BYU women's basketball: Cougars knock off TCU, clinch No. 2 seed in MWC

PROVO — Haley Hall sealed the deal for the BYU Cougars by draining a trey with time running off the shot clock, not only giving the Cougars a victory over Mountain West Conference No. 1 seed TCU, but also securing the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament.

The 70-65 final score came after the Cougars boasted a 16-point lead with only eight minutes to go. But the Horned Frogs worked long and hard to slash the deficit down to two points with less than a minute remaining, giving Hall her chance to shoot for heroics.

With the Cougars clinging to a 65-63 lead and less than 20 seconds left to play, Jazmine Foreman drove to the hole with the shot clock running out and kicked the ball out to Hall, who confidently put up the 3-point shot, sinking it and giving BYU the 68-63 advantage. She finished the game off with a pair of freebies, putting it out of reach for the Horned Frogs.

"I couldn't believe it when I looked up and it was a two-point game. That last play, Jazmine drove and found me. It was a great pass, and I knew we needed it when I shot it," Hall said.

Added BYU coach Jeff Judkins, "Haley likes the ball in those situations. She shot the ball with a lot of confidence."

Hall finished with an impressive stat line all the way around, scoring 17 points, picking up six assists, five steals and three boards in a great effort.

The Cougars came out of the gate strong as they usually do, but they kept it up well enough that they were able to snare a 16-point advantage midway through the second half and never allow the Horned Frogs a single lead all game long.

As usual, it was the press that allowed the Cougars to do what they wanted to on both ends of the court and get the big leads that gave them just enough cushion to finish off with the victory.

"We wanted to come out tonight and really make their guards work hard bringing the ball up. But free throws single-handedly brought them back into the game. I think we need to be more aggressive on offense and get fouled more," Hall said after the game in which the Horned Frogs stopped the Cougars' momentum with free throws through much of the second half, finishing with 21-of-28 from the line as compared to 10-of-13 for the Cougars.

"When we have the rolls going, we have to do a better job and not stop that momentum," said Judkins about the huge number of fouls called in the second half.

Once again the Cougars were balanced on the offensive end of the court with four players reaching double figures, including 12 points by Kristen Riley and 10 rebounds that gave her a double-double.