Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland senior Natalie Day had 16 points, but a balanced BYU attack led the visiting Cougars to a 79-53 victory in West Coast Conference women’s basketball action at the Chiles Center on Monday night. The Pilots trailed 27-26 at the half, but BYU erupted for a 52-27 second half margin to pull away.
 
The Pilots (7-9, 0-2 WCC) trailed 19-5 midway through the first period before going on a 12-1 run to pull within one possession. Day’s layup at the halftime buzzer made it a one-point deficit at the break as the Pilots held the Cougars to eight points in the final 9:27 of the period.
 
BYU (12-3, 1-1 WCC) came out of the locker room with a 16-3 run over the first 5:40 of the second period to regain a double digit lead and the Pilots would never get it back to single digits. Two three-pointers by freshman Lexi Eaton sparked the run. Eaton would finish 3-for-3 from beyond the arc for the day and 11 points.

Senior Kristen Riley led the Cougars with 19 points and nine rebounds as a total of 12 BYU players scored in the game.
 
Day was the only Pilot to reach double figures, while senior ReZina TecleMariam finished with five points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

BYU gained 45-36 rebounding edge and 17-8 margin in second chance points. The Cougars also limited Portland to 31 percent shooting from the field, while racking up 14 blocked shots. BYU shot a modest 40 percent from the floor, but drained 11-of-28 three-point attempts.
 
The Pilots will make their first WCC road trip of the season when they travel to Santa Clara on Thursday and Pepperdine on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. against the Broncos and 2 p.m. against the Waves.