Thorn Leads Cougs Over Falcons In MWC Hoops Action

PROVO -- Led by All-American Erin Thorn's game-high 21 points, the BYU women's basketball team rose above the Air Force Falcons to pull out a 68-55 win Thursday night at the Marriott Center. The win improves the Cougars record to 16-7, 7-3 and gives them a share of second place in the conference standings while Air Force falls to 4-18 overall and 0-9 in the conference.

The zone defense played by Air Force gave BYU plenty of open looks as they tallied 21 assists on the night. Stacy Jensen led BYU with eight assists and was also credited with three steals. Even so, the Cougars did not have their sharpest night.

"It was pretty ugly tonight and I can't say I'm happy about it," said head coach Jeff Judkins. "We went back to a lot of bad habits we had worked on and our bench didn't come in for us like they have in the past, but we won and that's good."

BYU looked to have things in hand going into halftime with a commanding 15-point lead and added to it in the second period as they built a 59-36 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the game. The Falcons never relented, working the lead down to 11 points before the clock ran out on them after Melanie Pearson hit two free throws to seal the game 68-55.

The Cougars came close to continuing their four-game streak with four double-digit scorers. Thorn led the team with 21 followed by Jennifer Leitner's 12 points and seven rebounds. Pearson had 11 points on the night while Danielle Cheesman fell just short of double figures with nine.

BYU will fight to stay in second place in the conference on Saturday, Feb. 16 by hosting the University of New Mexico (18-6, 7-3). Tip off will be at 4 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
AIR FORCE Falcons vs BYU Cougars
02-14-02 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CENTER, PROVO, UT  BYU
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VISITORS: AIR FORCE Falcons 4-18; 0-9
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
24 JACKSON, Amoy....... f  5-8    0-2    0-0    3  0  3   4  10  1  5  0  1  27
25 RUSS, Rozalyn....... f  2-5    1-1    4-4    1  2  3   2   9  0  1  0  1  22
35 CLIFTON, Samantha... f  1-4    0-0    6-6    6  3  9   5   8  1  1  0  2  23
05 HOWELL, Latoya...... g  4-14   2-6    0-0    2  1  3   3  10  4  5  0  1  31
22 TOMLINSON, Ali...... g  1-3    0-1    0-0    1  2  3   0   2  1  2  0  1  20
11 GROVE, Gwendolyn....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  0  1  0  0   8
14 CHILDRESS, Janea....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   4
20 BLUNT, Kaelin.......    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  2  0  0  0   5
30 GROSS, Emily........    0-1    0-0    2-2    1  0  1   2   2  1  2  0  0  10
32 STILLMAN, Wendy.....    1-5    0-0    0-2    1  0  1   4   2  0  3  0  0  12
33 BENNETT, Morgan.....    0-0    0-0    2-3    0  3  3   3   2  1  1  0  0  12
40 NEFF, Shawna........    2-7    1-3    5-5    0  1  1   0  10  1  1  0  2  18
42 BAUER, Brooke.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    3  1  4   0   0  0  0  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   16-52   4-14  19-22  19 19 38  24  55 12 23  0  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  5-25 20.0%   2nd Half: 11-27 40.7%   Game: 30.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-5   0.0%   2nd Half:  4-9  44.4%   Game: 28.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-12 91.7%   2nd Half:  8-10 80.0%   Game: 86.4%    1
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 16-7; 7-3
                          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  3-6    1-1    5-8    3  4  7   3  12  1  2  1  1  26
31 Osguthorpe, Lisa.... f  1-3    1-3    0-0    1  1  2   0   3  2  0  0  0  26
51 Cheesman, Danielle.. c  4-4    0-0    1-2    1  2  3   1   9  1  2  1  1  24
11 Thorn, Erin......... g  8-20   5-14   0-0    1  4  5   4  21  3  4  0  1  35
22 Jensen, Stacy....... g  0-3    0-3    2-2    1  2  3   3   2  8  4  0  3  27
05 Lewis, Amy..........    0-1    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  1  0  1   4
12 Pearson, Melanie....    3-5    1-2    4-4    2  1  3   3  11  2  3  0  0  19
20 Larson, Brittany....    0-0    0-0    4-4    0  2  2   2   4  1  0  0  1  10
23 Rose, Chanell.......    0-2    0-0    4-6    2  0  2   2   4  2  0  0  1  12
25 Taylor, Kali........    0-1    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   0   1  1  0  0  0   8
45 Hansen, Lisa........    0-3    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   2   1  0  2  2  2   9
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   19-48   8-24  22-30  14 19 33  20  68 21 18  4 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9%   2nd Half:  7-20 35.0%   Game: 39.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-14 42.9%   2nd Half:  2-10 20.0%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-6  100 %   2nd Half: 16-24 66.7%   Game: 73.3%    4
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Officials: ROBERT STRONG, ANITA MYLES, RANDY COIL
Technical fouls: AIR FORCE Falcons-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 360
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
AIR FORCE Falcons.............   21   34  -   55
BYU Cougars...................   36   32  -   68