Instate Rival Matchup This Saturday

After two MWC wins at home last week, the Cougar women take to the road for the remaining league games. That road swings starts this Saturday as BYU meets instate rival Utah at the Huntsman Center. The Utes (20-4, 10-1) and the Cougars 16-8, 7-4) tip off at 3 p.m.

Tip off: BYU (16-8, 7-4) vs Utah (20-4, 10-1, ) 3 p.m., MST Arena: Huntsman Center

live webcast/kjzz, chan. 14

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. Saturday's matchup with Utah will also air live locally on KJZZ, Chan. 14. Steve Brown will do the play by play and Holly Rowe will provide color analysis.

BYU's Probable Starters

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 40 Ashleigh Chamberlain 6-4 Jr 4.3 2.7

G 15 Jen Overdiek 5-10 Fr 3.7 2.6

C 51 Danielle Cheesman 6-2 So 11.4 5.7

G 11 Erin Thorn 5-10 Sr 18.5 4.3

G 04 Kestlee Nelson 5-8 Jr 3.5 1.7

Cougar Players Off The Bench

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 45 Lisa Hansen 6-5 Sr 3.8 3.1

F 25 Kali Taylor 5-11 So 4.3 2.1

F 33 Ambrosia Anderson 6-2 Fr 4.1 2.6

G/F 01 Nancy Seljaas 6-0 Fr 2.3 0.9

F 20 Brittany Larson 6-0 Sr 1.0 1.5

Player Updates/injuries

Freshman forward/guard Jen Overdiek suffered a broken nose and a couple of fractures to her right eye during Monday's (Feb. 24) practice. She is questionable for Saturday's game. Senior forward Brittany Larson broke her hand in practice the week of Feb. 18 and is out for at least three weeks. Senior forward Jennifer Leitner was dismissed from the team on Jan. 31 indefinitely for breaking team rules. 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 remaining league schedule will put the Cougar women on the road for three MWC games. BYU is in second place in the league standings with a 7-4 conference record and an 16-8 overall 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 18.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. Sophomore forward Danielle Cheesman follows in scoring and is averaging 11.4 points and 5.7 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 replaced Sullivan at the starting point guard spot. Nelson contributes 3.5 points and 1.7 rebounds a game.

Sophomore Kali Taylor started in eight games and has played in all games to date. Her stats include averaging 4.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

Coach Jeff Judkins has been rotating two transfer players at one of the forward spots with UCSB transfer and senior Lisa Hansen and Kanab, Utah native Ashleigh Chamberlain. Hansen tallies 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds a game while Chamberlain, who got her first Cougar start on 1/18/03 vs Wyoming, averages 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Senior forward Brittany Larson has played in all games and contributes 1.0 points and 1.5 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. Overdiek, who has started in the last six games, had a career high 15 points vs UNLV on 1/25/03 and a career high seven rebounds against Utah on 2/1/03. Seljaas picked up season highs in points with 13 against the Air Force Academy on 2/8/03. In that game she also tallied a season high six boards. Anderson has also had strong performances this year including a career high 14 points against UNLV on 2/20/03.

2002-03 Cougar Stats

u Shooting from the field: (.432, 590-1367)

u Shooting from the free-throw line: (.741, 274-370)

u Shooting from three-point line: (.379, 168-443)

u Average points per game: 67.6

byu numbers

u (12) - career high assists for Erin Thorn vs CSU on 2/15/03

u (89) - season high points vs Air Force 2/8/03

u (18) - defense holds both UNM and AF to 18 points in first half in their first league meeting

u (32) - consecutive games where Erin Thorn has scored at least one 3-pointer

u (1,920) - Erin Thorn's career points to date. She's now in fourth place in all-time scoring in BYU women's basketball history. Jackie Beene McBride holds third place with a total of 2,191 points during her four-year career from 1978 to 1982

A look at this week's opponent

Utah

The University of Utah is currently in first place in the MWC standings for the regular season with a 10-1 record. Overall, the team has a 20-4 record, that includes a 6-0 record in MWC play at the Huntsman Center. The Utes lone conference loss was to Colorado State in Ft. Collins on 2/13/03. Freshman Kim Smith is one of three Utah players scoring in double figures. Smith tallies 17.2 points and a team high 6.9 rebounds per game. Shona Thorburn follows with 15.2 points and 5.5 boards. Carley Marshall is contributing 10.3 points and is grabbing 6.1 boards a game. As a team, the Utes are shooting 41 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free throw line. When shooting behind the arc, the team is shooting 35 percent. In all games, Utah is scoring 65.8 points while holding opponents to a low 49.1 percent.

