Records Break As Cougs Advance At MWC Champs

LAS VEGAS, (Mar. 6, 2002) With eight three pointers and a team high 28 points by Erin Thorn, the Cougar women advanced into the semifinal round of the EAS MWC Women's Basketball Championship after an 82-69 victory over Wyoming, Wednesday.

Thorn's first round performance will go into the conference record books as her three pointers and total points set new tournament records. BYU improved to 20-8, 10-4 on the season while Wyoming finishes its season with a 13-15, 5-9 record.

Three other Cougars had double-digit performances with 15 points from Jennifer Leitner and Danielle Chessman and 10 from senior forward Lisa Osguthorpe. Leitner also tallied a game-high 13 rebounds for her 10th double double of the year.

"I'm proud of our team effort in today's game," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "We stayed in the game even when they (Wyoming) cut it close," he added. "I know we'll need to play a lot tougher and not be too tentative in our next game if we want to win."

The Cougars enjoyed an eight-point 40-32 lead at half time and extended that lead to 12 points early in the second half of action. Wyoming kept battling back cutting the lead by one twice, 54-53 with nine and half minutes left and then again with 8:59 showing on the clock.

BYU withstood the Cowgirls rally late in the game to eventually win by 13. In the game the Cougars shot 52 percent from the field, and went 12 of 25 from behind the arc.

Five players contributed in double digits for Wyoming as forward Carri Bacon led her team effort with 18 points and 10 boards. Ann McColl had 16 points while, Ashley Elliott tallied 12 with teammates Darci Arsene and Carly Stucky picking up 10 points a piece. The Cowgirls shot 39 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line. Wyoming out rebounded the Cougars by one, 36 to 35.

The battle for the MWC Championship continues for BYU as they meet up with New Mexico in one of two semifinal games on Friday. Tip off is set for 12 p.m., PT from the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos and Cougars game can be seen live in Utah on KSL TV, Chan. 5 and on a one-hour delay on BYU TV on the Dish Network. Fans can also listen to live on the Internet at TheMWC.com

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Wyoming vs BYU
03/06/02  2:30 PM at Las Vegas, Nevada
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Wyoming 13-14, 5-9 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 ARSENE, Darci....... f  5-14   0-2    0-0    7  4 11   3  10  2  1  0  1  33
41 BACON, Carrie....... f  6-17   1-3    5-5    0 10 10   4  18  5  3  0  1  35
51 MCCOLL, Ann......... c  7-10   1-1    1-2    2  1  3   2  16  1  0  0  1  38
12 STUCKY, Carly....... g  3-7    2-6    2-2    1  1  2   2  10  2  1  0  1  28
13 PICKUP, Brenda...... g  0-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  2  0  2  14
24 ELLIOTT, Ashley.....    4-13   2-5    2-2    0  2  2   2  12  5  1  0  1  24
25 WIERSMA, Cherrith...    0-2    0-0    0-1    0  0  0   1   0  2  2  0  0  13
42 BACON, Christy......    0-0    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   1   1  1  1  0  1  10
52 WIERSMA, Chassie....    1-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   1   2  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         1  3  4             1
   Totals..............   26-66   6-17  11-14  13 23 36  16  69 18 12  0  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-34 35.3%   2nd Half: 14-32 43.8%   Game: 39.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 35.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-7  71.4%   2nd Half:  6-7  85.7%   Game: 78.6%    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU 19-8, 10-4 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 LEITNER, Jennifer... f  5-8    2-3    3-4    3 10 13   3  15  3  4  2  3  38
31 OSGUTHORPE, Lisa.... f  3-4    1-1    3-4    1  4  5   1  10  7  1  0  0  31
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f  5-6    0-0    5-5    1  4  5   4  15  1  2  0  0  19
11 THORN, Erin......... g 10-16   8-13   0-0    0  3  3   2  28  3  2  0  0  39
22 JENSEN, Stacy....... g  3-11   1-6    2-3    0  2  2   0   9  6  3  0  0  38
05 LEWIS, Amy..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
12 PEARSON, Melanie....    1-7    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   5   2  2  3  0  0  18
20 LARSON, Brittany....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
23 ROSE, Chanell.......    1-1    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   0   3  1  0  0  0   8
25 TAYLOR, Kali........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
30 BROWN, MELISSA......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
32 CASPER, Aspen.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
45 HANSEN, Lisa........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   28-54  12-25  14-18   7 28 35  17  82 23 15  2  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8%   2nd Half: 14-28 50.0%   Game: 51.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  8-13 61.5%   2nd Half:  4-12 33.3%   Game: 48.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-5  80.0%   2nd Half: 10-13 76.9%   Game: 77.8%    0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Sue Kennedy, Kent Johnson, Les Williams
Technical fouls: Wyoming-None. BYU-None.
Attendance: 2486
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Wyoming.......................   32   37  -   69
BYU...........................   40   42  -   82
Statistics provided by Jim Shaffer & crew (702) 896-5677 statman@winning.com