Cougars Lose to Rams in Overtime

FORT COLLINS, Colo.--Cougars came up short in overtime against the Rams to lose 71-70 in Fort Collins on national television, Saturday. The loss puts the Cougars at 14-8, 5-4, tied for second in the MWC with Wyoming, while CSU improved to 13-10, 4-5.

A strong double-double performance by All-American Erin Thorn, who ended with a career-high 12 assists and scored 21 points, was not enough to beat the Rams in OT on a ESPN 2 national broadcast.

Head Coach Jeff Judkins said he was proud of the way his team played, "We showed a lot of character today. Both teams came out and fought, and it's really tough one of us had to lose."

"We saw two really well-balanced teams, and I think we'll see both of them in the championship game," he added.

Other contributors for BYU were Danielle Cheesman, a sophomore forward, with 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds and Jen Overdiek, a freshman guard, who tallied 12 points in a season-high 37 minutes.

Kestlee Nelson, a junior guard, scored her first points of the game off a three-pointer with just over a minute to play in regulation to tie the score at 60 apiece.

With BYU down 62-60 and only 1.3 seconds on the clock, Cheesman received a pass down low from Lisa Hansen to tie the game at the buzzer, and to send BYU into its first overtime game this season.

In overtime, Nelson hit a jump shot to give the Cougars a 70-68 lead with 48 seconds remaining. The Rams quickly answered when Joy Jenkins knocked down a three with 16 seconds left to give her a team-high 19 points and a CSU 71-70 lead. With 3.6 seconds, BYU got the ball into Thorn's hands, but the Ram's defense didn't give her a good look and she came up short.

Ashley Augspurger ended with 18 points and six rebounds for CSU. Shannon Strecker scored 12 points and led CSU with seven rebounds.

The Cougars out rebounded the Rams 38-33. BYU shot 42 percent from the floor, 24-56, and CSU shot 54 percent, 25-47, for the game.

BYU will play its final league home games on Thursday at 7 p.m. against UNLV and on Saturday at 1 p.m. against SDSU.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Colorado State
02-15-03 3:00 p.m. at Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 14-8 (5-4 MWC)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f  6-13   1-2    0-0    3  4  7   3  13  0  5  0  2  37
40 CHAMBERLAIN, A...... c  1-5    0-0    3-4    4  2  6   5   5  1  5  0  1  16
04 NELSON, Kestlee..... g  2-4    1-2    0-0    2  2  4   2   5  2  0  0  1  40
11 THORN, Erin......... g  7-21   4-12   3-4    1  1  2   0  21 12  2  0  4  44
15 OVERDIEK, Jen....... g  5-8    2-4    0-0    0  2  2   4  12  0  1  0  1  37
01 SELJAAS, Nancy......    1-2    1-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   3  0  0  0  0   3
20 LARSON, Brittany....    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   2   3  0  0  0  0   7
25 TAYLOR, Kali........    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   9
32 KOZLOWSKI, Kristen..    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   3   4  1  2  1  1  20
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia..    2-5    0-1    0-0    1  2  3   0   4  0  0  0  1   7
45 HANSEN, Lisa........    0-1    0-0    0-0    2  1  3   2   0  0  3  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         2  4  6             1
   Totals..............   27-65  10-24   6-8   16 22 38  22  70 17 19  1 11 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3%   2nd Half: 13-28 46.4%   OT:  3-9  33.3%   Game: 41.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-10 40.0%   2nd Half:  5-12 41.7%   OT:  1-2  50.0%   Game: 41.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  3-4  75.0%   OT:  1-2  50.0%   Game: 75.0%    0
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HOME TEAM: Colorado State 13-10 (4-5 MWC)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
00 AUGSPURGER, Ashley.. f  6-9    2-3    4-6    2  4  6   2  18  2  3  0  1  33
22 BORTON, Katie....... f  2-7    2-4    1-2    0  2  2   1   7  5  1  0  2  40
50 STRECKER, Shannon... c  6-12   0-0    0-0    2  5  7   1  12  2  1  1  1  37
11 FERRUCHO, Jasai..... g  3-7    0-1    0-3    1  3  4   3   6  7  5  0  1  33
24 CAMPBELL, Jackie.... g  1-3    0-1    1-2    0  1  1   1   3  3  5  0  0  23
05 ESPINOZA, Vanessa...    2-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   4  1  0  0  1  16
33 JENKINS, Joy........    9-12   1-3    0-0    1  2  3   3  19  3  1  1  0  33
45 THOMAS, Lindsay.....    0-2    0-1    2-2    2  2  4   2   2  0  3  0  0  10
   Team................                         1  5  6
   Totals..............   29-54   5-13   8-15   9 24 33  14  71 23 19  2  6 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9%   2nd Half: 11-20 55.0%   OT:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 53.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-3  33.3%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   OT:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 38.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-4  50.0%   2nd Half:  6-11 54.5%   OT:  0-0   0.0%   Game: 53.3%    1
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Officials: Jack Jones, Randy Coil, Sue Kennedy
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Colorado State-None.
Attendance: 3339
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   OT   Total
Brigham Young.................   28   34    8  -   70
Colorado State................   31   31    9  -   71