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PROVO — Lexi Eaton Rydalch had one more game remaining in the Marriott Center, and one final game to clinch BYU's first-ever outright West Coast Conference title.
And she was not going to be denied.
Rydalch scored 12 of her game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, and the BYU women's basketball team held off San Diego 68-60 on Senior Night in front of 2,293 fans at the Marriott Center.
"This was crazy how it all worked out, and it was perfect to end on our home court and win it all," Rydalch said. "It couldn't be more special."
Kalani Purcell added 13 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and two steals for BYU (23-4, 15-1 WCC) to help avenge the Cougars' only conference loss of the season. Since that defeat, BYU won its 15th straight game and ended Gonzaga's run of 11 straight regular season conference titles.
But BYU coach Jeff Judkins left one message with his team — be ready to win the conference title.
"I think we were a lot more aggressive this game," said point guard Kylie Maeda, who finished with five points and four assists in her final home game. "When we played at San Diego, we were on our heels and not attacking like we normally do. We came out knowing we were the better team, aggressive, and stuck to the game plan.
"Winning a regular season championship requires being good the whole season. Last year we had some lapses during the season, and it's nice to win a regular-season championship because it shows our hard work and how much we've improved throughout the game."
Rydalch took over down the stretch of her final home game, including earning baskets on back-to-back possessions with an assist to Purcell, followed by a jumper with 1:42 remaining to give the Cougars a game-high 12-point lead, 66-54.
The former Springville High standout scored six of the Cougars' final eight points, including a layup with 1:21 remaining to seal the win and finish a perfect 12-0 season at home.
But even after she had climbed the ladder and cut down the nets, Rydalch turned to Judkins and uttered four words: We're not done yet.
"It's really important to keep your guard up when you have that success. It's so easy to let down and become complacent. But our team knows that we are setting out to do bigger things than just this.
"We want to win the tournament championship, and make some noise in the NCAAs," said Rydalch, who ranks No. 2 on BYU's career scoring list and first all-time in WCC history. "That's our goal, to get BYU's name out there and show people what our program is about."
BYU used an 8-0 run that included a four-point play by Rydalch to take a 46-39 lead with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter. Rydalch spotted up and drained a 3-pointer from the left elbow, drawing a foul and swishing the and-one shot with 5:53 on the clock.
On BYU's next offensive possession, Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher took a pass and wasted no time in dropping her first trey of the game from the top of the key.
San Diego pulled within a possession on Malina Hood's jumper of the game at the third-quarter buzzer, and BYU took a 49-46 edge into the final period. Hood finished with 12 points, tying for a team-high with sister Maya Hood and Katherine Hamilton for the Toreros (21-6, 11-5 WCC).
BYU jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first quarter with a 9-0 run in which Rydalch dish out a pair of assists and Maeda scored on back-to-back possessions with 6:15 left in the first quarter.
"I've been trying to be more consistent and take open shots when I have them," Maeda said. "That was a time in the game when they gave me an open look, and I had to hit it. It really opened up the game for us."
The play opened up BYU's offense, which struggled to a 37.5 shooting percentage in the first quarter, but finished with a season-high 51 percent. BYU shot 77.8 percent in the final period, making 7 of 9 from the field.
"You wouldn't think this, but Kylie is a competitor; she does not like to lose," Judkins said of his senior point guard. "She gets more fired up for things than people realize. She looks like this nice, cute, little girl who runs around. But she's a force out there, and her leadership gets us into what we need to do.
"She gets players playing better, right in their face, and tells them how it is."
The Toreros pulled within one twice in the opening quarter, including on Hamilton's scoop-and-score with just under four minutes remaining on the clock.
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Kylie Maeda has adjusted to her role, and has BYU women's hoops cruising
It's been repeated so many times to Kylie Maeda over the past four years for the senior point guard: everyone on the BYU women's basketball team has a role. She knows her's pretty well, and that's a good thing for the Cougars, who could wrap up their first outright West Coast Conference title Thursday night at the Marriott Center.San Diego used an 11-2 run after Purcell picked up her third foul with 6:49 left in the second quarter to take a 29-26 lead after Jamie Kissinger's free throws that followed a jumper by Tayla Hepburn. Kristine Nielson hit a jumper with 42 seconds left to pull the Cougars within a point while Rydalch and Purcell were on the bench.
Cassie Broadhead grabbed a rebound and hustled in the waning seconds of the half, drawing a foul with six seconds on the clock that allowed Judkins to insert Purcell and Rydalch for the latter's halftime buzzer-beater to go up 30-29 at the break.
"I told them 'The Play,' and they knew what it is," said Judkins, whose team led the rest of the way. "I think that really helped us. We were struggling, and she hit that shot to get us the lead and go into halftime really helping us.
"They've done this all year; they've made big plays when they've had to make them, and to win a championship, you have to do that."
Judkins put in his starters, called 'The Play,' and mimicked Maeda as she called the same play. Everyone was on the same page for BYU to take back the halftime advantage and the Cougars never trailed again.
"That shows how smart our point guard is," Rydalch said. "It's important to end the first half with momentum, and that set the tone for the second half."
Rydalch finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in the first half, and Maeda finished the opening 20 minutes with five points and three assists.
But even Judkins knows they aren't done yet after winning their first outright conference championship since 2009 when they were in the Mountain West.
"They surprised a lot of people, probably me as much as anybody, in the way they've come together, trusted each other and won games in so many different ways," Judkins said. "You want your team to come out and do whatever they can to win, and that's what these girls have really shown that this season. They stuck together when things were tough early."
