BYU women's basketball: Cougars force 28 turnovers, crush T-Birds

PROVO — It could have been better, but it certainly got the job done.

The BYU women's basketball team built a big first-half lead, then cruised to a big 82-49 win over Southern Utah (2-6) on Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said his team had a few things on its mind that they had to deal with.

"I think it was a challenge for them for three reasons: coming home from Hawaii (where they got three wins)," Judkins said. "Plus my girls are worried about finals, and then trying not to look forward to playing your rival on Saturday."

Causing a slew of turnovers (18) that included nine steals, the Cougars forged to a 35-15 halftime lead.

The large advantage came despite BYU playing some sloppy basketball, shooting just 37 percent and turning the ball over nine times in the first half.

The Cougars (8-2) continued to pull away after halftime, going on a 17-5 run to begin the second half.

Although BYU had a sizeable lead most of the game, they didn't completely pull away until midway through the second half, when they started to flow more offensively.

During a stretch of about four minutes, the Cougars outscored the Thunderbirds 14-0, increasing their lead to 69-26. Six of those points came from Stephanie Rovetti, who finished with all of her points from the free-throw line (8-of-8). She also ended with four steals.

"I think they just decided to play and focus and let it come," Judkins said. "When they play like that, they're like a machine."

Kim Parker finished with a game-high 17 points, and also collected four steals. She said that the team has improved since the beginning of the season.

"I think everyone knows their roles better now," Parker said. "In the first half we were forcing some things, but if we let the things that Coach sets up for us work, then we play well."

Judkins unloaded his bench, giving 16 players at least three minutes of playing time each. As a result, 13 players got in the scoring column. Haley Steed and Stephanie Vermunt both scored nine points, while Steed had six assists and six rebounds.

Kristen Riley contributed eight points and six rebounds, while Jennifer Hamson pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and tied a career-high five blocks.

On the other hand, Southern Utah's starters remained in the game until the end, something that Judkins said his reserves benefited from.

"(JR Payne) has to get her team ready; she has to do what she needs to," he said. "The (bench players) work hard, and they tried to run what we we're doing. We kept the press on because I wanted the bench players to work on it and run it."

The Thunderbirds, who shot only 21 percent and committed 28 turnovers, were led by Tayler Anderson with 12 points. She also had seven rebounds. Hailey Mandelko contributed 11 points, while Kimie Hawkins finished with a game-high eight rebounds while putting in seven points.

BYU plays host to Utah Saturday at 3 p.m.