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PROVO -- In a battle between two of the MWC’s best women’s basketball teams, BYU upset league-leading San Diego State 73-63 Saturday in the Marriott Center.

The Cougars were led by sophomore forward Kristen Riley who finished with her first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Riley also tied her season-and career-high with three steals.

Jazmine Foreman and Mindy Bonham also contributed 13 points to the winning effort. Foreman added nine rebounds to the total for a new season-high.

“I’m really proud of this team,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said following the game. “SDSU is very quick and very athletic but we played well down the stretch in order to win this game.”

BYU got off to a great start thanks to strong play by Riley who scored five points in the opening three minutes of the game including a three-pointer that gave the Cougars their first basket of the game. Exceptional offensive play by the entire BYU offense allowed the Cougars to take a 24-10 lead, its largest of the game, over the Aztecs with ten minutes remaining in the first half.

“Just knowing that we are capable of beating this team and teams like this is huge for us,” Riley said. “I’m just so happy that we won.”

With Cougar guard Foreman on the bench, SDSU took the opportunity to press full-court and was able to come within ten points of BYU with the score 24-14. However, Cougars head coach Jeff Judkins immediately saw the need for Foreman to be on the floor and the Aztec defense went back to a half court set. Still, BYU was unable to find the offensive rhythm they enjoyed early on and did not score for over five minutes as SDSU found success down low with four consecutive lay-ins bringing the score to 24-19. However, the Cougars were able to hang onto a 33-31 lead going into the break.

The second half started much like the first half as Foreman hit a three-pointer to open the half and extend the BYU lead to 36-31. Still, the Cougars were unable to pull away from the Aztecs who would not go down without a fight battling back to within one point of BYU with 14 minutes left to be played.

However, with just over 13 minutes to play Riley hit a trey bringing Cougar fans to their feet. A strong play by junior forward Coriann Wood allowed BYU to stretch their lead to nine. SDSU cut the BYU lead to five with seven minutes remaining forcing Judkins to call a timeout.

Coming out of the huddle the Aztecs continued to give the Cougars their best, forcing use of the entire shot clock. Foreman, whose leadership was evident throughout the game, particularly down the stretch, made crucial free throws late in the game.

The victory gives the Cougars (13-4, 4-1), a tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference standing with No.23 TCU.

“These kids are young and they haven’t had the opportunity to get a big break,” Judkins said. “I told them before the game that this was our time, they have stuck together through the season and they deserved this win so I was really happy for them.”

BYU will return to action again on Wednesday against New Mexico at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUTV.

Official Basketball Box Score
SAN DIEGO ST AZTECS vs BYU Cougars
01/23/10 2:00 P.M. at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UTAH
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VISITORS: SAN DIEGO ST AZTECS 12-6;4-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 BRADLEY, Jessika.... f  4-11   0-0    1-2    4  3  7   2   9  0  2  2  0  27
32 JOHNSON, Paris...... c  5-9    0-0    0-2    2  2  4   2  10  1  2  0  1  23
02 DAVIS, Coco......... g  1-4    0-2    2-2    0  3  3   3   4  3  4  0  2  36
03 DAVIS, Quenese...... g  5-11   0-2    3-4    2  1  3   3  13  7  3  0  3  36
05 MORRIS, Jene........ g  6-16   2-8    3-5    0  0  0   2  17  6  7  1  3  37
04 SPINARDI, Kim.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
34 DUFFY, Allison......    5-6    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   4  10  1  2  0  2  27
40 CHAMBERS, Candace...    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   7
55 TUTT, Kalena........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
   TEAM................                         2  5  7
   Totals..............   26-57   2-12   9-15  11 16 27  17  63 18 20  3 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1%   2nd Half: 13-30 43.3%   Game: 45.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-3  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-9  11.1%   Game: 16.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-9  44.4%   2nd Half:  5-6  83.3%   Game: 60.0%    3
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 13-4;4-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
35 RILEY,Kristen....... f  5-11   2-2    4-4    8  3 11   1  16  1  3  1  3  27
45 MOEAKI,Keilani...... f  1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  1  1  0  0  14
03 FOREMAN,Jazmine..... g  2-7    1-5    8-9    1  8  9   4  13  5  5  0  3  36
22 BONHAM,Mindy........ g  5-8    0-0    3-4    0  3  3   1  13  6  5  0  3  39
33 HALL, Haley......... g  3-10   2-6    3-4    2  2  4   3  11  4  5  0  0  38
10 KAUFUSI, Alexis.....    1-4    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   2  0  0  1  0   9
23 WOOD,Coriann........    4-9    0-2    2-2    2  4  6   2  10  1  4  1  0  28
32 PETERSON,Dani.......    3-5    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   6  0  1  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   24-55   5-15  20-23  16 23 39  13  73 18 24  3  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-31 45.2%   2nd Half: 10-24 41.7%   Game: 43.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-10 30.0%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half: 18-20 90.0%   Game: 87.0%    2
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Officials: ERIC LARSON, LES WILLIAMS, ROBERT STRONG
Technical fouls: SAN DIEGO ST AZTECS-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 974
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
SAN DIEGO ST AZTECS...........   31   32  -   63
BYU Cougars...................   33   40  -   73
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-SD 36,BY 28. Points off turnovers-SD 23,BY 13.
2nd chance points-SD 8,BY 16. Fast break points-SD 4,BY 2.
Bench points-SD 10,BY 18. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-SD 2nd-01:03, BY 2nd-01:22.
Largest lead-SD None, BY by 14 1st-11:14.

