The BYU–Hawaii Women’s basketball team found themselves outmatched against Division I opponent BYU in Provo on Dec. 2. The BYU Cougars dominated all four quarters of the game on their way to an 85-40 win.
BYU’s Lexi Rydalch led all players with 25 points. BYUH’s Valerie Nawahine led the Lady Seasiders with 17 points, while Kjirsten Nelson was one rebound away from a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
“It is hard playing a Division I team like this team. It was a good measuring stick to see where we need to improve and what we need to work on,” said Nawahine, an English major from Laie.
Despite some initial good defense and scoring the first basket, the Lady Seasiders were quickly overwhelmed by the Cougar’s offense and defense. After a difficult second quarter, the Lady Seasiders went into the half down 47-10.
“It was not a good first half for us,” said Taryn Skahill, a red-shirt freshman TESOL major from Pflugerville, Texas. “We lost the ball too much and could not establish any sort of flow to our offense.”
The second half started better for the Lady Seasiders. They cleaned up on both sides of the ball and were rewarded with 17 points in the quarter. “The second half we calmed down and began to get into more of a rhythm,” said Nelson, a senior history major from Colorado. “Give them credit. They are a great team and played a great game.”
The Lady Seasiders continued to improve their play into the fourth quarter. Nawahine added some excitement to the game as she hit back-to-back three pointers. However, the Lady Seasiders could not mount any serious comeback, as the Cougars closed out the game 85-40. As a team, the Lady Seasiders finished shooting 26.3 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from three-pointer.
The Lady Seasiders will now go on the road to University of Hawaii-Manoa and then will be back in Laie to face University of Hawaii-Hilo in their conference opener.