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SALT LAKE CITY — Through the first nine games of the season, Kylie Maeda has been a facilitator for the BYU women’s basketball team, passing the ball at a rate of 4.2 assists per game and setting up her teammates to make the big plays.
On Saturday afternoon, her role changed a bit. But she didn’t miss a beat.
Maeda scored a career-high 16 points, and Morgan Bailey added a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds as BYU held off host Utah 60-56 in a noon tipoff at the Huntsman Center.
“Kylie’s not afraid to take it,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “The biggest thing, and why she’s a great point guard, is she doesn’t care what she does. It’s whatever the team needs. She’ll do it with defense, shooting or whatever it is. That’s why she plays 35 minutes per game, why she starts, and why she’s a big part of this team.”
Maeda shot 6 of 9 from the field, including a 3-pointer when teammate and leading scorer Lexi Eaton went down with a knee injury a little more than five minutes into the second half.
But Maeda drained the shot, and the Cougars got defensive until Eaton returned a few minutes later as they clung to a 45-39 lead with 11:45 to play.
“I didn’t personally feel pressure, but we all knew (Eaton) was on a roll coming in,” said Maeda, who went 2-for-2 from behind the arc. “We all had to do our part, and keep the lead until she could get back into the game.”
We did a good job coming out with a lot of energy from the start. We jumped on them quick. We were filled with a lot of confidence, and everyone was hitting shots. That made us feel that much better: everyone contributed.
–BYU point guard Kylie Maeda
The Utes (4-5) pulled the game back within two possessions for most of the second half. Paige Crozon swished back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot on the left elbow to tie the game at 47-47. The pair of triples came during Utah’s 10-4 run that finished with the Utes pulling even at 49-49 on Tanaeya Boclair’s drive to the rim with 6:53 remaining.
BYU (7-3) followed with a run of its own, going up 53-49 on Bailey’s hook shot with 5:45 left to play. The senior from Timpanogos High School tallied the third double-double of her career, converting on 8-of-15 shots from the field.
The Cougars have now won back-to-back games at the Huntsman Center to move to 41-62 all-time against the Utes. Utah won last year’s game in Provo, 82-74 in double overtime.
“They never quit. I’ve had so many games with them where they get down, and they keep chomping away,” Judkins said of Utah, who overcame a game-high nine-point lead in the first half. “We missed some easy baskets (early), and I think we could’ve gone up more. But Utah doesn’t beat themselves. They roll their stuff, execute, and that’s why you have to score the easy baskets they give you.”
BYU started strong, going ahead 6-5 on Bailey’s tip-in with 17 minutes left in the first half, and jumping out to a 16-8 lead after Eaton hit a triple from the right elbow with 14:02 before halftime.
“We did a good job coming out with a lot of energy from the start,” Maeda said. “We jumped on them quick. We were filled with a lot of confidence, and everyone was hitting shots. That made us feel that much better: everyone contributed.”
Eaton finished with 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, and Makenzie Morrison supplied eight points. Ashley Garfield had seven rebounds and five assists, while playing in the post against 6-foot-4 freshman Joeseta Fatuesi and 6-3, fifth-year senior Taryn Wicijowski.
“It was all Ashley; she’s undersized a lot of times, but she has the most heart of any player I know,” Bailey said of BYU’s defense. “She’s used to battling end, and in the tail end, we tried double-teaming a bit, too until I felt I could handle it alone.”
Wicijowski led the Utes with 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, and Boclair finished with 11 points and two rebounds. Crozan had nine points, all on 3-pointers, and Fatuesi and Nakia Arquette each supplied seven points.
“This isn’t just another game for me. There’s a lot of pride in it,” said Bailey, one of three seniors on the team. “This was a big one, and it was a fun game.”
