Balanced Scoring Lifts Cougar Women Past Cowgirls

Laramie, WY (Feb. 7, 2002) Five players scored in double figures as BYU cruised to a 75-58 women's basketball MWC win over Wyoming, Thursday.

The win over the Cowgirls improves the Cougars record to 15-6, 6-2 record and extend their winning streak to five straight. Wyoming drops to 10-10, 3-5 on the season. This was the first home loss for the Cowgirls in MWC play this year.

Forward Jennifer Leitner led the high scoring BYU offensive effort with 15 points, followed by 14 points a piece from the guard duo of Stacy Jensen and All-American Erin Thorn. Danielle Chessman contributed 12 points and Melanie Pearson came off the bench for 10 points.

"I thought we played a great second half and made some critical stops down the stretch, " said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "This was another great defensive effort by the team and we did what we needed to by picking up this league road win, " he added.

The Cougars enjoyed an eight point, 36-28 advantage after the first 20 minutes of play and had a nine point 57-48 lead with just over eight minutes to play before taking control of the game for the 17-point victory.

BYU shot 53 percent from the field and almost had a perfect game from the line, missing just one of eight tries from the foul line.

For Wyoming it was Ann McColl with a team high 15 points followed by a dozen points from Carrie Bacon and Carly Stucky, respectively. The Cowgirls shot 49 percent from the field and 75 from the free throw line.

The Cougars finish the week in Ft. Collins with a match up against conference leader Colorado State on Saturday afternoon. Tip off from Moby Arena is set for 2 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BYU Cougars vs Wyoming Cowgirls
2/7/02 7:00 p.m. at Arena Auditorium, Laramie, Wyo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: BYU Cougars 15-6 (6-2)
                          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  6-7    2-2    1-2    2  5  7   3  15  1  1  0  1  33
31 OSGUTHORPE, Lisa.... f  3-6    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   6  3  0  0  0  32
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f  6-6    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   4  12  0  0  0  1  13
11 THORN, Erin......... g  7-16   0-7    0-0    0  0  0   1  14  3  1  2  4  34
22 JENSEN, Stacy....... g  4-8    2-3    4-4    0  5  5   0  14  3  2  0  3  30
05 LEWIS, Amy..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   3
12 PEARSON, Melanie....    4-10   0-2    2-2    0  3  3   1  10  0  2  0  2  24
20 LARSON, Brittany....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  0  2  0  0  11
23 ROSE, Chanell.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   3   0  1  0  0  1   8
25 TAYLOR, Kali........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  1  0  0   4
30 BROWN, MELISSA......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
45 HANSEN, Lisa........    1-3    0-0    0-0    3  0  3   4   2  1  1  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   32-60   4-16   7-8    8 19 27  18  75 12 11  2 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-30 50.0%   2nd Half: 17-30 56.7%   Game: 53.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-11 18.2%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-4  100 %   2nd Half:  3-4  75.0%   Game: 87.5%    0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Wyoming Cowgirls 10-10 (3-5)
                          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  3-6    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   6  0  2  0  0  26
41 BACON, Carrie....... f  4-5    0-0    4-6    0  3  3   1  12  1  5  1  0  26
51 MCCOLL, Ann......... c  4-10   0-0    7-8    3  2  5   1  15  3  0  0  1  38
12 STUCKY, Carly....... g  5-9    2-4    0-0    0  5  5   1  12  2  1  0  1  28
25 WIERSMA, Cherrith... g  0-1    0-0    1-2    0  2  2   2   1  1  1  0  0  14
13 PICKUP, Brenda......    1-1    0-0    3-4    0  1  1   2   5  3  6  0  3  22
24 ELLIOTT, Ashley.....    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   9
31 LENHARDT, Kristen...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
42 BACON, Christy......    3-6    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   7  3  5  0  1  25
50 MCREE, Kelly........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
52 WIERSMA, Chassie....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   6
53 HIPPEN, Sara........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         1  6  7
   Totals..............   20-41   3-7   15-20   5 21 26  11  58 13 20  1  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  7-18 38.9%   2nd Half: 13-23 56.5%   Game: 48.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 42.9%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-16 75.0%   2nd Half:  3-4  75.0%   Game: 75.0%    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Ed Flores, Shelley Nakasone, Robert Strong
Technical fouls: BYU Cougars-None. Wyoming Cowgirls-None.
Attendance: 866
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU Cougars...................   36   39  -   75
Wyoming Cowgirls..............   28   30  -   58