Undefeated Cougars Take MWC Race On the Road

After two impressive league victories at home, BYU's women's basketball team takes its perfect 2-0 MWC record on the road. The Cougars battle the Aztecs of SDSU on Jan. 23 and the Rebels of UNLV on Sat., Jan. 25.

Tip off: BYU (11-4, 2-0) vs San Diego St. (6-7, 0-1) 7 p.m., PT Arena: Cox Arena

Tip off: BYU (11-4, 2-0) vs UNLV (10-4, 1-0) 7:35 p.m., PT Arena: Cox Pavilion

live TV/ webcast

All of BYU's women's basketball games can be heard live via the internet at byu radio. org BYU radio can also be heard on the Dish Network and on Direct TV. Veteran BYU broadcaster Jay Monsen is the play-by-play announcer for all games.

BYU's Probable Starters

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 21 Jennifer Leitner 6-1 Sr 14.1 9.3

F 25 Kali Taylor 5-11 So 4.6 2.1

C 51 Danielle Cheesman 6-2 So 10.5 5.4

G 11 Erin Thorn 5-10 Sr 18.3 4.9

G 04 Kestlee Nelson 5-8 Jr 2.9 1.5

Cougar Players Off The Bench

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 45 Lisa Hansen 6-5 Sr 4.3 3.3

F 33 Ambrosia Anderson 6-2 Fr 2.5 2.1

G 15 Jen Overdiek 5-10 Fr 2.7 1.9

G/F 01 Nancy Seljaas 6-0 Fr 1.5 0.6

F 20 Brittany Larson 6-0 Sr 1.0 1.7

F 40 Ashleigh Chamberlain 6-4 Jr 3.8 2.0

Player Updates/injuries

Sophomore guard Julie Sullivan injured her knee (torn ACL) during practice on Jan. 13. She is out for the rest of the season.

Cougar Review

The MWC race is just one week old and the Cougars are 2-0 with two impressive wins at home over conference foes CSU and Wyoming. To date the Cougars, who are the defending MWC tournament champions have compiled a 11-4, 2-0 record . The team's four losses to date have been on the road. At home the Cougars have a perfect 7-0 record.

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 18.3 points and 4.9 rebounds a game. Senior Jennifer Leitner follows as the team's second leading scorer and the leading rebounder. Leitner averages 14.1 points and 9.3 boards a game. Sophomore forward Danielle Cheesman follows in scoring and is averaging 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

This season's roster has seen the return of MWC's 1999-2000 Newcomer of the Year Julie Whetten Sullivan who redshirted last year. She reclaimed her starting point-guard spot contributing 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds, but as of Jan. 13 will not continue to play suffering a torn ACL. UVSC junior transfer Kestlee Nelson has not replaced Sullivan at the point guard spot. Nelson contributes 2.9 points and 1.5 rebounds a game.

Sophomore Kali Taylor got the starting nod as a forward the past three games, replacing UC Santa Barbara senior transfer Lisa Hansen. Taylor contributes to the team with her 4.3 and 2.2 rebounds per game.

UCSB transfer and senior Lisa Hansen who came off the bench in every game last year, started in the first nine games and tallied 4.5 points and 3.5 boards a game. Hansen along with Kanab, Utah native Ashleigh Chamberlain have come off the bench at the forward and center spots. Chamberlain has tallied her first start vs Wyoming this week and is averaging 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Senior forward Brittany Larson has played in all games and contributes 1.0 points and 1.7 rebounds.

Utah high school standouts Jen Overdiek, Nancy Seljaas and Ambrosia Anderson from Colorado Springs, Colorado are also contributing to this year's Cougar effort.

2002-03 Cougar Stats

u Shooting from the field: (.432, 366-848)

u Shooting from the free-throw line: (.730, 187-256)

u Shooting from three-point line: (.364, 98-269)

u Average points per game: 67.8

A look at this week's opponents

San Diego State University

The Aztecs opened up their conference schedule at home hosting UNLV, unfortunately it was the Rebels picking up the two-point 50-48 win. SDSU has compiled a 6-7, 0-1 record and are 4-3 when playing at home. Senior guard Jamey Cox is one of two players scoring in double figures for the Aztecs. Cox is averaging 14.9 points an 2.2 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Ashlee Dunlap follows with 11.2 points and leads the team in the rebound category with 8.8 boards a game. After 13 games, SDSU is shooting 40 percent from the field and60 percent from the free throw line.

