First of Two Exhibitions Opens Women's Hoops Season

The 2002-03 women's basketball season is right around the corner and the BYU women's team is getting an early start with two exhibition games. This Thursday, Nov. 7 the Cougars play hosts to Team Concepts, Inc., who will make their first visit to the Marriott Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 19 BYU will host Westminister College in another exhibition matchup.

BYU returns three starters from last season's 24-9, 10-4 team who made history by winning their first-ever NCAA Tournament game, going on to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the Midwest Regional.

All-American and MWC MVP Erin Thorn leads the Cougar offense with an average of 17.3 points and 4.0 rebounds a game. Senior teammate Jennifer Leitner is the second leading scorer on the team as well as the leading rebounder. Leitner averaged 11.9 points and 8.7 boards a game. Sophomore forward Danielle Cheesman who got a starting position midway through last season also returns to the team. She averaged 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Coach Judkins will be looking to these top returning players to provide strong play and leadership as he begins his second season with the women's team. "I am very excited to have Erin, Jennifer and Danielle all returning to our starting lineup this year. They really came on last year. Each of them improved a lot of things in their game to make our team better."

This season's roster will see the return of MWC's 1999-2000 Newcomer of the Year Julie Whetten Sullivan who redshirted last year. Joining her at the guard position will be Maria Chiara from Hamilton, New Zealand who played two season at Casper Junior College before serving an 18-month LDS mission to Florida.

Senior guard Amy Lewis will finish her college career joined by her twin sister Angie Gatten who redshirted last year. The sister duo walked on the Cougar roster last year. Lewis, who played in 18 games, gained valuable experience and is very familiar with the Cougar offense.

Senior transfer Lisa Hansen who came off the bench in every game is also back for one more season with the Cougars. Her averages included 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds.

On this season's roster there's three more letterwinners that return with a lot of playing experience. Hansen, and senior Brittany Larson along with Kali Taylor a sophomore guard from Lyman, Utah who averaged over five minutes of playing time in 28 games her freshman season will be critical to the success of the Cougar team.

Utah high school standouts Jen Overdiek, Nancy Seljaas and Ambrosia Anderson will also be part of the roster this year. The two high school graduates will be joined by Kanab, Utah native Ashleigh Chamberlain who joins the team after two seasons at Utah Valley State College. Also from UVSC is junior guard Kestlee Nelson. Kristen Crockett Kozlowsky joins the Cougar program via Boise State where she played for one year.

After the two exhibition games, the regular season opens with the Cougars hosting the University of Texas on Nov. 22. That game will air live on BYU-TV and on KBYU-TV, Channel 11. Tip off from the Marriott Center is set for 7 p.m.

Preseason Polls

The Women's Basketball News Service announced its pre-season college Top 25 poll and the Cougars were ranked 23rd.

MWC Champs

During this year's MWC Basketball Media Day, the media picked BYU to win this year's regular season title capturing eight of the 15 first-place votes.

Senior guard and All-American Erin Thorn earned Top Returning Player honors. She was joined on the squad by five additional seniors, including teammate Jennifer Leitner. Colorado State's Ashley Augspurger, New Mexico's Jordan Adams, UNLV's Constance Jinks and Wyoming's Carrie Bacon.

2002-03 Mountain West Conference Preseason Media Poll

Rk. Team (1st-place votes) Pts

1. BYU (8) 110

2. Colorado State (7) 103

3. New Mexico (1) 91

4. Utah 70

5. UNLV 69

6. Wyoming 49

7. San Diego State 31

8. Air Force 17

2002-03 MWC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team

Jennifer Leitner, Sr., F BYU

Erin Thorn, Sr., G BYU

Ashley Augspurger, Sr., F Colorado State

Jordan Adams, Sr., C New Mexico

Constance Jinks, Sr., G UNLV

Carrie Bacon, Sr., F Wyoming

Final 2001-02 Cougar Stats

u Shooting from the field: (.448, 855-1910)

u Shooting from the free-throw line: (.752, 425-565)

u Shooting from three-point line: (.401, 264-658)

u Average points per game: 72.7