Cougars Suffer First Home Loss Against Arkansas

Provo, UTAH -- In their first ever trip to the Marriott Center, Arkansas snapped BYU's five-game winning streak with a 85-57 loss of the Cougars, Wednesday night. The loss marks the first of the season at the Marriott Center after winning their first three. The Cougars record falls to 9-4 while the Razorbacks improve to 9-3.

The Cougars opened up slowly with two turnovers in the first minute of play. Erin Thorn and Lisa Osguthorpe each made a three-pointer to give BYU an early 6-4 lead, but it was all Arkansas after that as they shot 60 percent in the first half to take a commanding 42-25 lead into the break.

"We came out a step slow tonight," said head coach Jeff Judkins. "Give Arkansas a lot of credit. They came out with a lot of pressure on defense and we didn't execute well."

BYU made a few runs in the second half, but Arkansas quickly answered each one as the Cougars failed to cut the lead to single-digits.

Junior Melanie Pearson had a BYU career-best 15 points off the bench to lead the Cougars. Jennifer Leitner chipped in 10 points while junior Erin Thorn scored only eight points on 3-15 shooting from the floor.

Hustle and defense were the differences in the game. BYU was held to only 34 percent from the field and shot a low 65 percent from the line. Arkansas shot 56 percent from the floor and an amazing 89 percent on free throws.

The rest of the numbers were quite equal from both teams. Arkansas had the rebounding edge 35-30, but BYU tallied 16 offensive rebounds. Arkansas had 18 turnovers to BYU's 16 and committed 18 fouls to BYU's 17.

Katrina Nesby led Arkansas off the bench with 16 points in only 22 minutes of play on 6-6 shooting with an array of lay-ups. Shameka Christon scored 14 while Dana Cherry had 10.

BYU will start conference play with two home games next week. First up is No. 19 Colorado State next Thursday, January 10 at 7 p.m. The Cougars will then play Wyoming on Saturday, January 12 at 7 p.m., respectively.

ARKANSAS vs BYU Cougars (01-02-02 at MARRIOTT CENTER PROVO, UT)
       Box Score 
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ARKANSAS vs BYU Cougars
01-02-02 4:00 PM at MARRIOTT CENTER  PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: ARKANSAS 9-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 WRIGHT, Amy......... f  0-2    0-0    2-2    0  4  4   0   2 11  6  0  1  35
20 CHRISTON, Shameka... f  4-7    2-4    4-4    0  5  5   3  14  2  1  1  1  23
52 OAKLEY, Joy......... f  4-5    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   8  0  4  0  2  13
21 LEWIS, India........ g  3-5    1-3    2-2    1  4  5   3   9  6  2  0  1  31
22 CHERRY, Dana........ g  4-8    0-0    2-2    2  3  5   4  10  0  2  0  0  22
11 PETERSON, Kela......    1-4    0-0    2-2    2  0  2   1   4  0  0  0  0  11
12 BEARD, Kiesah.......    0-1    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   1   2  0  0  0  0   5
14 WRIGHT, Cara........    0-0    0-0    4-4    0  1  1   0   4  0  1  0  0   5
31 RHODES, Carla.......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  0  0  0   2
35 HARMON, Shanna......    2-5    2-4    0-0    1  2  3   1   6  0  0  0  1  16
44 HARPER, Lakishia....    3-6    0-0    1-1    1  2  3   1   7  0  1  0  1  15
45 NESBY, Katrina......    6-6    0-0    4-7    1  1  2   2  16  1  1  2  1  22
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   28-50   6-12  23-26   9 26 35  18  85 20 18  3  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-25 60.0%   2nd Half: 13-25 52.0%   Game: 56.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-4  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-8  50.0%   Game: 50.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3%   2nd Half: 13-14 92.9%   Game: 88.5%    2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 9-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
23 Rose, Chanell....... f  3-5    0-0    2-4    2  2  4   3   8  0  1  0  2  21
31 Osguthorpe, Lisa.... f  1-5    1-1    0-0    2  1  3   3   3  1  2  0  0  22
21 LEITNER, Jennifer... c  4-6    1-1    1-2    2  1  3   3  10  2  2  0  1  32
11 Thorn, Erin......... g  3-15   2-8    0-0    0  4  4   0   8  2  2  0  1  30
22 Jensen, Stacy....... g  1-6    0-1    3-3    1  1  2   2   5  4  5  0  1  30
05 Lewis, Amy..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  1   3
12 Pearson, Melanie....    5-10   0-2    5-7    3  0  3   1  15  1  0  1  2  26
20 Larson, Brittany....    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  1  0  0   3
25 Taylor, Kali........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  1   6
45 Hansen, Lisa........    0-4    0-0    2-4    1  1  2   3   2  1  1  0  1  11
50 Cheesman, Heather...    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  1  0  0  0   4
51 Cheesman, Danielle..    2-5    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   1   4  1  1  0  0  12
   TEAM................                         3  1  4
   Totals..............   20-59   4-14  13-20  16 14 30  17  57 13 16  1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-32 31.3%   2nd Half: 10-27 37.0%   Game: 33.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-10 20.0%   2nd Half:  2-4  50.0%   Game: 28.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half: 10-14 71.4%   Game: 65.0%    4
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Officials: CARLA FUJIMOTO, DEBBIE ADAMS, MIKE PRICE
Technical fouls: ARKANSAS-None. BYU Cougars-TEAM.
Attendance: 376
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
ARKANSAS......................   42   43  -   85
BYU Cougars...................   25   32  -   57