Back on the road for BYU women’s hoops, in Colorado for two

BYU at Northern Colorado Game Notes

PROVO, Utah — With a 3-2 record on the year, BYU women’s basketball takes its second road trip of the season traveling to Colorado for this week’s games.

The Cougars are in Greeley taking on Northern Colorado (4-2) Thurs., Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. MST. On Sat., Dec. 2, BYU is at Colorado State (3-2) in a 2 p.m. tilt. Both games can be heard live on BYU Radio Sirius XM 143 and online at byuradio.org/listen.

ABOUT BYU
BYU dropped a closely-contested 79-63 home game against Georgia on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars cut the Bulldogs’ lead to nine, 60-51, with under eight minutes left in the game, but that was as close as they would get.

In all games played to date, BYU has had at least two players score in double figures and in the first four contests, the Cougar team had put up at least 70 points. They have also outrebounded their opponents in all but the game at Eastern Washington.

BYU is shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 38.2 percent from 3-point range and 71.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Last season, the Cougars finished the year with a 10-3 mark while playing at home, including a perfect 9-0 mark in conference play. So far this year, BYU is 2-1 at home.

Head coach Jeff Judkins enters his 17th season at the helm of the women’s basketball program where he has amassed a 354-164 record.

This year’s team consists of two returning starters, six letterwinners and eight newcomers.

BYU Player Stat Leaders                                       
Scoring: #20 C. Devashrayee (20.8 ppg)
Rebounding: #03 S. Salmon (10.8 rpg)
Assists: #20 C. Devashrayee (4.4 apg)
Steals: #03 B. Chase (2.6 bpg)
Blocks: #03 S. Hamson (2.5 bpg)

ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO
The Northern Colorado Bears have a 4-2 record to date and a 2-0 mark when playing at home. NC is coming off two road losses at Quinnipiac and at Fordham.

Northern Colorado was picked to finish first in the Big Sky Conference race. The Bears are the third program from the Big Sky league that BYU has played in its preseason schedule. The Cougars defeated both Southern Utah and Eastern Washington earlier this month.

The Bears are averaging 63.0 points per game, shooting 39.7 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from behind the arc and 82.8 percent from the charity stripe.

Head coach Kamie Ethridge is in her fourth season at the helm of the Northern Colorado women’s basketball program. She has compiled a 61-37 record to date.

NC Player Stat Leaders
Scoring: #02 S. Scott (16.5 ppg)
Rebounding: #02 S. Scott (5.8 rpg)
Assists: #01 K. Leger-Walker (4.3 apg)
Steals: #10 S. Smith  (2.7 spg)
Blocks: #13 C. Smith (1.0 bpg)

Series History
This will be the first time these two programs have played each other in over 38 years, having played last  March 3, 1979. In that matchup, BYU won 98-49 in Provo. The Cougars lead the overall series 5-3. When playing in Greeley, BYU is 1-2 all-time.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
Entering this week’s games, Colorado State has a 3-2 record. They are at Denver on Thursday before hosting BYU on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams were picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference race after a fourth-straight league crown last year.

Colorado State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last year’s team that finished the season with a 25-9 record.

Head coach Ryun Williams is in his sixth season with CSU where he has compiled a 117-47 record.

The Rams are scoring 68.0 points and pull down 41.0 rebounds per contest. The team shoots 41.8 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from 3-point range and 70.4 percent from the free throw line.

CSU Player Stat Leaders
Scoring: #35 L. Devos (12.6 ppg)
Rebounding: #15 V. Mirkovic (6.8 rpg)
Assists: #35 L. Devos (2.6 apg)
Steals: #23 G. Colaivalu (1.2 spg)
Blocks: #35 L. Devos (0.8 bpg)

Series History
BYU leads the overall series vs. CSU 54-23. When playing in Ft. Collins, the Cougars are 19-15. The two teams met last during the 2015-16 campaign in a game played at Moby Arena on Nov. 21. In that contest, CSU picked up the 61-55 victory. Coach Judkins has an 18-6 record vs. the Rams.

What’s Next
After the road swing through Colorado, the Cougar women return to play games at home hosting two in-state rivals. BYU hosts Utah State on Wed., Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. On Sat., Dec. 9, the Cougar women host in-state rival Utah in a 2 p.m. tip off. Both games will air live on BYUtv.