PROVO -- Leading by three points at the half, the BYU women’s basketball team finished the afternoon strong, defeating UNLV 76-60 on Saturday. With the win the Cougars improve to 15-6 on the season and 6-3 in Mountain West Conference play.

“It’s a good win,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “It’s nice to get one in the win column. UNLV is a very scary team. They can go on terrors and get right back into the game.”

Leading BYU was junior Haley Hall with 22 points. Three other Cougars also scored in double-figures, including Mindy Nielson Bonham with 13 points and Jazmine Foreman and Alexis Kaufusi with 11 apiece. Foreman also recorded a career-high 11 assists, marking her first double-double at BYU.

“Jazmine had one of her best games,” said Judkins. “She let it come to her. She did really well today at shooting the ball and taking care of it.”

The Rebels jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before a make by Bonham sparked a 7-0 BYU run. Hall knocked down a three-pointer and jumper to five the Cougar a two-point lead. UNLV continued to put up points, scoring three straight baskets.

With BYU trailing 21-14, Foreman knocked down a make from behind the arc. Coriann Wood got in on the three-point action, recording two consecutive treys with 7:13 to play in the first half to turn the lead back over to the Cougars. Foreman scored another three-pointer before a 2-for-2 trip to the free throw line, giving BYU a 28-23 advantage.

Hall made the team’s sixth trey of the half with 3:02 remaining in the first half, but the Rebels made one of their own as the game clock ran out before the break. The Cougars entered halftime with a 33-30 lead, despite trailing in the rebounds column, 13 to UNLV’s 24.

The second half started with Kristen Riley making a three-pointer, but the Rebels knocked down three treys of their own to take a 39-38 lead. With the score tied 40-40, BYU staged a 13-0 run with help from Kaufisi, Foreman, Hall, Wood and Bonham.

While the Rebels made four trips to the free throw line, Hall continued to contribute, accounting for seven of the Cougars' final 11 points.

“Haley really shot the ball well,” said Judkins. “She came out with a lot of heart. She wanted to hit some shots early and did a great job.”

The Cougars return to action on Feb. 13 as they travel to Air Force and will return to the Marriott Center on Feb. 17 to take on Colorado State.

Official Basketball Box Score
UNLV Rebels vs BYU Cougars
02/06/10 2:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UTAH
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VISITORS: UNLV Rebels 10-13;3-6
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
11 SMITH, Jamie........ f  2-7    1-3    2-2    5  7 12   2   7  2  4  0  1  40
45 THOMPSON, Kelli..... f  3-15   2-8    6-8    1  5  6   1  14  0  0  0  1  30
03 NZEUKOU, Sandrine... c  3-6    0-0    4-5    5  3  8   2  10  1  1  0  1  24
15 HELMS, Erica........ g  6-17   3-9    4-4    1  0  1   0  19  1  2  0  1  39
30 BELL. Mia........... g  0-7    0-3    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  3  7  0  1  28
01 KRONEBERGER, Ashley.    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
05 STYLES, Markiell....    4-4    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   2  10  0  0  0  0  11
10 HOLIDAY, Allison....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   7
21 ANDERSON, Amanda....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
23 HUNT, Latoya........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
32 CHANEY, India.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  4  1  0  0  12
   TEAM................                         5  6 11
   Totals..............   18-60   6-26  18-21  18 25 43  10  60 11 16  0  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-33 30.3%   2nd Half:  8-27 29.6%   Game: 30.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-11 18.2%   2nd Half:  4-15 26.7%   Game: 23.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-8  100 %   2nd Half: 10-13 76.9%   Game: 85.7%    1
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 15-6;6-3
                          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  1-3    1-3    0-2    1  2  3   5   3  2  2  0  1  16
45 MOEAKI,Keilani...... f  1-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   3   2  2  1  0  0  20
03 FOREMAN,Jazmine..... g  3-4    3-4    2-2    1  3  4   3  11 11  1  1  0  31
22 BONHAM,Mindy........ g  6-13   1-3    0-0    2  3  5   2  13  8  2  0  0  33
33 HALL, Haley......... g  9-15   4-8    0-0    1  2  3   1  22  3  1  0  2  33
10 KAUFUSI, Alexis.....    4-8    0-0    3-5    0  2  2   1  11  0  1  1  1  17
13 JUDKINS,Jaime.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   8
21 BATES,Stephanie.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
23 WOOD,Coriann........    3-9    2-4    0-0    3  4  7   3   8  1  1  0  1  26
31 BECK,Marie..........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
32 PETERSON,Dani.......    3-5    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   6  0  1  1  0   9
55 LEACH,Megan.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         1  5  6
   Totals..............   30-62  11-25   5-9    9 26 35  19  76 28 10  3  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2%   2nd Half: 18-36 50.0%   Game: 48.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-11 54.5%   2nd Half:  5-14 35.7%   Game: 44.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 55.6%    2
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Officials: LAURA RAHE, LES WILLIAMS, JON HAEFELI
Technical fouls: UNLV Rebels-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 896
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
UNLV Rebels...................   30   30  -   60
BYU Cougars...................   33   43  -   76
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-LV 16,BY 20. Points off turnovers-LV 14,BY 19.
2nd chance points-LV 14,BY 13. Fast break points-LV 4,BY 2.
Bench points-LV 10,BY 25. Score tied-5 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-LV 2nd-00:46, BY 2nd-02:04.
Largest lead-LV by 7 1st-10:59, BY by 19 2nd-02:04.

