No. 16 BYU Women Comeback To Defeat Gonzaga In The Kennel
Feb 5, 2022, 6:47 PM
BYU Cougars guard Paisley Johnson Harding (13) floats up a shot with Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Jill Townsend (32) defending during the WCC women's basketball tournament finals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Gonzaga won 43-42. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s basketball didn’t let one loss turn into a losing streak. The 16th ranked Cougars took down Gonzaga 62-50 in Spokane.
After the first half of action, it appeared BYU was on their way to a second consecutive loss as they went into the halftime locker room against the Zags down 35-20. But in the second half, a combination of things happened, BYU’s star guards in Shaylee Gonzales and Paisley Harding took over on the offensive end. Then on the defensive side, BYU locked down to only 15 points in the second half.
No. Better. Feeling. pic.twitter.com/v4rVLallbr
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) February 6, 2022
BYU kept Gonzaga in check to only three points in the third quarter to get them in a position to take over in the final 10 minutes.
To open the fourth quarter, BYU popped off a 12-0 run to create separation from Gonzaga, and they never looked back after that.
“It is tough to win here. Really tough to win,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. I expected our to compete and challenged them after the first half and I am so proud of how they responded.”
Harding played with stitches to help second-half comeback
Paisley Harding finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the way for BYU. The super senior guard put together 22 points while navigating a cut under her eye that forced her to get stitches. In the second half, she returned to action and was vital in BYU mounting the comeback.
Gonzales was held scoreless through the first three quarters, but delivered in the clutch with an 11-point fourth quarter.
Forward Lauren Gustin scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to help BYU improve to 19-2 overall and 9-1 in WCC play.
BYU Women’s Basketball hands Gonzaga first WCC loss
BYU hands Gonzaga their first loss in WCC play. The Zags drop to 8-1 and 17-5 overall on the season. It’s a big win for BYU as it gives them the current tiebreaker over the Zags, but the two teams have another meeting coming up on February 19 at the Marriott Center.
Next up for BYU is a Thursday home game against Pepperdine in the Marriott Center.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