San Diego State Probable Starters

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 35 Ashlee Dunlap 6-1 Fr 11.2 8.8

F/C 24 Nicolette McCartny 6-2 Jr 8.5 6.6

G 20 Jamey Cox 5-7 Sr 14.9 2.2

G 21 Veronica Shaw 5-7 Fr 7.4 2.2

G 23 Amber Fouse 5-7 Fr 6.9 2.3

Last meeting

These two conference foes met two times during league play with the Cougars picking up both wins.

Series record

Record: 14-9 for BYU. In San Diego, the Cougars are 5-7.

UNLV

UNLV will be playing at home this week hosting Utah on Thursday night before meeting the Cougars on Saturday night. The Rebels are currently 10-4, 1-0 on the year with their first conference win of the season, over SDSU on the road. At home they are 6-2. All-American candidate Constance Jinks is the lone players scoring in double digits with 21.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward/center Sherry McCracklin tops the list in the rebound category with a team high 7.7 boards a game and she also contributes 9.2 points. As a team, UNLV is shooting 42 percent from the field, 65 percent at the free throw line and 36 percent when shooting behind the arc.

UNLV Probable Starters

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F/G 30 Talisha Mitchell 5-9 Sr 5.1 4.1

F 54 Sherry McCracklin 6-2 So 9.2 7.7

C 55 Dishawn McCracklin 6-2 Sr 5.9 5.6

G 11 Julia Gray 5-6 Sr 7.2 3.5

G 23 Constance Jinks 5-7 Sr 21.6 4.8

Last meeting

The Cougars and Rebels met three times during last year's MWC schedule. BYU won all three contests including the 61-46 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center for the MWC championship crown.

Series record

Record: 13-5 for BYU. On the road vs UNLV the Cougars are 6-4.

Thorn watch

Erin Thorn - 5-10 Senior Guard, Orem, Utah/Mountain View HS

u Senior Erin Thorn was picked as a 2002-03 Pre-Season College All-America Second Team honoree.

u Thorn was also named to the "Players to Watch" list for the 2003 Senior CLASS Award.

u Stats to date include scoring in double figures in all games, tallying a season high 34 points (just two shy of her career high 36 points) against Montana State on Dec. 30. She continues to be the team's leading scorer with an average of 18.3 points, is third on the list in rebounds with 4.9 boards a game and has tallied a team high 75 assists to date, that's an average of 5.0 per game. Thorn had 21 straight free throws before missing one against the University of Denver on 1/4/03.

Media Picks Cougars 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

2002-03 MWC Women's Basketball Preseason Top Returning Player

Erin Thorn, Sr., G BYU

COUGARS IN THE MWC ( as of Jan. 21, 2003)

TEAM (All Games)

Category Place Avg/G

Scoring Offense 2nd 69.0

Scoring Defense 5th 57.5

Scoring Margin 3rd 69.0 off/57.5 deff, +11.5

Free Throw % 4th 17-25, .680

Field Goal % 2nd 51-107, .477

3-Pt FG % 1st 19-41, .463

Rebounding Offense 2nd 36.0

Rebounding Defense 4th 32.0

Blocked Shots 2nd 3.50

Assists 2nd 19.00

Steals 4th 8.50

3-PT FG Made 1st 9.50

INDIVIDUAL

Category Place Avg/G

Scoring: Erin Thorn 5th 17.5

Scoring: Jennifer Leitner 10th 13.5

Rebounding: Jennifer Leitner 3rd 7.0

Assists: Erin Thorn 2nd 7.00

Assists: Jennifer Leitner 8thT 3.00

Field Goal %: Jennifer Leitner 5th .643 (9-14)

Field Goal %: Erin Thorn 11th .545 (12-22)

Free Throw%: Erin Thorn 1st 1.000 (6-6)

Steals: Jennifer Leitner 3rd 2.50

3-PT FG%: Erin Thorn 7th .500 (5-10)

3-PT FG Made: Erin Thorn 3rd 2.50 (5)

3-PT FG Made: Kestlee Nelson 4th 2.00 (4)

Blocked Shots: Lisa Hansen 4th 1.50 (3)

Defensive Rebounds: J.Leitner 7th 4.50 (9)

Offensive Rebounds: J. Leitner 8th 2.50 (5)

The Judkins file

Jeff Judkins, begins his second season at the helm of the Cougar women's program. Judkins, a longtime University of Utah coach and player has a proven record of success dating back to his high school days at Highland HS in Salt Lake City.

