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PROVO — A year ago, the BYU women's basketball team had a well-earned reputation about the third quarter, but not a very good one.
The Cougars were notorious for starting slow in the second half, a trend that event cost them several games.
Four-star freshman Delaney Gibb scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half to go along with six rebounds and three assists as BYU stayed unbeaten with a 69-55 win over Colorado State in front of more than 5,000 elementary-aged children Wednesday at the Marriott Center.
Emma Calvert added 17 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Cougars, who got 9 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals from Amari Whiting for the hosts that trailed by 7 after one quarter and 6 at halftime.
Kloe Froebe scored 14 points to lead Colorado State, which dropped its first game of the year after opening the season with wins over San Francisco and Oregon State. Emma Ronsiek added 10 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Rams (2-1), Jayden Fife also scored 10, and Hannah Ronsiek added 9 points for the visitors.
But the Cougars (3-0) forced 11 turnovers — and converted them into 14 points — to keep Colorado State's scoring in check, holding the Rams to 34% shooting, including just 4-of-20 from 3-point range.
"I only had one shot attempt the whole game, but I don't care, because we won," said Lauren Davenport, the primary defender on Emma Ronsiek, who scored 26 of the sister duo's 50 points in CSU's 65-59 win over Oregon State en route to Mountain West player of the week honors.
"And she was 1-for-1," Whiting quickly added of Davenport, who scored 3 points with two rebounds and three of the Cougars' 16 assists on 25 made field goals. "That's 100%."
Colorado State led by as much as 7 early when BYU shot just 31.3% from the field in the first quarter.
The Cougars cut the deficit to 17-13 on a 3-pointer by freshman Kambree Barber with 2:37 left in the first, and as low as 1 point on Marya Hudgins' triple just over a minute into the second quarter.
But the Rams ended the half on a 9-4 run to take a 28-22 lead into the locker room. Jadyn Fife had a game-high 8 points to lead CSU, and Whiting led BYU with 5 points and four rebounds. The Cougars sophomore was held scoreless in the second quarter for a BYU squad that shot just 1-of-11 in the frame en route to shooting 26% from the field in the first half.
"We obviously got down and shot horrible in the first half, and I kept telling them, 'keep shooting, keep shooting,'" BYU coach Amber Whiting said. "It's going to fall, and eventually it did. But defensively, I thought they were in lock step. We had our mistakes, but they kept fighting through them."
Kemery Congdon opened the half knocking down a pair of technical free throws, and Gibb gave the Cougars their first lead since the opening minute with a transition triple from Whiting as part of a 9-0 run out of the half to go up 31-28.
Led by three 3-pointers from four-star freshman Gibb and a pair of steals by Whiting, the Cougars outscored the Rams 26-12 in the third quarter, holding the visitors to 4-of-14 shooting to start the second half, including 0-for-2 from the perimeter.
The Rams converted just 4-of-12 shots in the fourth quarter, and BYU pulled away with a well-rounded 8-of-15, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter that included another triple from Gibb and a three from Calvert to close out the shooting performance.
"That honestly makes my job easier," said the younger Whiting of the Cougars' multiple shooting threats. "I feel like I have a lot of opportunity coming off pick and roll, or getting downhill. I know some of them will relocate, or space out and pick-and-poop for Emma. It's hard to guard. You have to guard all of us; you can't just pick and choose."
BYU makes the short trip to Pocatello, Idaho, for the Cougars' first road game of the year Saturday against Idaho State (2 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
