PROVO — BYU women’s basketball normally goes as well as standout guards Brenna Drollinger and Paisley Johnson go, with that fact abundantly apparent during Thursday’s 55-43 loss to No. 16 Gonzaga.
The Cougars’ two leading scorers struggled mightily during the first half, working to dig an early hole that ultimately proved too much to get out of against a team as good as the Bulldogs.
“I think that affects the team a lot because that’s your two go-to people,” said BYU coach Jeff Judkins. “They’re the most experienced, the leading scorers, the people who have the ball in their hands the most, and when those two don’t come out and play like they’re capable of playing, (you struggle.)”

“We got out-executed. They ran their stuff and it seemed like we were scatterbrained a lot on offense. You got to give (Gonzaga) credit for that, but I think part of it, too, was us” — BYU coach Jeff Judkins
Drollinger and Johnson combined for 0-11 shooting in the first half while contributing three turnovers a piece, which contributed heavily to a 32-18 Gonzaga lead at the half.
Judkins struggled to explain the reasons behind the first-half struggles, along with the team’s underperformance, in general, although it led to a stark contrast in respective level of play.
“We got out-executed. They ran their stuff and it seemed like we were scatterbrained a lot on offense,” Judkins said. “You got to give (Gonzaga) credit for that, but I think part of it, too, was us.”
As top players often do, both Johnson and Drollinger responded well to their first half struggles, leading out the third quarter on a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to just 34-33. But following a Gonzaga timeout, the Cougars went cold and failed to score for the quarter’s final seven minutes, falling behind 44-33 entering the game’s final 10 minutes.







Again, credit Gonzaga and adjustments made.
“Their defense is very solid and they don’t beat themselves,” Judkins said. “They have a lot of length and they make you hit shots.”
Last season saw a lot of those shots go in, with the Cougars accomplishing the feat of defeating the West Coast Conference’s premier program three times in one season. But Thursday’s loss worked as a stark reminder that there’s a lot to work on should the Cougars hope to repeat as WCC champions.
But it wasn’t all bad.
Take the play of Babalu Ugwu off the bench, for one example. The sophomore provided a big boost, contributing team highs in points (10) and in rebounds (11) in just 24 minutes of play.
For Ugwu, the goal is to bottle up the good moments and apply them more consistently moving forward.
“Losing is really tough, but we had some really good things we did in the game,” Ugwu said. “We played pretty good defense throughout the game, so you take the good things and fix the mistakes we made.”
One mistake was not forcing enough action in the paint, leading to just five free throws attempted throughout, of which three were converted.
“You can’t win shooting five foul shots,” Judkins said. “That means you’re not being aggressive.”
As for Gonzaga, Katie Campbell and Kayleigh Truong led the way, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.
With the loss, BYU falls to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in WCC play and will work to turn things around taking on Portland on Saturday at the Marriott Center.