Welcome back, Shaylee Gonzales.
The sophomore guard scored 30 points in her 2020-21 debut, including 6 of 7 from the 3-point line, to lead BYU to a 67-51 victory against LSU at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas on Friday.
Gonzales, the West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman, missed the 2019-20 season due to a knee injury.
Gonzales made 11 of 14 field goals overall as the Cougars never trailed against the Tigers. She made two triples to begin the game and dropped in a jumper for a 17-10 advantage early in the second quarter. As the half came to a close, Gonzales fed Lauren Gustin for a layup and the BYU lead was 14, 34-20, at the break.
LSU never got any closer than nine points in the second half.
Senior Paisley Harding added 13 points for the Cougars (1-0) and Gustin finished with six points, three steals and a game-high 14 rebounds. BYU was 11 of 18 (61%) from the 3-point line and held LSU to 35% (20 of 57) from the field.
Awa Trasi led the Tigers (0-1) with 15 points. Karli Seay and Faustine Aifuwa had 12 each.
BYU will face Washington in the tournament on Saturday. The Huskies opened the season on Wednesday with a 61-59 victory against San Diego State.