Utah Probable Starters

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 04 Kim Smith 6-1 Fr 17.2 6.9

F 30 Mandie Little 6-0 Jr 5.4 5.8

C 45 Carley Marshall 6-2 Jr 10.3 6.1

G 10 Shona Thorburn 5-10 So 15.2 5.5

G 14 Kelsy Stireman 5-7 Jr 3.8 2.4

Last meeting

In the first league contest between these two instate rivals in Provo, it was Utah who came up with the 67-50 win on the Cougars home court. It was BYU's lone conference loss at the Marriott Center.

Series record

Record: 29-47 for Utah. At the Huntsman Center, the Cougars have a 7-33 record.

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, but did not make the final list of 10 players.

u Stats to date include scoring in double figures in all but two 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 4.4 boards a game and has tallied a team high 134 assists to date, that's an average of 5.6 per game. Thorn had 21 straight free throws before missing one against the University of Denver on 1/4/03.

u Thorn has scored at least one three-pointer in 32 consecutive games to date.

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 are the other conference players honored.

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 feb. 24, 2003, conf games only)

TEAM (All Games)

Category Place Avg/G

pScoring Offense 1st 67.5

pScoring Defense 3rd 58.3

pScoring Margin 3rd 67.5 off/58.3 deff, +9.3

pFree Throw % 4th .748, 104-139

pField Goal % 1st .439, 275-627

p 3-PT Field Goal % 1st .414, 89-215

pRebounding Offense 3rd 35.4

pRebounding Defense 1st 32.0

pRebounding Margin 2nd +3.4

pBlocked Shots 2nd 3.18

pAssists 1st 17.64

pSteals 3rd 8.82

pTurnover Margin 4th +1.64

pAssist/Turnover Ratio 2nd 17.6 avg, 16.9 avg, 1.04 ratio

pOffensive Rebounds 4th 11.09

pDefensive Rebounds 3rd 24.27

INDIVIDUAL

Category Place Avg/G

pScoring: Erin Thorn 1st 18.5

pScoring: D. Cheesman 10th 11.7

pRebounding: D. Cheesman 8thT 5.8

pAssists: Erin Thorn 1st 6.64

pAssists: Kestlee Nelson 5th 3.36

pSteals: Erin Thorn 2nd 2.45

pAssist/Turnover Ratio: E. Thorn 3rd 73 A, 6.6 avg; 34T, 3.1 avg; 2.15 ratio

pAssist/Turnover Ratio: K. Nelson 1st 37 A, 3.4 avg; 8T, 0.7 avg; 4.62 ratio

pField Goal %: Erin Thorn 7th .456 (72-158)

pField Goal %: D. Cheesman 5th .470 (54-115)

pFree Throw%: Erin Thorn 4th .885 (23-26)

p3-PT FG%: Erin Thorn 5th .414 (36-87)

p3-PT FG%: Kestlee Nelson 1st .524 (11-21)

p3-PT FG Made: Erin Thorn 1st 3.27 (36)

p3-PT FG Made: Kestlee Nelson 11thT 1.00 (11)

pBlocked Shots: Erin Thorn 5thT 0.91 (10)

pOffensive Reb: D. Cheesman 9thT 2.09 (23)

pOffensive Reb: A. Chamberlain 13thT 1.67 (15)

pDefensive Reb: D. Cheesman 13th 3.73 (41)

The Judkins file

Overall Record:40-17, 17-8

Current Record: 16-8, 7-4

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).

Up Next for byu

The final regular season MWC schedule for the Cougars is on the road with games at Air Force on Mar. 6 and at New Mexico on Mar. 8. BYU is the defending MWC tournament champions and will head to Las Vegas for this year's league tournament on March 12.

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

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

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, Stacy Jensen

ATHLETIC TRAINER: Carolyn Billings

NICKNAME: Cougars

COLORS: Blue, White and Tan