An all-state selection in basketball, football and baseball, Judkins went on to play for Utah from 1974-78. While playing for the Utes, he helped the team win one conference championship and two berths in the NCAA Tournament. He was a second-team academic All-American and three-time first-team District VII academic selection. Judkins earned three first-team All-WAC honors and was a member of the 1977 United States World Games team that captured the gold medal.

He played five years in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons and the Utah Jazz. He was a second-round pick by the Celtics in 1978, the same year the Celtics selected Larry Bird with the sixth pick overall.

After his NBA career, he returned to the U of U in 1989, and remained with the men's program for 10 years. Judkins, a Salt Lake City native, graduated from Utah in 1978 with a degree in health and physical education. He is a member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and the Crimson Club Hall of Fame.

He and his wife Mary Kay, are the parents of five children: Jessica (21), Jordan (20), Jenna (17), Jaime (14), Jaxson (11).

cougars road practice schedule

u The BYU team practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Marriott Center before leaving for San Diego.

u In San Diego, the Cougars shoot-around is set for Thurs., Jan. 23 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Cox Arena.

u During their stay in Las Vegas, BYU will practice from 3 to 5 p.m. at Cox Pavilion on Fri., Jan. 24.

u The Cougars shoot-around in Las Vegas is set for Sat., Jan. 25, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

traveling with the cougars

u Team departs from SLC at 2:50 p.m., on Delta flight # 1449, arriving in San Diego at 3:40 p.m.

u Team will stay at Good Nite Inn, 4545 Waring Road, San Diego, 619-286-7000, 619-286-8403, fax.

u Team will fly to Las Vegas from San Diego on Southwest flight # 2519, arriving in Las Vegas at 12 p.m.

u Team will stay at Amerisuites, 4520 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, 702-369-3366, 702-369-0009, fax

u Team returns to Provo on Jan. 26 at 11 a.m, on Delta flight # 1568, arriving in Salt Lake City at 1:19 p.m.

Up Next for byu

After MWC play on the road, BYU is at home again on Feb. 1 hosting the University of Utah.

2002-03 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - NUMERICAL ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Cl. Exp. Hometown/School

01 Nancy Seljaas G/F 6-0 Fr. HS Bountiful, UT/Bountiful HS

03 Maria Chiara G 5-8 Jr 2V Hamilton, New Zealand Casper JC

04 Kestlee Nelson G 5-8 Jr 2V Sandy, UT/Alta HS/UVSC

05 Amy Lewis G 5-6 Sr 3V Jefferson City, MT/No. Idaho College

10 Marianne Miller* G 5-6 Jr HS Middleton, ID/Middleton HS

11 Erin Thorn G 5-10 Sr 3V Orem, UT/Mountain View HS

12 Angie Gatten G 5-6 Jr 2V Jefferson City, MT/No.Idaho College

13 Laura Stratton* G 5-6 So HS Missoula, MT/Sentinel HS/BYU Idaho 14 Julie Sullivan G 5-8 So 1V Silver City, NM/Silver City HS

15 Jen Overdiek G 5-10 Fr HS Syracuse, UT/Clearfield HS

20 Brittany Larson F 6-0 Sr 3V Chicago, IL/New Trier HS

21 Jennifer Leitner F 6-1 Sr 3V Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley HS

25 Kali Taylor G 5-11 So 1V Lyman, UT/Wayne HS

30 Melissa Brown * G 5-8 So HS University Place, WA/Curtis HS

32 Kristen Kozlowski F 6-2 So 1V Centerville, UT/Boise State

33 Ambrosia Anderson F 6-2 Fr HS Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS

40 Ashleigh Chamberlain C 6-4 Jr 2V Kanab, UT/UVSC

42 Angie Wallace# F 6-0 Fr HS Cleburne, TX/Cleburne HS

45 Lisa Hansen C 6-5 Sr 3V Bakersfield, CA /Centennial/UCSB

51 Danielle Cheesman F 6-2 So 1V Orem, UT/Mountain View HS

* 2002-03 WalkOn/# 2002-03 Redshirt

HEAD COACH: Jeff Judkins (2nd Year)

ASSISTANT COACHES: Alli Bills, Jonas Chatterton

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: Stacy Jensen

ATHLETIC TRAINER: Carolyn Billings

NICKNAME: Cougars

COLORS: Blue, White and Tan