PROVO -- The BYU women’s basketball team (19-8, 10-5) dominated the second Deseret Duel matchup 54-37 against the Utah Utes (18-10, 9-6) in front of a season-best home crowd of 1,783 at the Marriot Center on Wednesday night.

“I am really happy for our team,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “This game meant something to us and our team played really well, with true passion.”

Junior Mindy Bonham led the way for the Cougars, filling up her stat sheet with 12 points, four rebounds and tying her season and career-high with six steals. Junior Haley Hall finished as the BYU leading scorer with 13 points on 5-10 shooting.

“I’m very proud of Mindy tonight,” Judkins said. “She gave a great effort all around and did a good job guarding (Kalee) Whipple.”

The Cougars got the game started fast, nailing two three-point shots after two consecutive steals. They followed the quick six points with another seven before the Utes got on the board at the 13-minute mark.

Utah formed a mini-comeback after BYU's quick start, going on a 7-0 run before the Cougars again took over the game.

Jazmine Foreman led the Cougars on another long scoring run, this time ending at 12-0 and stretching the Cougar lead to 18 points. Foreman was one of three players to finish in double digits with 11 points.

The Utes stopped the BYU run with another 7-0 run of their own but would finish the half with just 14 total points, BYU leading 29-14. The 14 first half points was the lowest score by a Cougar opponent in the first half this season.

Bonham sparked the Cougars back to life to start the second half with a deep three-point basket that began a series of eight straight points for BYU, including a three from Hall and a pair of free-throws by Bonham.

The final 14 minutes of the second half featured the first back-and-forth action of the game, with the two teams exchanging points on consecutive possessions. Utah was never able to put together another run, and never came within single digits after trailing 37-27.

BYU pulled away further as the game came to a close, eventually winning 54-37. The win secures the Deseret First Duel trophy for BYU, and is the first series sweep over Utah for the women since the 2001-2002 season.

The Cougars will again play at home on Saturday against TCU at 2 p.m. A win over the Horned Frogs would secure a second place finish for BYU in the 2010 MWC race.

Playing in the final league games of the 2010 campaign and tied for second place in the latest league standings, the BYU women’s basketball team hosts Utah and TCU this week.

The Cougars (18-8, 9-5) host instate rival Utah (18-9, 9-5) on Wed. Mar. 2 at 7 p.m. The game is the second Deseret First Duel matchup between the two schools. On Sat., Mar. 6, BYU hosts first place TCU (21-6, 11-3) at 2 p.m.

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 11.4 4.2

33 Haley Hall G 5-4 Jr 8.3 3.7

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 4.8 2.2

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 8.3 5.6

2009-10 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.428, 648-1514)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.360, 181-503)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.648, 241-372)

-- Average points per game: 66.1

-- Average rebounds per game: 38.0

-- Average assists per game: 16.6

-- Average steals per game: 9.4

-- Average blocks per game: 3.6

-- Average turnovers per game: 16.9

Cougars in the NCAA Stats (as of Mar. 1, 2010)

Team

-- Assists Per Game - 12th (16.7)

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - 23rd (0.98)

-- Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - 34th (36.1)

-- Three-Point Field Goals Per Game - 36th (7.0)

Player

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - Haley Hall, 16th (2.18)

Team Has Strong Showing In The MWC 2009-10 Race

With a 9-5 record in league play, the Cougar women continue to have success in the conference. As of 3/01/10, the team is tied for second place in the latest MWC standings with just two games left. BYU was picked to finish sixth in the conference.

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.

THIS WEEK’S MWC OPPONENTS

UNIV. OF UTAH - Wed. Mar 3 at 7 p.m. MT (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

In the final MWC regular season, the Utes are currently tied with BYU for second place with a 9-5 record and are 18-9 overall. Two players on the Utah roster are scoring in double figures led by senior Kalee Whipple’s 17.5 points. Taryn Wicijowski is next with 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Halie Sawyer, a 6-1 senior forward leads the team in rebounds grabbing 7.9 boards a game. Janita Badon has the most assists and steals on the team with 130 and 57 respectively. Elaine Elliott is in her 26th season at the helm of the Utah women’s basketball program.

