go along with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two assists.  

With the Cougars (13-9, 8-4) up 33-31 at the end of the third quarter, BYU opened the fourth with back-to-back layups by Johnson and Jasmine Moody to take a 37-31 lead. A baseline jumper by Hamson put the Cougars up 39-35, but consecutive baskets by the Toreros (14-9, 8-4) tied the game at 39 with 4:26 remaining.

Four more unanswered points by San Diego gave the Toreros a 43-39 lead with 3:09 left in the game. Teams then traded baskets, with a layup by Albiero bringing BYU within two, 45-43, with 1:12 remaining.

Although the Cougars forced a San Diego miss on the following possession, BYU then came up empty on the offensive end, and had to intentionally foul the Toreros to stop the clock with 20 seconds left. San Diego proceeded to convert the following two free-throw attempts to go up 47-43, and the Cougars once again came up empty on their following offensive possession.

The Toreros made two more free throws to go up 49-43, and after Albiero scored a layup on the other end San Diego sealed the game with two final free throws to secure the 51-45 win.  

Drollinger opened the game with a driving layup to put BYU up 2-0. Johnson drained a pullup jumper and added a pair of free throws to tie the game at six with two minutes left in the first quarter. San Diego then made a basket to take an 8-6 lead at the end of the first.

The Toreros scored four quick points to open the second quarter, but the Cougars responded with a mid-range jumper by Johnson and a basket down low by Shalae Salmon to come back within two, 12-10. Back-to-back layups by Salmon and Johnson then tied the game at 14 with three minutes left in the half. A skyhook by Salmon brought the score to 17-16 for San Diego at the break.

Drollinger found Babalu Ugwu for a wide-open layup and Albiero used a euro-step move on a fast break to get open for a layup to bring the score to 22-20 for the Toreros three minutes into the second half. San Diego then used a 6-1 run to go up 28-21 before a Johnson layup brought BYU within five, 28-23.

A pair of free throws by Hamson followed by a Drollinger 3-pointer in the corner tied the game at 28 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Two more free throws by Johnson and one by Drollinger capped off a 10-0 Cougar run and put BYU up 31-28. Drollinger then set Johnson up for a layup as the Cougars held a 33-31 advantage at the end of the third.

BYU returns home to host Saint Mary’s on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. MST at the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and on the BYUtv App. Tickets are available on byutickets.com.

Team Notes

• With the 51-45 loss to San Diego, BYU is 13-9, 8-4 on the season and is tied for second place in the WCC race with the Toreros.
• The Cougars shot 32.7 percent from the field and 76.9 percent from the free-throw line.
• BYU grabbed 28 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and recorded nine steals in the game.

Player Notes

• Paisley Johnson led the way in scoring for BYU in the first half with eight points along with one rebound and one steal. For the game, she picked up her 16th game with 10+points finishing with a game-high 19 points. Her sat line also included a team-best three steals along with two assists and one rebound.
• Sara Hamson recorded two blocks in the first 20 minutes of action while also pulling down five rebounds. She concluded the contest tying for game highs in rebounds with 10 boards along with four points, two assists, one steal and a team-best two blocks.
• Shalae Salmon came off the bench tallying six points and grabbing three rebounds.
• Jasmine Moody pulled down six rebounds and scored two points in the road loss.