Big Second Half Leads Cougars Over Wildcats

OGDEN -- The Cougars (9-1) used a big second-half run to pull away from Weber State (5-5) and pull out a 63-47 victory Wednesday night at the Dee Events Center. This was the ninth-consecutive victory for BYU over the Wildcats and the win puts Coach Jeff Judkins 5-0 lifetime against Weber State.

With the Cougars leading by four at 40-36 and Weber State refusing to go away, BYU went on a tear, outscoring the Wildcats 16-2 and taking the lead 56-38 behind the play of junior guard Jennie Keele. Keele scored six points during the run and finished with a career-high 17 points. She also pulled down a season-high nine rebounds. The Cougars didn't look back from that point on.

Before pulling away, the two teams had been in a battle, with BYU struggling from the line and Weber State struggling from the field. The Wildcats shot 29 percent from the floor in the first half, while the Cougars went 2-6 from the charity stripe.

The Cougars came out of the gates quickly, scoring the first six points of the contest. However, the defense played out-of-sync early on and put Weber State in the bonus nine minutes into the first half. The Wildcats went to the line 10 times in the half and converted all 10 attempts, which allowed them to keep the score close through halftime.

Weber State's Sara Tuomi played a key role in keeping the Wildcats in the game early on, scoring the first 10 points of the game for Weber State, eight of which came from the line. She had 14 points in the first half and finished the game with 19 points, as well as going a perfect 11-11 from the free-throw line.

BYU went into the locker room with a 32-26 lead, which was good news, as the Cougars are now 8-1 when leading at the half. The Cougars also continued their dominance in the rebounding department. BYU out-rebounded Weber State 44-33, and has now out-rebounded their opponent in each of their nine victories this season.

The Cougars will play the University of Portland on Friday Dec. 30 at 2 pm in the Marriott Center. The game will be the last preseason game for the Cougars as they open conference play Jan. 5 against Air Force in the Marriott Center.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young University vs Weber State
12-28-05 7:45pm at Dee Events Center -- Ogden, Utah
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VISITORS: Brigham Young University 9-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. f  8-18   2-4    1-2    4  4  8   5  19  1  2  0  1  26
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f  1-5    0-2    0-0    1  2  3   3   2  3  4  0  1  30
45 KUBIK, Dani......... c  3-5    0-0    0-4    2  4  6   4   6  0  2  0  0  21
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g  6-10   1-2    4-6    2  7  9   2  17  2  4  1  2  31
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  3-6    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   0   6  1  1  0  2  28
01 SELJAAS, Nancy......    1-2    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   2  1  2  0  1  17
04 JUDKINS, Jenna......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
10 STRATTON, Laura.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   2   0  1  0  0  1  11
23 BROWN, Brit.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
24 HUTSON, Vanessa.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  1  0  1   8
32 SLADE, Shawnee......    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   2  1  1  0  0   8
41 FADDIS, Brittany....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   1
52 RILEY, Lauren.......    3-6    0-0    1-5    2  2  4   3   7  0  1  0  0  13
54 KING, Cassie........    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  2  2   0   2  0  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   26-57   3-10   8-19  14 30 44  20  63 10 19  1  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-28 50.0%   2nd Half: 12-29 41.4%   Game: 45.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-4  50.0%   2nd Half:  1-6  16.7%   Game: 30.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half:  6-13 46.2%   Game: 42.1%    4
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HOME TEAM: Weber State 5-5
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 Tuomi, Sara......... f  4-13   0-5   11-11   4  3  7   2  19  0  4  0  3  36
10 Griffitts, Jenna.... f  0-4    0-1    0-0    0  4  4   2   0  1  1  0  1  29
54 Rayback, Janie...... c  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  1  0   9
14 Porter, Laura....... g  1-8    1-5    2-6    0  3  3   4   5  1  1  0  0  28
20 Perdue, Darcee...... g  2-3    1-1    0-0    1  3  4   4   5  1  3  0  2  25
04 Warburton, Chelsey..    3-9    2-7    0-0    1  3  4   3   8  3  2  0  1  27
11 Taylor, Tashina.....    1-6    0-0    4-6    1  6  7   0   6  1  1  1  2  25
22 Releford, Shantee...    2-4    0-0    0-0    2  1  3   2   4  0  3  1  0  12
25 Kellogg, Taryn......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   5
32 Hayden, Ashlynn.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   13-49   4-20  17-23   9 24 33  19  47  7 17  3  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  7-24 29.2%   2nd Half:  6-25 24.0%   Game: 26.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  2-13 15.4%   Game: 20.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-10 100 %   2nd Half:  7-13 53.8%   Game: 73.9%    3
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Officials: Shawn Cutler, Gregg Mortsen, Julie May
Technical fouls: Brigham Young University-None. Weber State-None.
Attendance: 1776
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young University......   32   31  -   63
Weber State...................   26   21  -   47