BYU humbles Gonzaga women

PROVO, Utah – Kim Parker had 16 points and BYU scored 20 straight in the second half to rout No. 19 Gonzaga 70-40 on Thursday night at the Marriott Center, handing the Bulldogs their worst conference loss in a decade and moving into a tie for first place with GU in the West Coast Conference.

Jennifer Hamson added 14 points and Kristen Riley had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (22-4, 10-2 West Coast). Haley Steed had eight points and 10 assists to move into fourth on the school’s career assist list.

Kayla Standish scored 12 points to lead Gonzaga (21-4, 10-2). The Bulldogs’ leading scorer missed her first 10 shots. Gonzaga shot only 15 percent from the floor in the first half and finished the game making only 22 percent. The Bulldogs went 8 minutes without a point in the second half and scored only nine points over the final 13:47.

Gonzaga was last beaten this badly by Santa Clara on Jan. 10, 2002, losing 99-69.

The Cougars shot 65 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game.

With both teams struggling to make shots in the opening half neither team could get much separation until Riley hit the game’s first 3 and Dani Peterson followed up with a hook to put BYU ahead by seven.

Gonzaga made only 5 of 33 shots in the first half, while BYU hit only 8 of 28. The two teams were a combined 2 of 16 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bulldogs, by adding some backcourt pressure, trimmed the margin to 34-31 early in the second half on a steal and layup by Haiden Palmer. But BYU took over from there and scored 20 straight points.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t get (the 20-0 run) stopped once it got started,” Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. “We were completely outplayed.”

Gonzaga struggled with BYU’s length inside, especially the defensive prowess of 6-foot-7 Hamson, who had three blocks.

Gonzaga will host Brigham Young on Feb. 25 in a regular-season finale.

BYU 70, (19) Gonzaga 40

 Gonzaga (21-4, 10-2)—Standish 4-15 4-4 12, Bowen 3-8 1-3 8, Palmer 2-12 0-0 4, Karr 0-3 2-2 2, K. Redmon 2-12 1-2 5, Viela 0-0 0-0 0, Walter 0-1 0-0 0, Greinacher 0-0 0-0 0, Winters 1-3 0-0 3, Albanez 0-2 0-0 0, Golden 0-2 0-0 0, Reader 0-0 0-0 0, J. Redmon 2-6 1-2 6. Tot. 14-64 9-13 40.

BYU (22-4, 10-2)—Peterson 1-5 1-2 3, Riley 4-8 1-1 11, Parker 6-10 3-3 16, Eaton 1-6 2-3 4, Steed 2-9 3-4 8, Rovetti 0-0 0-0 0, Garfield 0-0 4-4 4, Hamson 5-7 4-6 14, Kaufusi 0-0 0-0 0, Harry 0-0 0-0 0, Vermunt 3-4 0-0 8, Bailey 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-51 18-23 70.

Halftime—BYU 24-20. 3-Point Goals—Gonzaga 3-11 (Winters 1-1, Bowen 1-2, J. Redmon 1-3, Walter 0-1, Palmer 0-2, Karr 0-2), BYU 6-17 (Riley 2-3, Vermunt 2-3, Parker 1-3, Steed 1-6, Eaton 0-1, Peterson 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Gonzaga 37 (Standish 12), BYU 44 (Peterson, Riley 10). Assists—Gonzaga 7 (J. Redmon 3), BYU 21 (Steed 10). Total Fouls—Gonzaga 20, BYU 9. A—2,014.