After going 1-1 in two road league games, the BYU women’s basketball team returns home to continue play in the MWC race.

The Cougars (12-4, 3-1) host league leading San Diego State (12-5, 4-1) on Sat. Jan. 23 at 2 p.m.

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 Jr 10.1 3.3

22 Mindy Bonham (Nielson) G 5-10 Jr 11.4 3.9

33 Haley Hall G 5-4 Jr 8.1 3.3

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 5.2 2.6

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 8.5 5.1

2009-10 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.440, 418-949)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.362, 112-309)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.624, 153-245)

-- Average points per game: 68.8

-- Average rebounds per game: 39.2

-- Average assists per game: 16.9

-- Average steals per game: 10.4

-- Average blocks per game: 3.4

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.7

Player Injury Report

Freshman guard Kim Parker suffered a season ending injury in the game at Weber State. She has torn ligaments in her left foot.

Sophomore guard Jenteal Jackson will apply for a medical redshirt for this year due to an on-going back problem.

Freshman To Redshirt

Stephanie Vermunt, a 6-0 freshman guard/forward from Airdrie, Alberta, Canada will redshirt the 2009-10 season.

Team Captains

Senior guard Jaime Judkins and junior guard Haley Hall have been selected by their teammates as co-captains for the 2009-10 season.

SATURDAY’S MWC COUGAR OPPONENT

SAN DIEGO STATE - Sat. Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. MST (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

San Diego State comes to Provo this weekend at the top of the MWC standings with a 4-1 league record and 12-5 overall. The Aztecs lone conference loss was to No. 22 TCU. Currently three players are scoring in double digits for SDSU led by seniors Jene Morris and Quenese Davis. Morris tops the list with 15.3 points, 3.0 steals and averages 2.5 rebounds while Davis contributes 12.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and a team high 4.8 assists per contest. Junior center Paris Johnson rounds out the double figure scoring with 10.8 points and 6.5 boards. Jessika Bradley leads the way in rebounding grabbing 7.6 boards per game. Head coach Beth Burns is in her 13th season with the Aztecs women’s basketball program.

SDSU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

01 Jessika Bradley F 6-3 Jr 8.2 7.6

32 Paris Johnson C 6-4 Jr 10.8 6.5

02 Coco Davis G 5-9 Jr 5.0 4.2

03 Quenese Davis G 5-10 Sr 12.7 5.2

05 Jene Morris G 5-9 Sr 15.3 2.5

Stat Comparison

Category BYU SDSU

FG: .440 .440

3FG: .362 .354

FT: .624 .695

Points: 68.8 64.1

Reb: 39.2 37.5

Series Information

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 25-12

BYU Record in Provo: 14-3

BYU Record in San Diego: 10-9

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 13-3

BYU Record in Overtime Games: N/A

Longest BYU Win Streak: 13 (2001-2007)

Longest SDSU Win Streak: 3 (twice, ‘95-’96; ‘81-’91)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 32, 82-50 in 2004

Largest SDSU Margin of Victory: 26, 85-59 in 1996

A Look Back at the Series during the 2009 MWC Race

During last season’s league games the Aztecs swept the series winning both contests. San Diego State has compiled a 3-14 record when playing in the Marriott Center with their last win coming on Feb. 25, 2009, a 59-47 victory for the Aztecs.

What’s Next

BYU remains at home for one more league game. The Cougars host the University of New Mexico on Wed., Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. That game can be seen live on BYU TV. The team then takes a short drive to Salt Lake City to battle instate rival and MWC foe Utah on Sat. Jan. 30. Tip off is at 3 p.m.