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SALT LAKE CITY — In the first seven minutes of the BYU women’s basketball team’s game against Colorado State, it became evident what the Rams’ game plan would be.
Pack the paint, and make things difficult for standout BYU post Morgan Bailey.
Lexi Eaton was more than happy to oblige, too.
Eaton scored 30 points and added a career-high 13 rebounds in her first double-double of the season as BYU moved to 3-0 against former Mountain West Conference rivals with a 69-58 win over Colorado State on Saturday afternoon at EnergySolutions Arena.
The mark was also Eaton's third double-double on her career.
“That’s the way she plays; I see it every day in practice,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said of Eaton. “Lexi’s been really good about listening to the coaches about stuff, and tonight she showed her work. Today, she let her teammates get her the ball where she could score, and that’s when she is effective.”
Xojian Harry added a career-best 13 points off the bench for BYU (5-3), which got nine points and 10 rebounds from Bailey and five points, five assists and four rebounds from Kylie Maeda.
Eaton scored 12 points as BYU jumped out to a 17-11 advantage by the 13-minute mark of the first half as the Rams often triple-teamed Bailey and made the Cougars shoot over the top of their densely packed defense.
“They were really attacking in the paint, so I knew I needed to shoot my shot right and take it when it was open,” Eaton said. “I think we did a good job of finding those open shots.”
That's the way she plays; I see it every day in practice. Lexi's been really good about listening to the coaches about stuff, and tonight she showed her work. Today, she let her teammates get her the ball where she could score, and that's when she is effective.
–BYU coach Jeff Judkins
The sharpshooter from Springville got a little help from her bench with Harry’s performance, as well as six points from Cassie Broadhead.
“My bench played a lot better tonight,” Judkins said. “It’s good to see them do that. And defensively, that was a matchup nightmare. They had so many guys running around, but I thought we did a good job matching up until the end.”
When she wasn’t attempting one of her 18 shots or making 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point line, Eaton collected a career-high 13 rebounds that included nine on the defensive glass.
“I like that stat; I think when I rebound, it helps my whole game, overall,” Eaton said. “It puts me in the right mindset.”
Maeda did all of her scoring in the opening 20 minutes, and Harry tallied 11 of her 13 points after the halftime break. Eaton drove to the rim for a lay-up and a foul with 9:59 left to play, and her ensuing free throw would give the Cougars a game-high, 18-point lead at 55-37.
“It was just about having an attack mentality,” Eaton said. “I wanted to attack whenever they would run positions for someone else. I was looking to capitalize on that.”
Harry then took over, scoring seven for BYU during an 11-2 run to go on top 57-41 with 8:15 left, and the Cougars would cruise to the win.
The Cougars outrebounded Colorado State behind Eaton’s 13, Bailey’s 10 and nine rebounds from Ashley Garfield.
“We’ve really worked on that in practice,” Judkins said. “We’ve tried to focus on that and tell them that we can’t give up second shots. We still have to work on it; we don’t have the 6-7 post that can get every team, so we have to work as a team (to get rebounds).”
Gritt Ryder led the Rams (4-3) with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds, and Ellen Nystrom added 12 points and six rebounds for Colorado State. Jamie Patrick had a late surge for nine points for the visiting Mountain West team.
Colorado State opened with a 3-0 lead on Emilie Hesseldal’s 3-pointer in the opening minute, but only led one more time the rest of the way.
“We’ve really taken pride in getting better every game, and we’re keeping the focus on the most important things, which is defensive rebounding,” Eaton said. “I think we can see a lot of progress in that. We’re executing the game plan and really doing what the coaches are asking. It’s paying off.”
BYU will finish non-conference play with three straight games against in-state opponents. The Cougars will face Weber State on Tuesday, then travel to the Huntsman Center to face the Utes Saturday, Dec. 13, before wrapping up their Mountain West reunion tour at Utah State on Dec. 22 in the final game before West Coast Conference play begins at Gonzaga.
