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PROVO — BYU women’s basketball point guard Cassie Broadhead saw the clock running down on the first half of the Cougars’ home game Saturday afternoon in the Marriott Center.
The junior rolled to her right, dived into the lane, and released a step-back jumper at the buzzer to give BYU a 41-26 halftime lead.
And just like that, a star was born.
“I think that was a huge shot for me,” said Broadhead, who shot 9-of-14 from the field with three 3-pointers. “Last game, I struggled a bit; I didn’t shoot very well. Seeing that ball go in was a burden off my shoulders. I could just play … that’s one of my favorite shots. It was nice to see it go in, for sure.”
Broadhead poured in a career-high 30 points and seven rebounds to help BYU to an 81-63 win over San Diego and retain a share of first place in the West Coast Conference.
Makenzi Pulsipher added 18 points, including four 3-pointers, for BYU (10-7, 4-2 WCC), which got 13 points, six rebounds and five assists from Kalani Purcell.
“I think you are seeing a kid become a star in front of your eyes with Cassie,” said BYU coach Jeff Judkins of Broadhead, who also had six assists. “I think she’s the best player in the league right now.”
After an offseason when BYU tried to replace point guard Kylie Maeda and WCC all-time leading scorer Lexi Rydalch, Broadhead went to work. She knew she would be taxed with scoring more — and she made good on the responsibility, increasing her scoring average by 14 points per game.
“I put a lot of effort and work into the offseason. Once the season comes, the time for preparation is over,” Broadhead said. “Game by game, I’ve learned from my mistakes. Sometimes I’m not aggressive enough. But when I’m aggressive, people get open shots.”
Seven teams entered Saturday tied with BYU atop the league standings at 3-2, with no team being unbeaten by the third week of conference play for the first time since 1999. Gonzaga, Pacific, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Pepperdine also entered Saturday at 3-2.
USD’s Aubrey Ward-El went 4-of-4 from 3-point range to finish with 26 points, and Cori Woodward supplied 18 points and six assists for San Diego (8-8, 2-4 WCC).
The Cougars made just four of their first 12 shots from the field, but kept San Diego in check by forcing seven turnovers. Pulsipher’s 3-pointer with 21 seconds left gave BYU a 15-14 edge after the first quarter, and it was the last time the Toreros would sniff a lead.
The Cougars forced seven of their 21 turnovers against San Diego in the opening quarter, including 17 steals.
“They love to drive the ball, and so the main strategy was to pack the paint and be active with our hands,” Broadhead said. “In the second quarter, we had active hands, got a lot of tips, and got a lot of rebounds. We knew we had outlets and fast breaks.
Freshman Brenna Chase capped a 9-3 run to open the second quarter with a transition layup — part of a 14-3 spurt across the first half — to go up 24-17, and the Cougars unlocked their offense.
Broadhead, who had a game-high 15 points in the first half, swished a triple with 6:35 left for a double-digit advantage. The junior from Glenville, New York, then drained that key step-back jumper at the halftime buzzer and the Cougars took a 41-26 lead into the locker room.
Broadhead scored eight-straight to push the Cougars’ margin past 20 points, 56-35 on a triple with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
“She’s a really hard player to guard,” Judkins said. “She can shoot it, she can shoot off the dribble, and she can drive it and create and get fouled. She’s very crafty; she’s a lot quicker and stronger than she looks.”
San Diego nearly cut the deficit to single-digits in the fourth quarter, when Woodward’s jumper pulled the Toreros within 58-69 with 3:41 remaining.
But BYU responded from the free-throw line, and the visitors could get no closer.
“It’s nice to get one, especially when you lose a game Thursday night,” said Judkins, whose team next plays at 7 p.m. MST Thursday at Pepperdine. “I thought our team in spurts played really well today.”
