PROVO, Utah - The University of San Diego women's basketball team's second half rally came up short in a heartbreaking 54-50 loss to Brigham Young University Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game at the Marriott Center.
With the loss, the Toreros fall to 15-4 overall, and fall to 6-3 in the WCC. With the win, the Cougars improve to 15-5 overall, and move to 7-2 in the WCC, remaining in second place in the WCC.
Sophia Ederaine paced the Torero offense with a double-double, as she had a 14-points, and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. Malina Hood also had a game-high 14 points for the Toreros on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. As a team, USD shot 31.1% from e field, and out rebounded the Cougars 42-32.
In the first half, USD took advantage of a poor BYU shooting effort over the first few minutes of the game, as the Cougars went 1-for-6 to open things up, leading USD to a 7-3 lead over the first 3:33 of the game.
BYU then began to make some shots, and remained close to the Toreros over the next seven minutes, and the Cougars would grab their first lead of the game at 16-13 on a Lindsey Eaton 3-pointer with 9:56 to go in the frame.
Then with the score tied at 19-all, the Cougars would take advantage of the Toreros going ice cold from the field, and used a 11-2 run over the final 5:44 of the frame to take a 30-21 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Toreros took advantage of the Cougars ice cold shooting, as BYU connected on just three of their first 14 shots (21.1%) over 11 minutes, while the Toreros went 8-of-19 (42%) from the field over the same span, to pull even with BYU at 39-all with 9:17 to go.
Both teams then went into a shooting slump over the next three plus minutes, as no baskets were scored for either team, and both teams managed to hit a pair of free throws to remain even at 41-all with 6:10 to go.
BYU then went on a 5-0 run to take the momentum and a 46-41 lead with 3:15 to go, but USD didn't fade away, as they pulled back to within two at 52-50 on a Malina Hood 3-pointer with 41 seconds left.
On BYU's very next possession, they missed a jumper, and USD grabbed the board, then Katherine Hamilton launched a 3-pointer that did not fall with four seconds left, and USD was forced to foul the Cougars. BYU then hit a pair of free throws with two seconds left to seal the win.
The Toreros will return to action on Thursday, as they remain on the road and travel to the Bay Area to take on Santa Clara University in a 7 p.m. WCC game.
