“Kailey!” a Wolverines defender called out as a distraction as Woolston launched a shot that nestled softly into the net.

Woolston’s reputation as a knockdown shooter obviously proceeded her to Provo.

The gifted freshmen and two-time state champion from Lone Peak led BYU with a career-high 19 points, including 4 of 7 from the 3-point line, and added 10 rebounds and an assist. She also had six turnovers and the 90%+ free throw shooter actually missed a freebie, so there are still places she can improve.

But the talent is obviously there.

Courtesy BYU Photo

“We’ve got Woolston on the baseline being able to run and just be wide open,” Cougar coach Amber Whiting said. “I think it just kind of opened the game for us. It’s really nice to have a shooter that will knock it down when she’s wide open.”

BYU’s Lauren Gustin had her normal monster game with 13 points, 21 rebounds and six assists and freshman Amari Whiting finished with 13 points and nine boards. The Cougars outrebounded the visitors 55 to 27 but turned the ball over 20 times against a solid UVU defense.

“Lauren’s been making jokes that she has to fight her own teammates now for rebounds because they go to the boards,” Coach Whiting said. “That’s what I love, is that somebody is always going to clean it up. But Lauren having 21 tonight, that was huge.”

BYU had a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter (one each by Woolston, Lauren Davenport and Emma Calvert) but struggled when Utah Valley switched to a zone defense and committed five turnovers. The Wolverines were able to get to the basket and all five of their first quarter field goals were in the paint, the last from Ally Criddle to beat the buzzer to pull within three points, 16-13.

Liana Kaitu’u dropped in another layup to open the second quarter and UVU trailed 16-15. Amari Whiting countered with a 3-pointer on the other end and back-to-back baskets by Gustin pushed the BYU lead to 23-17. Late in the quarter, Whiting turned back-to-back steals into fast break points, including a pretty spin move for two.

Courtesy BYU Photo

“Coach is a defensive-first coach so I fee like she’s just been making us grind defensively,” Amari Whiting said. “I just know that my job is to stop the ball. My whole life I’ve gotten pretty good just having little cookies.”

Cookies?

“Yeah, you take their cookies (on a steal),” Coach Whiting explained.

Davenport fed Gustin for another basket inside and BYU had its biggest lead, 13 points at 32-19. The Cougars took a 34-21 advantage at the break.

Whiting scored 10 of her team-leading 11 points in the second quarter. Gustin added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Courtesy BYU Photo

The Cougars shot 47% from the field in the first half (14 of 30) and outrebounded UVU 22-14. The Wolverines shot 35% (9 of 26) from the field and 0-9 from the 3-point line.

BYU got off to a slow start offensively in the third quarter, missing its first six shots. But Woolston started finding the range and dropped in a trio of long-range triples, the third one giving the Cougars a 48-30 lead.

The lead reached its largest for BYU midway through the fourth, 57-34, after baskets by Emma Calvert and Gustin along with a free throw from Woolston.

Former Westlake standout Tessa Chaney led Utah Valley (1-1) with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Wolverines shot just 29% from the field (16 of 56) and 18% (3 of 17) from beyond the arc.

“They (BYU) have some scorers but to hold a Big 12 team to under 60 points at home and turn them over 20 times, I’d like to think the score would have been a little bit closer,” Wolverines coach and former BYU assistant Dan Nielson said. ‘The difference in the game was their ability to hit some contested and open shots and our inability to do that. I swear in practice we shoot the ball really well. I don’t know if it’s nerves or whatever, but we rushed our shots and didn’t create open shots. We’ve just got to knock them down.”

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU (3-0) will next compete in the North Shore Classic in Hawaii, opening with Wake Forest on Saturday.

“We’ve got two good games,” Coach Whiting said. “We’re 3-0 right now and I want to come back 5-0. That’s my main goal. It (Hawaii) is a beautiful place. I told the girls in the locker room to take a day to recover but this is a business trip.”