Cougar Women Take Road Swing Through Colorado And Wyoming

After two big conference wins at home this week, BYU's women's basketball team takes to the road for MWC matchups against CSU and Wyoming, both critical games for the Cougars. BYU lost to CSU in the Marriott Center earlier this year, then went on to defeat Wyoming.

Last Week Wrap Up

BYU improved its conference record to 6-3 on the year after picking up two MWC wins over UNLV, 98-81 and SDSU 84-58, both games at the Marriott Center. Stacy Jensen scored a career-high 30 points in the UNLV victory. The Cougars entire bench got some playing time in the win over SDSU. With the two conference wins, BYU is all alone in fourth place in the conference standings, just two games shy of first place.

Games To Be Heard On The Internet

Both road games this week can be heard on the Internet by clicking KBYU-TV at http://www.kbyu.org/sports/wball. Chris Twitty will call the action from Ft. Collins and Laramie.

Jensen Gets MWC Player Of The Week Honors

After last week's stellar performance which included four career-high marks, Stacy Jensen, a sophomore from West Jordan, Utah was honored as the MWC Player of the Week. Jensen netted a career-high 30 points in the victory over UNLV. She also shot 7-11 from the field including a career-high four three-pointers and she was 12-14 from the free-throw line. In Saturday's victory over SDSU she tallied her 13th double digit score with 13 points , three steals, three rebounds and one assist. This is Jensen's first honor this year and the third for the Cougars. Erin Thorn and Jill Adams have won the weekly conference honor.

Player Injury Report

Senior forward Cady Williams will be out at least one more week after breaking her left hand in three places in practice a few weeks ago.

BYU Probable Starters

l 32 Lori Cuff - 6-1 F, Sr (7.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg)

l 31 Lisa Osguthorpe - 6-0 F, So (4.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg)

l 33 Jill Adams - 6-3 C, Jr (14.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg)

l 11 Erin Thorn - 5-10 G, Fr (13.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg)

l 22 Stacy Jensen - 5-6 G, So (7.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg)

BYU Players Off The Bench

l 05 Alisha Griffeth - 6-0 F, Sr (3.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg)

l 04 Renae Hansen - 5-11 G, Sr (1.8 ppg,.8 rpg)

l 00 April Hayes - 6-3 C, Jr (2.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg)

l 44 Caroline Beus - 6-1 C, Jr (3.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg)

l 21 Jennifer Leitner - 6-1 F, Fr (7.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg)

Cougar Quickie Stats - After 22 games

l Shooting from the field - .458 (557-1217)

l Shooting from the free-throw line - .720 (273-379)

l Shooting from the three-point arc - .374 (164-438)

l Averaging 70.5 points per game

l After averaging 21 turnovers in the first 11 games of the season, the Cougars are averaging 16.3 in the last eight games played.

l The Cougars have a 4-1 record when playing on Thursday and a 6-2 record when BYU plays on Saturday

l BYU has gone on a four-game winning streak and a six-game winning streak so far this season

BYU Player Quick Facts - After 22 games

l Stacy Jensen had a career-high 30 points in the UNLV victory on 2/10/00

l The entire Cougar roster, minus injured Cady Williams, got some playing time and scored in the 98-81 win over UNLV

l Jennifer Leitner had her first double-double of her career with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the 2/10/00 UNLV Cougar victory

l Jill Adams has scored in double figures in 16 of 20 games

l Erin Thorn has scored in double figures in 16 games to date

l Jill Adams has rebounded in double figures in four games

l Lisa Osguthorpe had her first double-double of her career against Air Force on 2/3/00, picking up 11 points and 11 boards

l BYU's current five starters (without injured Cady Williams) are all from Utah

l Of the five starters, three are from Mountain View High School in Orem. Osguthorpe and Cuff played together in high school. Thorn and Osguthorpe were also teammates at Mountain View.

l While at Mountain View, Osguthorpe won four 5A state basketball champi onships (1996-1999). Cuff and Osguthorpe won the 1996 title together. Thorn and Osguthorpe won two state titles together in 1998 and 1999

Mountain West Conference Stats

BYU Team (9 Conf. Games Only - Top Five)

4 2nd in scoring offense - average 73.9 ppg (665 points)

4 3rd in scoring defense - average 63.0 ppg (567 points)

4 2nd in scoring margin - 73.9 off, 63.0 def +10.9 margin 4 1st in free throw percentage - .730 (127-174)

4 2nd in field goal percentage - .453 (235-519)

4 4th in field goal percentage defense - .420 (208-495)

4 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage - .382 (68-178)

4 4th in 3-point field goal percentage defense - .319 (51-160)

4 1st in 3-point field goals made - average 8.0 (56)

4 1st in rebounding defense - average 32.3 (291)

4 1st in steals - average 10.78 (97)

4 1st in assists - average 18.56 (167)

4 2nd in offensive rebounds - average 14.00 (126)

BYU Players (9 Conference Games Only - Top Five)

