BYU women's fast start upended by No. 22 West Virginia

PROVO — Whether propelled by an upset win over No. 19 Texas Tech three nights ago or motivated by AJ Dybantsa's freshman-record 43 a few hours prior against Utah, BYU women's basketball started fast Saturday night against No. 22 West Virginia.

But the Mountaineers didn't travel 1,928 miles to slow down.

Gia Cooke had 19 points with four assists, and Sydney Woodley scored 21 as West Virginia dropped BYU 91-77 in front of 3,256 fans at the Marriott Center.

Jordan Harrison added 13 points and six assists for the Mountaineers (17-4, 7-2 Big 12), who got 13 points and 11 rebounds from Carter McCray and scored 29 points off 25 turnovers to open the two-game road trip that continues Tuesday at Utah.

Delaney Gibb led all scorers with 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and Olivia Hamlin scored 13 for the Cougars (15-5, 4-4 Big 12). Marya Hudgins had 10 points and seven rebounds for BYU in her best game since going for a season-high 17 in a 75-72 loss Jan. 6 at Arizona.

But West Virginia out-rebounded BYU 32-29, held the Cougars to seven offensive rebounds, and pounded out 50 points in the paint to win the final three quarters.

"That's the best offensive rebounding team in our league, and we had a goal to try to get them under nine, which was below their average," West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg said. "We're a much better rebounding team this year than we have been in my previous two years, so that it was something we wanted to be and it was an emphasis in this game.

"We could not give them extra possessions or they will make us pay — and they did in a couple of possessions, when they got us on a few."

BYU's seven offensive rebounds included four team boards, limiting the Cougars to just 9 second-chance points for a team that ranks among the top rebounding squads in the Big 12, including No. 1 in offensive rebounds.

"They were really tough today," said Kambree Barber, the Cougars' second-leading rebounder who was limited to just one rebound to go with 5 points and two blocks in 20 minutes. "I think moving forward; yeah, they're going to be tough. But we've just got to be tougher."

Gibb had 7 points in the first quarter, and BYU connected on 7 of its first 10 attempts from the field to jump out to a 20-7 lead eight minutes into the game. The Cougars were "flying around" and making "all kinds of shots" early, and had the visitors flummoxed while shooting 6-of-15 from the field and just 1-of-5 from 3-point range.

But the Mountaineers scored 9 points off seven first-quarter turnovers, and ended the period on a 9-1 run to pull within 21-16.

Harrison capped a 15-3 run to give West Virginia a 35-32 lead in the second quarter. But Barber drained a triple with 2:18 left in the half to keep the Cougars in the game, but Cooke finished with 10 points and two assists in the first half to help the Mountaineers to a 41-38 halftime edge.

"We had a great start, handled what they were doing, and we were getting stops and turning it into points on the other end. But they're a really good team, well-coached, and they just wouldn't go away. We knew they wouldn't.

"We had a really hard time getting stops tonight," he added. "Ninety-one points on our home court is a lot."

Cooke went to work in the second half, scoring 8 in the third quarter as West Virginia forced six turnovers and out-rebounded the Cougars 12-9 to stretch the lead to 62-55.

Hudgins capped a 6-0 spurt in less than a minute to pull the Cougars within 80-71 with 2:58 remaining. But Woodley converted a steal into a fastbreak layup moments later, and the Mountaineers never looked back.

BYU travels to Oklahoma State on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. MST, ESPN+) before returning home to host in-state rival Utah next Saturday at 2 p.m. MST.

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