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PROVO — After finishing 2-1 over Thanksgiving break at the Tom Weston Invitational in Hawaii, BYU women’s basketball returned home for a throwback game against former Mountain West Conference rival UNLV in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Makenzi Morrison made it a homecoming to remember.
Morrison scored 15 of her career-high 17 points in the first half, and Lexi Eaton scored 14 of her team-high 19 points in the second half as BYU rolled to a 76-61 win over the Rebels on Thursday night.
“(Coach Jeff Judkins) told me that I needed to look for my shot more, and being a starter for the first time this year, I thought I’d try to fulfill the role of letting the game come and getting everyone else their shots,” said Morrison, who also had six rebounds and a pair of assists. “Tonight, they just happened to be going in, and I felt confident to take those shots, even when they weren’t falling. I had the mindset to be ready to shoot, and know when it’s not there to pass to my teammates.”
Ashley Garfield added 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Cougars, crashing the glass for a team-high nine boards in the opening half en route to the second double-double of her career.
“Makenzi has been consistently shooting the ball, and she’s been as good as anyone on our team right now,” Judkins said. “It was great for her to come in and score those points (early), and she took what the defense gave her. Give her credit for taking the shots. She only scored two in the second half, but Lexi scored a lot. It’s nice having those two guys to fill it up when you need it.
“When you get Ashley coming in and cutting and rebounding, we’re hard to guard.”
Morgan Bailey chipped in 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, and Kylie Maeda distributed six of her game-high eight assists in the first half for BYU.
“I made a conscious decision before this game to crash the boards,” Garfield said. “I think my numbers have been lower than they should be, and in past years, my role has been to provide that energy and that spark. I don’t think I’ve done a good enough job recently.
“My focus tonight was to crash the boards and provide some sort of a spark.”
BYU (4-3) used a 9-2 run midway through the first half to take a 23-17 lead on one of Morrison’s two 3-pointers with 11:28 to go before halftime. The Cougars would go on to lead for nearly 35 minutes of the game as they quickly flipped a 23-21 squeaker into a 39-25 lead by halftime.
The Cougars got defensive to close the half, turning UNLV (3-4) over seven times in the final five minutes before the break to take a 39-25 lead on Morrison’s transition layup off an outlet pass from Maeda.
“There’s definitely a chemistry that you have to feel,” Morrison said, “to know that you have an open shot, but there might be one that is better. You might have to pass up a shot because there’s a post who is open. It’s definitely a skill, and I think as we come through this point and continue to grow, I think that chemistry will continue to get better and recognize a good shot from a better one.”
BYU opened the second half on an 8-0 run, capped by Eaton’s put-back to go up 47-25 with 17:34 to play.
Morrison slipped inside for a lay-up on a feed from Maeda with 11:19 left to go up 56-33 as the Cougars continued to press the Rebels in the 5,000-seat arena.
“I loved it,” Garfield said of playing the only game in the fieldhouse on the 2014-15 schedule. “We played a lot of pick-up games here in the summer, and we practice here a lot, so it was comfortable for a lot of us. For me, personally, I like playing in a smaller venue. It reminds me of high school, and puts me back in the mindset I had in high school. It was a fun atmosphere; I really enjoyed it.”
Eaton added six points on three shots in 40 seconds to go up 62-33 with 10:03 to go, and BYU started to put in its reserves. The junior from Springville finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, with 14 points coming after halftime.
“Four players in double-figures is a real positive thing,” Judkins said. “Defensively, we did a great job (in the second half). It was a good win, and I’m excited for the next game.”
The Cougars shared the ball, dishing out 19 assists on 27 shots, and also outrebounding the Rebels 42-34. BYU played 14 players, and seven of them made at least one shot from the field.
“It’s good to get some other kids some minutes tonight,” Judkins said. “I’ve got to find somebody to take some minutes from Bailey; we’ve got to figure something out, and get some of the bench kids in there.”
Judkins played a rotation of mostly young players and reserves for the final seven minutes as the Cougars coasted to the win.
“This isn’t the ideal start we would’ve wanted for the year,” Morrison said, “so to see we are improving and moving forward is definitely a confidence-builder.”
UNLV’s Alana Cesarz led all scorers with 24 points, and added 11 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. Danielle Miller chipped in 11 points for the Rebels.
BYU will face another former Mountain West rival in Colorado State on Saturday at noon at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. The men’s team will follow against Hawaii at 4 p.m.
