BYU Basketball Goes 3-3 in Conf. Games Part 2

The last two weeks has consisted of a 3-3 record for the BYU men's and women's basketball teams. This is the second post covering their conference games.

Men's Team (currently 15-7, Conf: 5-4)
The men's team had a 1-2 record for these last two weeks. Their first game of the three was at Pacific. A game where the team dominated, Haws, Collinsworth, Fischer, and Halford were all playmakers. Collinsworth got his fourth triple-double...which is the NCAA record in a season. With Halford starting the game off with a three-pointer, BYU maintained the lead during the whole game and never even let Pacific tie the score. The second game was a tough loss at Saint Mary's (currently the #2-ranked team in the conference). One thing that Saint Mary's did that hurt BYU was rebounding. Saint Mary's was much better at it, and it's something that BYU needs to find a way to improve on. BYU had some good runs in scoring with Haws, Collinsworth, and Fischer heavily contributing to them, but in the end they weren't able to steal the lead and lost by five. BYU has now only lost by a total 29 points in their six losses (an average of 4.8 points per loss). Their last game ended in a loss at San Diego. They did a decent job try to stay up with San Diego, and the lead switched a few times, but in the end BYU wasn't able to pull ahead and get the win. The head coach, Rose, brought up that the team needs to work on defense.

Hopefully they can improve on defense and offensive rebounding well enough so that they can have a long streak of wins in the coming weeks. The hope is that they can pull off an 8-game win streak leading up to the Gonzaga game in Washington at the end of their regular season. Anson Winder started again in the game against San Diego after an injury. And now Nate Austin, who was supposed to come back soon after a hamstring injury, re-injured his hamstring during practice this last week and will now be down for longer.

Women's Team (currently 15-5, Conf: 7-2)
The women's team also had a 2-1 record for these last two weeks. Their first game was versus Pacific in Provo. Eaton and Bailey contributed a combination of 63 points to the win. The head coach, Judkins, mentioned that it is hard "to guard both of them at the same time." Eaton had a career-high with 32 points, and Bailey with 31 points tied her career high. With ten minutes left in the game, BYU was leading by 32 points. After that all healthy players got some good playing time. The second game was a rough loss versus Saint Mary's. In the first half of the game, BYU performed well and finished it ahead 31-24. Then in the second half, as the coach, Judkins, said, BYU didn't do so well defensively and didn't make the shots they needed to. The first half had three ties and eight lead changes. In the first half, Saint Mary's had 11 turnovers compared to BYU's three. The last game was a win versus San Diego in Provo. The coach said that again they were strong defensively in the first half but then slacked during the second. Xoijan Harry helped in keeping BYU in the game during the second half. She ended the game with 5 field goals (1 three-pointer) and 4-4 on free throws.

One thing that they can improve on is staying strong defensively during the second half...carry over that strong defensive showing they have in the first. If they do so, they will be able to win games more comfortably.

Top 2 Players (TPlay)
Men's Team
@ Pacific on Thursday, January 15, 2015 (Won 93-80)  
[TPlay: Tyler Haws (26 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals); Kyle Collinsworth (17 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 block, 3 steals); Honorable Mention: Chase Fischer (18 points, 5-9 on three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)]

@ Saint Mary's on Saturday, January 17, 2015 (Lost 77-82)
[TPlay: Tyler Haws (28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals); Chase Fischer (19 points, 5 three-pointers, 5 rebounds, 2 assists)]

@ San Diego on Saturday, January 24, 2015 (Lost 74-77)
[TPlay: Tyler Haws (20 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 10-11 on free throws); Skyler Halford (12 points, 4-7 on total field goals, 2 three-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals); Honorable Mention: Kyle Collinsworth (13 points, 9 rebounds (8 defensive), 3 assists)]

Women's Team
vs. Pacific on Thursday, January 15, 2015 (Won 89-72)
[TPlay: Lexi Eaton (32 points, 5-6 on three-pointers, 11-18 on field goals, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals); Morgan Bailey (31 points, 60.0% on field goals, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks)]

vs. Saint Mary's on Saturday, January 17, 2015 (Lost 51-61)
[TPlay: Morgan Bailey (17 points, 3-5 on three-pointers, 10 rebounds (8 defensive), 2 assists); Lexi Eaton (17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal); Honorable Mention: Alohi Robins-Hardy (5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal)]

vs. San Diego on Saturday, January 24, 2015 (Won 54-50)
[TPlay: Lexi Eaton (16 points, 6-9 on free throws, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist); Xojian Harry (15 points, 5-7 on field goals, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block); Honorable Mention: Morgan Bailey (13 points, 8 defensive rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal)]