First League Game Ends in Two-Point Loss

Ft. Collins, CO. (Jan. 15, 2004) On their first MWC game of the season, the BYU women's basketball team came up just two-points short falling to CSU 50-52, Thursday.

Despite leading for most of the league game, a Cougar shooting slum that saw the Rams go on an 6-0 run and take a four point lead with 3:25 left, 51-47 was critical in the final minutes of the contest. Julie Sullivan ended the Cougars' slump with a bucket to make it a two-point 49-51 game with 2:55 to go. Then CSU's Joy Jenkins made one of two from the foul line for a Rams 49-52 lead. With 43 seconds left, Nancy Seljaas made her lone three-pointer of the game count and tied the game at 52-5-2. In the remaining seconds, CSU converted on two free throws to go up 54-52. Sullivan had a chance to tie the game with 11 seconds left for BYU, but the ball fell shy of the basket.

"It was another great battle in the MWC," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "I was really proud of our team. I thought we took them out of their game early, but you have to give them credit for coming back like they did. We also had too many turnovers, something that has been uncharacteristic of our team this season."

The visiting Cougar team took a commanding lead in the first half, taking a 9-2 early lead. They were up by 11, 15-4 at the 12 minute mark. CSU slowly battled back to within six, before Ambrosia Anderson's three-pointer with 3:54 left put BYU up by nine. After 20 minutes of action, the Cougars took a six point, 29-23 lead into the locker room. BYU shot an impressive 57 percent from the field, and out rebounded the Rams 19 to 9 in the first half, despite never going to the foul line. CSU shot 26 percent from the field, but was 10 of 12 from the free throw line in the first period.

For the game, BYU shot 44 percent from the field and out rebounded the Rams 37 to 28. CSU shot 30 percent from the field and was 23 of 20 from the foul line, while the Cougars only saw the free throw line twice in the entire game.

The strength of the Cougar bench performed well in Thursday's league contest once again with Ambrosia Anderson's12 points followed by 10 from Ashleigh Chamberlain.

Vanessa Espinoza led the Rams with 12 points followed by 11 each from Melissa Dennett and Jasai Ferrucho.

The Cougars (10-5, 0-1) continue MWC play on the road, traveling to Laramie for a Saturday afternoon contest against the University of Wyoming. The Cowgirls fell to the University of Utah in their first conference game on Thursday, 39-57.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BY vs Colorado State
01-15-04 7:00pm at Moby Arena, Fort Collins, CO
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VISITORS: BY 10-5 0-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 KOZLOWSKI, Kristen.. f  1-2    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   2  0  0  0  0  10
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f  3-8    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   2   6  0  3  0  0  31
04 DOOLEY, Kestlee..... g  0-3    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   1   0  3  2  0  2  28
15 OVERDIEK, Jennie.... g  2-3    1-1    0-0    1  5  6   3   5  2  3  1  1  30
25 TAYLOR, Kali........ g  3-5    1-1    0-0    0  5  5   0   7  3  1  0  1  21
01 SELJAAS, Nancy......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  0  1  0  0   6
14 SULLIVAN, Julie.....    3-10   1-1    0-0    1  1  2   4   7  5  3  0  0  29
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia..    4-10   3-4    1-2    2  2  4   5  12  1  5  1  2  24
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
40 CHAMBERLAIN, A......    5-8    0-0    0-0    1  6  7   4  10  0  3  0  1  16
   TEAM................                         3  2  5             2
   Totals..............   22-50   7-10   1-2    8 29 37  21  52 14 23  2  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-23  .565   2nd Half:  9-27  .333   Game:  .440  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-4   .750   2nd Half:  4-6   .667   Game:  .700  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   .000   2nd Half:  1-2   .500   Game:  .500     1
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HOME TEAM: Colorado State 10-4 1-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 DENNETT, Melissa.... f  3-10   0-0    5-8    5  6 11   1  11  0  3  2  1  28
33 JENKINS, Joy........ f  0-2    0-1    5-6    1  2  3   3   5  0  0  0  0  35
45 THOMAS, Lindsay..... c  2-9    0-2    5-6    0  5  5   1   9  0  2  1  1  34
05 ESPINOZA, Vanessa... g  4-10   2-3    2-2    0  0  0   1  12  0  4  0  2  34
11 FERRUCHO, Jasai..... g  3-10   0-2    5-5    0  1  1   1  11  3  2  0  3  29
20 NOHR, Molly.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
21 WALSETH, Annika.....    1-2    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  1  0  0  12
31 O'DWYER, Kylee......    1-4    0-1    1-2    0  3  3   1   3  2  0  1  1  25
   TEAM................                         2  3  5             1
   Totals..............   14-47   3-11  23-29   8 20 28   8  54  5 13  4  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  6-23  .261   2nd Half:  8-24  .333   Game:  .298  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-5   .200   2nd Half:  2-6   .333   Game:  .273  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12  .833   2nd Half: 13-17  .765   Game:  .793     2
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Officials: Clark Stevens, Cid Garcia, Randy Coil
Technical fouls: BY-None. Colorado State-None.
Attendance: 1426
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BY............................   29   23  -   52
Colorado State................   23   31  -   54
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