UTAH Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

02 Kalee Whipple F 6-0 Sr 17.5 6.5

22 Halie Sawyer F 6-1 Sr 6.7 7.9

11 Taryn Wicijowski C 6-3 Fr 14.2 6.7

01 Janita Badon G 5-6 So 9.1 5.7

13 Rachel Messer G 5-9 Fr 3.7 1.5

Stat Comparison

Category BYU UT

FG: .428 .414

3FG: .360 .322

FT: .648 .688

Points: 66.1 59.3

Reb: 38.0 38.9

Series Information

Overall Series Record: Utah leads 60-34

BYU Record in Provo: 16-21

BYU Record in Salt Lake CIty : 9-30

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 9-9

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 7-13

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 0-3

Longest BYU Win Streak: 4 (1979-1980)

Longest Utah Win Streak: 10 (1995-1998)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 22, 87-65 in 1985

Largest Utah Margin of Victory: 35, 93-58 in 1991

First Meeting This MWC Season

The two instate rivals and MWC foes met the first time in Salt Lake City on Jan. 30 with the Cougars picking up a 69-52 victory. When Utah plays in the Marriott Center they’ve compiled a 21-16 record with their last win coming during the 2008-09 campaign, a 63-55 victory on Jan. 28, 2009.

DESERET FIRST DUEL GAME

On Wed. Mar. 3, the Cougars and Utes will not only battle in MWC action, but they will each look to add points to their respective schools in the annual Deseret First Duel in women’s basketball. BYU already picked up five points in the first meeting between the Utes and Cougars on Jan. 30 with a 69-52 win in Salt Lake City.

HOW DOES THE DUEL WORK?

BYU and Utah compete head-to-head in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football, women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s swimming. Points are awarded to the school that wins each game, meet, or match. A team trophy is also presented to the winner in each sport. BYU won the inaugural Deseret First Duel in 2007-08, while Utah claimed the title in 2008-09. So far during the 2009-10 campaign, the Cougars are ahead in points 27-7.

TCU - Sat. Mar. 6 at 2 p.m. MT (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

The TCU Horned Frogs are currently in first place in the latest MWC standings with an 11-3 record. They host New Mexico on Tues. Mar. 2 before making the trip to Provo for Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the Cougars. On the Horned Frogs team three players are putting up double digit points led by 14.7 from Emily Carter, 14.0 from Helena Sverrisdottir and 10.6 points from TK La Fleur. On the rebound category, Starr Crawford tops the list grabbing 8.9 boards a game. Sverrisdottir, a 6-1 junior forward, leads the team in assists and in steals with a total of 143 and 61 respectively. Jeff Mittie is in his 11th season as the women’s basketball coach at TCU.

TCU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

11 Starr Crawford F 6-0 Fr 9.9 8.9

15 Emily Carter F 6-1 Jr 14.7 2.9

04 Helena Sverrisdottir G/F 6-1 Jr 14.0 6.8

01 Antoinette Thompson G 5-7 Fr 3.4 3.2

24 Eboni Mangum G 5-8 Sr 8.1 2.3

Stat Comparison

Category BYU TCU

FG: .441 .422

3FG: .356 .361

FT: .650 .742

Points: 68.4 73.4

Reb: 39.2 40.1

Series Information

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 8-7

BYU Record in Provo: 3-3

BYU Record in Ft. Worth : 4-4

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 5-7

BYU Record in Overtime Games: N/A

Longest BYU Win Streak: 4 (2006-2007)

Longest TCU Win Streak: 3 (2007-2009)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 17, 73-56 in 2006

Largest TCU Margin of Victory: 20, 75-55 in ‘09

First Meeting This MWC Season

BYU and TCU had their first matchup of the 2010 MWC season in Ft. Worth on Feb. 3 where the Horned Frogs picked up the 64-40 home win. When TCU plays in the Marriott Center they’ve tallied a 3-3 record. Their last victory in Provo was on Feb. 14, 2009, a 75-55 win over the Cougars.

WHAT’S NEXT

With the final two leagues at home the 2010 MWC regular season concludes for the Cougars. The team will then prepare to compete in the 2010 Conoco MWC Women’s Basketball Championships, Mar. 10-13 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center. The pairings will be announced on Saturday night, Mar. 6 at the conclusion of that day’s games. The winner of the women’s championship gets an automatic bid into the 2010 NCAA Tournament.