BYU women can't hold first-half lead, fall 77-66 to No. 16 Oklahoma for 0-3 start

PROVO — Preseason rankings can be fickle in college basketball, but for one half on Tuesday afternoon, the BYU women looked like a top-20 team.

Even extended to three quarters, and the Cougars were fine.

Of course, basketball games aren't played in three quarters.

Madi Williams poured in 21 points, and Nevaeh Tot added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists to help No. 16 Oklahoma rally for a 77-66 win and hand the Cougars their third-straight loss to open the season in the Marriott Center.

Lauren Gustin led BYU (0-3) with 15 points, 20 rebounds and three assists in 40 minutes, and Nani Falatea added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Cougars.

"I feel like we played a good 32 minutes," first-year BYU coach Amber Whiting said. "We've got to finish it with the whole game. We stuck to the game plan really well, and I was proud of them for that. But we let them speed us up for about 5-6 minutes, and that was kind of the end for us."

Amanda Barcello had a career-high 12 points, three rebounds and two assists for the Cougars, and Kaylee Smiler added 11 points and five assists for a BYU team that played just seven players.

The Sooners, who improved to 3-0 before Wednesday's matchup at No. 25 Utah (3-0), scored 18 points off 15 turnovers, out-racing the Cougars 17-2 on the break, and with a 15-9 advantage off the bench amid a rotation that went 11 deep.

For Barcello, the difference of Tuesday compared to her first two starts was simple: just shoot more. That's what her older brother, former BYU standout Alex Barcello who is currently playing overseas, told her when the siblings spoke after Saturday's 69-60 loss to Montana State.

"This week in practice, all my teammates and coaches lifted me up, telling me that they love me no matter what and they have my back," said Barcello, the redshirt freshman who shot 4-of-5 from 3-point range. "That helped me rise to the occasion.

"He asked me why I wasn't shooting, and then asked if everything was OK. He gave me the confidence to shoot."

In Oklahoma's first road game of the regular season, BYU outrebounded the Sooners 9-7 en route to a 9-9 stalemate six minutes into the opening quarter. Oklahoma shot just 35% in the first quarter, and a starting lineup that featured Rose Bubakar for the first time kept the Sooners off the glass early for a 12-10 advantage at the quarter break.

Bubakar scored two in transition off a steal, and the Cougars led by as many as four before Aubrey Joens 3-pointer with 26 seconds left pulled Oklahoma within 15-14 after the first quarter.

"Rose is really athletic, and if we can capitalize off that, it will help us," Whiting said of the 6-foot sophomore from Frederick, Maryland. "I challenged her to outrebound Lauren every game, to slash to the rim, and I feel like she's been doing that. We're going to let her go as long as she can."

Barcello drained a deep 3-pointer, her second of the game, during a 9-0 run that stretched the Cougars' lead to 29-19 with 5:09 left to play in the half. Oklahoma opened the second quarter 1-for-10 from the field, and shot just 4-of-16 in the quarter as BYU took a 34-26 lead into the halftime locker room.

Barcello, Gustin and Kaylee Smiler each had 6 points in the first half, and Gustin posted a game-high 15 rebounds at the break for a BYU squad that outrebounded the Sooners 23-22 and assisted on 7-of-12 made field goals.

But Gustin only had two rebounds in the third quarter as the Sooners led by as much as five and tied the game at 52–52 with a 26-18 run through the period.

Williams turned a four-point swing midway through the third quarter, pulling down a missed free throw and converting it into her first 3-pointer to tie the game at 47-all with 4:24 on the clock during a 12-1 run that eventually stretched the Sooners' lead to 52-47.

"When we got rattled, we've got to get better at coming together," Whiting said. "We've played a half before, and I feel like this time we played three quarters.

"We're young still, super inexperienced. But they're getting that experience every day."

Gustin and Calvert scored back-to-back buckets to help BYU take advantage of a 2:12 scoring drought and pull within one, 61-60 with 3:49 remaining. But the Cougars went on a turnover-laced 3:30 scoreless spell of their own to help Oklahoma pull away for good with an 11-0 run.

The Sooners averaged 101 points in each of their first two games, but BYU held them well below that average on just 41.4% shooting.

No moral victories here. But that's progress for a team that has just one senior in graduate transfer Gabi Bosquez.

"We all went into this game a little shaky, knowing that we were 0-2," Barcello said. "But we knew that it's just another game, to come in and fight. Hanging with them this game showed us a lot.

"We've struggled coming out in the third quarter, and I think today we weren't the best, but we hung with them a little bit more. I think we learned so much from this game, and it can definitely give us a little bit of confidence."

BYU hits the road again Friday to open the North Shore Showcase in Laie, Hawai against Washington State. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MST.

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