BYU women outshot down stretch by Mya Perry, Cincinnati in rare home loss

PROVO — In a game BYU women's basketball needed to win, Cincinnati played like a team that couldn't afford to lose.

Mya Perry poured in a season-high 32 points, including five 3-pointers, and the Bearcats won for just the second time in the last six games 76-67 over BYU at the Marriott Center.

The senior from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, who transferred home after starting her career at Ohio State and Florida Atlantic, was everything head coach Katrina Merriweather expected of her.

But when point guard Caliyah Devillasee had to leave the game with an injury midway through the second quarter, Perry cranked her game up even higher.

"We've seen her do some incredible things," Merriweather said of her lead guard who averages 16.8 points per game. "She's a big-time shot maker, and she does shoot the three well. But I think she's one of the best offensive guards in the country; the things she has in her artillery is big time. She's the focal point of other team's defenses — she doesn't get a night off."

Reagan Jackson added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists for Cincinnati, which ended the game on a 14-2 run to bounce back from a 67-59 loss at Utah three days prior.

No small task, either, for Merriweather, who knew exactly what BYU presented on the back end of her team's Beehive State road trip. That was a formidable home court, where the Cougars were 11-3 on the season, their best home start in four years.

Delaney Gibb had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead BYU in a second consecutive loss. Olivia Hamlin scored 16 points off the bench for the Cougars, who fell to 17-10 overall and 6-9 in Big 12 play, which included a 76-46 throttling on Saturday at Colorado.

Brinley Cannon supplied 12 points and four rebounds for BYU, which has lost four of the last five going into pivotal road games at Utah and Arizona State.

"We have to own what just happened in that game," said BYU coach Lee Cummard, whose team was outrebounded 40-33 and gave up 20 offensive rebounds. "But there's a clear recipe out there against us right now: drive us, rebound against us, and then speed them up and force turnovers. It's a good recipe for the other team, and not so much for us.

"We've got to just own it," the first-year head coach added. "Credit to them, and credit to (Perry) for having the day that she had."

Jackson had 10 points in less than six minutes, connecting on all four of her shot attempts. Including a pair of threes to lift the Bearcats to a 23-13 advantage in the first quarter.

Hamlin scored 11 points in the final five minutes of the quarter, capping an 11-3 run when Gibb found her in transition to pull within three en route to a 29-25 deficit at the first break.

Cannon scored 11 points in the first half, including her third catch-and-shoot 3-pointer that gave the Cougars a 36-35 edge with 5:14 remaining.

But in addition to Jackson's 12 points and two assists, Perry had 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and the Bearcats converted nine offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points to take a 40-36 halftime lead.

"They made some big plays down the stretch," Cummard said. "They came out hot, smacked us in the face, and a couple of their guards got going and just kept it going the rest of the game."

Cincinnati made just 2-of-12 from the field until Jackson's transition jumper with 1:14 left in the third helped the Bearcats to a 51-51 stalemate with 10 minutes remaining.

The two teams started the second half a combined 5-of-24 from the field, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.

But Perry reached a new level in the final 10 minutes, scoring 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting that included three 3-pointers, the last of which sealed just the second win in Big 12 play.

"No surprise that Mya Perry showed up big time for us in that stretch," Merriweather said.

BYU heads to Utah on Saturday (2 p.m. MST, ESPN+) before traveling to Arizona State ahead of next Saturday's regular-season finale Feb. 28 against Colorado.

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