PROVO — If the minds of the BYU women’s basketball team were on Saturday’s regular-season finale opponent Gonzaga, it showed Thursday night against Portland.

Look no further than the line of Julie Spencer, who entered Thursday averaging 9.2 points per game. The Portland sophomore scored 11 of her 23 points in the first half as the Cougars slept-walked to a five-point halftime lead.

“Some nights you just don’t play as well as you want to play,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “We weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be. But you have to give Portland a lot of credit … they shot the ball really well tonight.”

Still, it was good enough for a win, to remain in second place in the West Coast Conference before Saturday’s regular-season finale against league-leading Gonzaga.

Makenzi Pulsipher dropped 20 points and 6 assists, and Kalani Purcell had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help BYU pull away from Portland, 73-60, Thursday night in the Marriott Center.

Cassie Broadhead added 15 points and four assists, and Amanda Wayment supplied her first career double-double with a career-high 11 points and 10 rebounds for BYU (19-10, 13-5).

“I thought the first half I didn’t come in as energetic as I normally do, so I just made it a goal come in the second half and to get boards,” Wayment said. “That’s my game.”

Jessica Chatman hit a 3-pointer — her only field goal of the game — to help the Cougars to a 34-29 halftime advantage that swung momentum back in favor of the home team trying to keep pace with Gonzaga at the top of the league’s standings.

“Her size causes problems,” Judkins said. “She’s a big strong guard, and tonight Portland had two guards who were pretty strong. She was a good matchup, doing a great job of not getting beat and moving the ball around.

“She wasn’t tired, and brought energy. I thought she gave us a nice lift tonight.”

Kalani Purcell knocked down a triple on the first play of the third quarter to give BYU a 37-29 cushion.

Broadhead capped a 6-0 run, sparked by three straight turnovers with a reverse lay-in, to go up 48-40 with 5:30 left in the third quarter.

Still, BYU struggled to put away the last-place team in the West Coast Conference. The Cougars took just a 54-50 lead into the final quarter.

Then magic struck.

Pulsipher hit a pair of 3-pointers and BYU took a 66-53 lead on four-straight by Wayment, to cap a 12-3 spurt and pull away for good.

“We were moving the ball better,” Wayment said. “In the first half, we were holding it, but (in the third quarter) we started swinging it around. That helped get us good shots and good possessions.”

Portland (6-23, 4-14 WCC) tried to respond from the 3-point line, mostly through Spencer and Holly Blades, who had 18 points on six triples.

Related Story

Seniors finishing up long, short, up-and-down ride with BYU women's basketball

On Saturday, Morrison — now Makenzi Pulsipher, married to BYU linebacker Adam Pulsipher — will play in her final game in the Marriott Center this week, hosting Portland Thursday evening and Gonzaga Saturday afternoon before moving on to next week’s West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

What the Cougars took, they dished right back out to clinch the victory.

“There’s no better feeling than when they’d come down and score a few quick threes, and then there was no better feeling than putting it right back on them,” said Pulsipher, who shot 8-of-19 from the field. “If you don’t get those, it can be deflating. We attacked back on the other end.”

Related topics