Shades of Paisley: Harding goes off for 23 to lead BYU women by USF for WCC title game berth

LAS VEGAS — There's something about Orleans Arena that just sits well with Paisley Johnson Harding.

The BYU senior from Everett, Washington, earned All-Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors two years ago when she led the Cougars to a league tourney title and NCAA bid.

And it was same ol' Paisley Monday afternoon — even with a new last name.

Harding had 23 points and seven rebounds, and Teegan Graham added 14 points with four 3-pointers, to help BYU women's basketball pull away from an early deficit to rout San Francisco, 85-55, Mondy afternoon in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena.

Lauren Gustin had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for BYU (18-4), the 14th double-double of the season for the former Salem Hills standout.

Ioanna Krimili poured in 21 points to lead the Dons, who shot 9-of-36 from 3-point range but just 6-of-21 from inside the arc. San Francisco had just one 2-point field goal through the first 30 minutes of the game.

The USF freshman was on fire in the early stages, pushing the Dons' lead as high as seven, 19-12, with 1:42 left in the opening quarter. But Harding? She was the embodiment of the 🔥 emoji, much like she was two years ago when she averaged 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in two games that locked up a tournament title.

"I love playing here," said Harding, who was just Paisley Johnson then. "This is such a great experience; playing in the WCC Tournament is something I look forward to every year. All this media, all this hype, it's so fun being a part of it.

"I love playing here, under the bright lights. I wish fans were here … but next year, they'll be here, and it will be an even better experience."

This time, Harding entered the tournament as a first-team All-WCC selection averaging 13.7 points and 3.4 assists per game. Yet she still took it to another level Monday, scoring her second-best mark of the season and the best since a season-high 28 points Feb. 13 against Saint Mary's.

So, too, did her team.

The Cougars outrebounded USF 41-30, including a plus-16 margin in the first half, and shot 53% from the field while holding the Dons to just 26%.

As good as Krimili — the undisputed leader of the young Dons — was, she simply couldn't keep up with Harding and BYU.

"When she's scoring, it's hard to guard everybody," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said of Harding. "It's nice to see everybody just play their game, and let it come."

WCC co-player of the year Shaylee Gonzales finished with 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Cougars — after opening just 1-of-7 from the field less than a month after playing through a sprained knee Feb. 13 against Saint Mary's.

But the redshirt sophomore was far from ineffective against the same Dons team that handed BYU an 86-72 loss in the regular-season finale just over a week ago. She rebounded five times early, helping the Cougars build up a lead that swelled as high as 41-30 on the glass. She found her teammates seven times, including a dime to Maria Albiero with 6:32 left in the half during BYU's pivotal run to take control.

"Great players don't have to score to be good, and I've told Shaylee that," Judkins said. "Her and Paisley do more than just score; they defend, they take care of the ball, they bring intensity. I've really emphasized it the most.

"Paisley was aggressive offensively tonight, and Shaylee was the other night. That's what is fun about this group. … It's been a team effort all year."

She also defended well, which is no small task, after Judkins switched BYU to a box-and-one to defend Krimili — the leading 3-point shooter in the conference.

"BYU was ready to play today. We know they're a good team, with really good players," Krimili said. "I think we didn't expect that; their defense was really good today. But we got something today — we learned from it, and I'm pretty sure we're going to be better in the future.

"It was a really smart defense, but we haven't played it before. But we're going to work harder, and be better because of it."

USF opened the game making just five of its first 11 shots, but all five of them were from 3-point range. Krimili torched the Cougars from deep early, scoring 11 points with one assists in the first quarter en route to a 19-15 lead.

The Dons didn't score a 2-point field goal until Lucie Hoskova's flat-footed ball off the glass with 1:46 left in the opening quarter. USF allso held BYU scoreless for more than two minutes in the first quarter before Harding's 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in the period.

That started a 9-0 run to open the second, sparked by Harding and capped by Gustin's jumper to put the Cougars up 24-19 with 5:13 left in the half.

Gonzales capped another 10-0 run with a layup with 1:35 to go in the half — her first field goal of the game — and BYU took a 34-22 advantage into the break.

After Krimili went off for 11 points in the first quarter, BYU held the redshirt freshman from Greece without a field goal until a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Graham's fourth triple of the game just before the buzzer helped BYU turn its 7-point deficit in the second quarter into a 64-32 lead before the fourth quarter, and the Dons never threatened again.

After trailing by as much as seven and down 19-15 after the first quarter, BYU out-gunned the Dons 39-13 over the middle two quarters to take control and never look back, including a 19-3 spurt in the second period.

The Cougars will face top-seeded Gonzaga in Saturday's WCC championship. The game, which will air live on ESPNU, is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. MT.

The two teams split the regular-season series, with a home win apiece, and Judkins expects a battle of two NCAA Tournament teams in the neutral-site rubber match.

Regardless of the outcome, Judkins naturally believes both teams are NCAA Tournament-caliber teams — even after the Cougars were pushed just off the ESPN's projected bubble following the late-season loss at USF.

"No doubt in my mind," he said when asked if his team is an tourney-caliber team. "No one wants to play us. Power Fives don't want to play us, and we had really just two slip ups all year.

"This team deserves to go, and the two of us (with Gonzaga) during conference were the two best teams. We proved it.

"But I told my players today, we've just got to go win it. Just go win it."

On the Air

West Coast Conference Tournament championship

Tuesday, March 9 at 2 p.m. MT

TV: ESPNU

Streaming: WatchESPN

Radio: BYU Radio 107.9 FM

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