With a 5-3 league record and tied with New Mexico for third place in the most recent MWC standings, BYU starts the second half of MWC play this Saturday.

The Cougars and Rebels (3-5) battle in the Marriott Center on Sat. Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. The game can be seen live worldwide on BYU TV.

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 Jr 9.9 3.3

22 Mindy Bonham (Nielson) G 5-10 Jr 11.1 4.2

33 Haley Hall G 5-4 Jr 8.2 3.7

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 5.2 2.2

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 8.8 5.4

2009-10 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.432, 505-1170)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.349, 136-390)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.653, 194-297)

-- Average points per game: 67.0

-- Average rebounds per game: 38.7

-- Average assists per game: 16.6

-- Average steals per game: 9.9

-- Average blocks per game: 3.5

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.7

Cougars in the NCAA Stats (as of Jan. 31, 2010)

Team

-- Scoring Defense - 29th (56.3)

-- Field Goal Percentage - 29th (.444)

-- Rebound Margin - 27th (+6.3)

-- Assists Per Game - 11th (16.9)

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - 26th (0.95)

Player

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - Haley Hall, 20th (2.18)

Team Starts MWC Race Strong

With a 5-3 record in league play, the Cougar women are off to their best start since the 2006-07 campaign when they began conference play with a 7-1 record, eventually winning the regular season crown with a 12-4 finish. That year they went on to play in the title game of the conference tournament before losing to New Mexico. The team went on to play a first round game in the NCAA Tournament.

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 point guard Haley Hall have been selected by their teammates as co-captains for the 2009-10 season.

SATURDAY’S MWC OPPONENT

UNLV - Sat. Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. MST (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

UNLV comes into the second half of MWC action with a 3-5 league record after picking up a 62-56 victory over Wyoming on Tues. Feb. 2. Junior guard Erica Helms is one of two players on the Rebels team scoring in double figures. She’s averaging 13.4 points and 2.0 rebounds a game. Kelli Thompson, a 6-0 freshman guard/forward combo follows with 12.9 points and 4.4 boards per contest. In the rebound category, sophomore guard/forward Jamie Smith tops the list grabbing 9.8 boards per game. Helms is also the team’s assist and steals leader with a total of 79 and 41 respectively. Kathy Olivier is in her second season as UNLV’s women’s basketball coach.

Stat Comparison

Category BYU UNLV

FG: .432 .366

3FG: .349 .325

FT: .653 .685

Points: 67.0 63.1

Reb: 38.7 38.3

Series Information

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 24-12

BYU Record in Provo: 13-2

BYU Record in Las Vegas: 10-9

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-1

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 14-7

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 1-2

Longest BYU Win Streak: 5 (twice, 2001-02; 2005-07)

Longest UNLV Win Streak: 3 (twice, 1975-79; 2004)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 26, 74-48 in 2005

Largest UNLV Margin of Victory: 13, 77-64 in ‘04

First Meeting this MWC Season

In the first game of the MWC 2010 season the Cougars and Rebels met in Las Vegas on Jan.6 with the visiting BYU team picking up the 10-point 71-61 victory. When playing in Provo UNLV has a 2-13 record. Their last win in the Marriott Center was during the 2003-04 when the Rebels picked up a 67-59 victory on Mar. 6, 2004.

Game Summary - Last outing between BYU and UNLV. Jan. 6, 2010, Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas. BYU won 71-61

The Cougars won their fifth straight game, first in conference, in a 71-61 victory in Vegas. They took an early 13-7 lead in the first half after back-to-back 3-pointers from Haley Hall and Jazmine Foreman. Coriann Wood finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds, for her second double-double of the season.

Key Stats in 1st game BYU UNLV

Field Goal Percentage 27-65 (41.5%) 22-53 (41.5%)

Three-point Percentage 8-26 (30.8%) 5-18 (27.8%)

Free-Throw Percentage 9-12 (75%) 12-17 (70.6%)

Rebounds 40 36

WHAT’S NEXT

After the home contest vs. UNLV, the Cougar team continues the second half of MWC action playing at the Air Force Academy on Feb. 13 before returning home to host CSU on Feb. 17 and Wyoming on Feb. 20.