BYU women's basketball: Cougars overpower Southern Utah; UVU loses

CEDAR CITY — The BYU women's basketball team posted its second road win in a row Tuesday, downing Southern Utah 72-39

The Cougars (3-1) were led by freshman Alexis Kaufusi, who recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Coriann Wood also finished with 12 points and added seven rebounds.

"I'm really happy with how our team executed our game plan," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "Coriann played a really good game and so did Kaufusi."

The Cougars shot 46.2 percent from the field compared to Southern Utah's 28 percent. BYU went 71 percent from the free-throw line and 11 Cougars scored at least two points in the victory.

The Thunderbirds were kept from scoring for eight whole minutes in the first half while BYU went on a 17-0 run to put them up 23-5. At the 10-minute mark in the first half, eight Cougars had already put points on the board.

The Cougars forced seven Southern Utah turnovers in the first five minutes of play. The Thunderbirds finished with 25 turnovers compared to BYU's 17.

"I'm very happy with our first half effort," Judkins said, "and I think our performance tonight really showed our team's depth."

The first four minutes of the second half were pretty quiet on both sides with a layup from Cougar Kim Parker and a 3-pointer from Cougar Haley Hall as the only points on the board for either team.

BYU recorded 20 steals in the win over the Thunderbirds, five of those coming from Hall who also finished with seven points. The Cougars finished with 44 rebounds compared to Southern Utah's 33.

The Cougars now return to the Marriott Center on Friday to play Kansas State at 3:30 p.m.

BOISE STATE 79, UTAH VALLEY 55: At Orem, a big first half carried Boise State past Utah Valley, handing the 2-4 Wolverines their third-straight loss.

The Broncos (5-0) were firing on all cylinders early, hitting seven of their first 10 shots from the 3-point line on the way to 50 percent (17-for-34) shooting overall in the first half. As remarkable as the accuracy may have been BSU's offensive balance, with seven different players each hitting once from beyond the arc.

BSU's hot start, combined with just a 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) first half for the Wolverines, led to a 20-point halftime lead, 46-26, for the visitors.

Julie Smith scored a season-high 23 to lead the Wolverines and also had a team-high eight rebounds.