SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Despite coming back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game with under two minutes remaining, the BYU women’s basketball team came up on the losing end of 52-49 game against San Diego on Saturday afternoon.

“I love the fight that I saw from the team today when they could have given up,” BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. “It showed a lot of character for them to stay together but we need to get better from this loss. We didn’t hit any of our goals today and have to learn something from this one.”

The Cougars trailed 36-25 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and battled back to tie the game at 43-43 with 1:33 to go. They weren’t able to get in front in the end before time ran out on the comeback.

BYU (12-11, 7-5) outshot the Toreros (13-10, 7-5) 39.8-30.8 percent but were outrebounded 34-32 and gave up 20 points off of 19 turnovers.

Forward Lauren Gustin notched her 50th career double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds, leading the scoring effort for BYU. Nani Falatea added 13 and four assists and Kaylee Smiler added three 3-pointers for nine points.

The Cougars return to Provo to play Pepperdine at the Marriott Center on Thursday at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv, BYUtv.org and the BYUtv App.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

MUNCIE, Ind. — No. 11 BYU men’s volleyball battled against No. 8 Ball State Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 23-25) for BYU’s second loss to a ranked opponent this season. BYU split the series 1-1 against BSU in Worthen Arena this weekend, defeating the Cardinals in four sets on Thursday.

The Cougars (6-2) finished with more digs (40), assists (49) and kills (52), but the the Cardinals (5-3) were able to capture their first win over a ranked opponent this season, helped by 15 total blocks, while holding BYU to just four.

Trailing 2 sets to 1, the Cougars looked to take the match to five sets, down by only three at 20-17 in Set 4. Tinaishe Ndavazocheva then cemented three more kills, finishing with a team-high of 19. The Cardinals won the set 25-23 after a service error by Julien.

Next week, BYU will host UC Santa Barbara who recently defeated No. 5 Pepperdine 3-2 on Friday. The first matchup of the series between the Cougars and the Gauchos will be on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. MST, streaming on the BYUtv app.

GYMNASTICS

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Following seven new career highs, the BYU women’s gymnastics team fell to No. 22 Southern Utah 196.925-196.475 on Friday evening.

BYU gymnasts earned the highest score on three of the four events in the America First Event Center. Freshman Kylie Eaquinto earned the highest score on vault with a 9.900, Lindsey Hunter notched the top bars score with a 9.925, and Mina Margraf was the top scorer on beam with a 9.925.

The Cougars have now earned final scores above 196 two meets in a row, both being on the road.

Margraf posted a new career-high score of 9.925 for the highest beam score in the competition. With a solid final rotation, the Cougars ended the night with an overall score of 196.475, falling to SUU’s 196.925.

The Cougars are back in the Marriott Center for their next competition on Friday at 7 p.m. MST. The SUU Thunderbirds will travel to Provo as they face BYU for the second week in a row.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

BYU women’s tennis defeated Washington State 5-2 in its home opener Saturday. The Cougars swept the doubles matches, propelling them to their second win of the season.

Tina Li and Emmie Moore, at No. 2 doubles, got off to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back. The duo won in straight sets (6-0).

Emilee Astle and Bobo Huang, at No. 1 doubles, split the first two games before winning four straight to take a 5-1 lead. After dropping the seventh game, the tandem defeated Murphy and Alvarez 6-2 to secure the doubles point for BYU.

Jacque Dunyon and Kara Wheatley, at No. 3 doubles, led early 2-1, and took home a 6-3 win to complete the sweep of the doubles round.

BYU won five of the six singles matches with Huang (No. 1), Dunyon (No. 3), Li (No. 4), Wheatley (No. 5) and Moore (No. 6) all earning victories.

The Cougars return to action next week on Friday, and Saturday against LMU and Utah State. The home matches will begin at noon.

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