4 Jill Adams - 5th in scoring - average 13.7 (47 fg, 15-3fg, 14 ft, 123 pts)

4 Erin Thorn - 2nd in 3-point field goals made - average 3.00 (27)

4 Lori Cuff - 1st in field goal percentage - .621 (36-58)

4 Jill Adams - 5th in field goal percentage - .522 (47-90)

4 Stacy Jensen - 3rd in free throw percentage - .800 (24-30)

4 Jennifer Lietner - 4th in free throw percentage - .775 (31-40)

4 Jennifer Lietner - 3rd in offensive rebounds - 2.78 (25)

4 Jill Adams - 3rd in blocked shots - average 1.33 (12)

4 Erin Thorn - 3rd in asst/turn ratio - (asst 35, 3.9 turn 17, 1.9 avg, ratio 2.06)

4 Stacy Jensen -4th in asst/turn ratio - (asst 38, 4.2/turn 19, 2.1 avg, ratio 2.00)

4 Stacy Jensen - 5th in assists - average 4.22 (38)

4 Stacy Jensen - 4th in steals - average 2.44

Scouting CSU

Colorado State is in second place along with New Mexico in the latest conference standings, with a 16-5, 6-2 record. In CSU's last road trip they beat UNLV and Wyoming but lost to San Diego State on the road. In MWC play, the Rams are 3-0 at home at Moby Arena where they are averaging over 2,300 fans. Four players are scoring in double digits for CSU starting with junior forward Heather Haanen who's averaging 13.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. She's followed by Ashley Augsburger who tallies 12.4 points and grabs 5.4 boards a game. Jacque Johnson and Angie Gorton round out the two digits scoring offense of the Rams with Johnson at 11.6 points a game and Gorton with 10.8 who also leads the team in rebounds averaging 5.6 per game. CSU averages 74.4 points per game and shoots 44 percent from the field, 35 percent from three point range and 69 percent at the charity line. The BYU vs CSU game is set to begin at 7 p.m.

CSU Probable Starters

l 00 Ashley Augsberger - 6-1 F, Fr (12.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

l 14 Angie Gorton - 6-0 F, So (10.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg)

l 44 Heather Haanen - 5-11 F, Jr (13.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg)

l 41 Marsha Tate - 6-3 F/C, Jr (2.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg)

l 10 Jacque Johnson - 5-8 G, Sr (11.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg)

Series Against CSU

Series Record: 34-14 favoring the Cougars. In their first meeting this season, CSU beat BYU 63-52 in Provo at the Marriott Center, handing the Cougars their first home loss of the year and ending BYU's six-game winning streak, their longest of the season. Stacy Jensen led the BYU effort in that game with 14 points and five assists. Cady Williams had eight rebounds in that game.

Scouting Wyoming

Currently in sixth place in the MWC standings, The Cowgirls have an 8-13, 2-6 record. In their last three conference games, Wyoming has won one, a 78-71 win over SDSU in San Diego and the two losses were against UNLV and Colorado State, the latter at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie. This week, Wyoming takes on Utah on Thursday before playing the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. For the Cowgirls, three players ar scoring in double figures. Carrie Bacon leads the way with 17.8 points and 8.0 rebounds, the team's leader on the boards. Shelby Hoffman and Jessica Gibbs are also scoring threats for Wyoming, with Hoffman picking up 12.5 points a game and Gibbs with 11.4 a game. The Cowgirls are scoring 69.8 points a game to opponents 64.0 points. Tip off for the game is 2 p.m.

Wyoming Probable Starters

l 41 Carrie Bacon - 6-0 F, So (17.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg)

l 54 Jessica Gibbs - 6-1 F, Jr (11.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg)

l 51 Ann McColl - 6-2 C, Fr (4.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg)

l 12 Carly Stucky - 5-10 G, Fr (9.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

l 22 Emily Stucky - 5-6 G, Jr (1.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg)

Series Against Wyoming

Record: 33-13 in favor of the Cougars. Earlier in this MWC season, BYU hosted the Cowgirls in Provo where they grabbed an 80-65 victory. Jill Adams led the BYU troupe with 25 points and nine rebounds. with Stacy Jensen dishing out eight assists and five steals.

Coach Trent Shippen Quotes

(On the Cougars) We had great performances from our team this past week at home, especially in the San Diego State game where everyone got some playing minutes. We need to continue playing strong and with intensity in these two upcoming games for the entire 40 minutes. This is an extremely tough road trip and the wins are critical for us.

(On CSU) This will be a big game for us to play at their home court, we need a win for our conference standing. The win would put us in a tie with them. They are a very talented team with multiple scorers and that makes them hard to defend.

(On Wyoming) We match up very well with them and no matter their record they will play us extremely tough especially on their home court.

Up Next For The Cougars

Next week BYU travels to Salt Lake City for a game against instate rival Utah on Feb. 25 at 3 p.m., in the Huntsman Center.

BYU Travel Plans

The Cougars head for Ft. Collins on Wed. Feb. 16 arriving there at 3 p.m. staying at the Ft. Collins Marriott @ 350 East Horsetooth Road, 970-226-5200, 970-226-9702 fax. On Feb. 18 the team travels to Laramie arriving at 11:30 a.m. They will stay at the BW Fosters Country Inn @ 1561 Snowy Range Road, 307-742-8371, 307-721-7400 fax. BYU returns to Provo Sunday, Feb. 20 at 11:15 a.m.