STOCKTON, Calif. – The Tigers were defeated by the WCC regular-season champions #19 BYU on Saturday afternoon 83-53. The tough BYU defense limited the Tigers on offense while the top scoring offense in the WCC finished shooting 40% from the field. 

Honored before the game, senior Jordan Cruz finished with seven points, two rebounds and a steal while being perfect at the free-throw line. 

Diamond Richardson set a career-high in points with 12. Liz Smith had ten points and grabbed four steals in the game. Elizabeth Elliott had eight rebounds and played 28 minutes to lead the Tigers. 

The Cougars got out to a quick lead, scoring 11 points in the game's first four minutes. The Tigers could not figure out the aggressive defense of the Cougars, scoring only nine points in the first quarter. The Tigers had one of their best games from the charity stripe, missing only one free throw of the 12 that they took. 

The Tigers bench outscored the BYU bench by seven points, thanks to both Richardson and Smith coming off the bench for the Tigers. Despite allowing 11 offensive rebounds, the Tigers only gave up seven second-chance points to the Cougars. 

Despite being down for the entirety of the game, the Tigers did not back down, increasing their point totals in every quarter of the game, including outscoring the Cougars by nine in the final quarter. 

The Tigers will play in the WCC Tournament on March 3-8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The final conference standings will be announced on Sunday.