No. 19 BYU Upsets No. 17 New Mexico

PROVO -- Despite Ambrosia Anderson and Dani Kubik both fouling out for the Cougars, No. 19 BYU (18-1, 8-0) defeated No. 16 New Mexico (16-5, 6-2), 60-55 in the Marriott Center Thursday evening. The game pitted two of the best teams in the nation, including the two best in the Mountain West Conference.

"When Ambrosia and Dani fouled out and [New Mexico] got up on us, I told the girls to dig deeper and to let the system work, and it did," head coach Jeff Judkins said. "You can see why I enjoy coaching this team--they don't want to lose."

The Cougars executed their game plan perfectly in the opening minutes, as 10 of the team's first 11 points came from the paint. BYU scored on its first two possessions with layups from Dani Kubik and Melinda Johnsen. A few possessions later, Johnsen netted a pretty reverse layup, followed by a Jennie Keele layup.

New Mexico went scoreless the first six minutes of the half, finally getting on the scoreboard with a three pointer from Katie Montgomery.

On the Lobos next possession, Mallary Gillespie came up with the rebound, driving the full length of the court and softly kissing the ball off the glass for her first two points of the game. The bucket gave BYU an eight point lead, 11-3.

The Cougars kept New Mexico's leading scorer, Dionne Marsh at bay for the first 10 minutes of the game, but Marsh found her stroke in the latter part of the half.

With 11 minutes remaining Marsh fired a difficult pull-up jumper that hit nothing but the bottom of the net. She then converted a three-point play and earned the opportunity for another one, though she recovered the missed shot and scored, cutting the lead to just one point, 17-16.

BYU responded to the pressure, going on a 12-3 run, which included back-to-back three pointers from Gillespie, as well as back-to-back baskets from Johnsen.

Led by Marsh, the Lobos then went on an 8-0 run of their own, followed by two more back-to-back three-point buckets to end the half at 35-29.

Marsh led all scorers with 14 points in the first half, while Gillespie had 11 points for the Cougars.

The second half of action saw numerous lead changes, as the Cougars battled through foul trouble to defeat the Lobos.

New Mexico started the second half off strong, going on a 6-3 run off two buckets apiece from Marsh and Brandi Kimble, closing the score to 38-37.

BYU responded with a 6-0 run off its own to widen the lead to five, 42-37, off baskets from Keele, Gillespie and Kubik.

Both teams traded baskets for much of the second half until Anderson fouled out on a questionable call with 7:20 left in the half. New Mexico responded to the news with two quick baskets to take its first lead of the game, 52-50.

Kubik stepped up to the challenge and evened the score on the very next possession. On BYU next offensive possession, however, Kubik was called for an offensive foul on her way to the bucket, fouling out of the game with 3:27 remaining.

Riley got the call and scored on the Cougars' next possession and then sent a lob to Keele for a layup, giving BYU a four-point lead, 56-52.

New Mexico's Timi E-Nunu then converted the front end of a one-and-one, but it was not enough as Keele immediately came down and scored another layup to put the game away.

"Jenny Keele really helped us tonight, she was a crutial player and she knows how to play," Judkins said.

Marsh led all players with 25 points and 10 rebounds. BYU had three players score in double figures. Gillespie scored 14, Keele 12 and Johnsen 10, respectively.

The Lobos dominated the boards, out rebounding BYU 41-31. They also scored 13 points off turnovers compared to the Cougars' seven.

BYU travels to Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday to face Air Force at 2 p.m. The Cougars then host arch-rival Utah on Wednesday at 7 p.m., in the Marriott Center.

Official Basketball Box Score
NM Lobos vs BYU Cougars
02-02-06 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UT
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VISITORS: NM Lobos 16-5; 6-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 LETZ, Abbie......... *  1-7    0-3    0-0    4  5  9   1   2  1  7  0  1  32
13 MONTGOMERY, Katie... *  1-3    1-3    4-4    0  0  0   3   7  7  1  0  2  40
24 FRANCIS, Jana....... *  0-5    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   5   0  1  1  0  0  14
33 MARSH, Dionne....... * 11-22   1-2    2-4    5  5 10   3  25  0  2  2  0  34
41 KIMBLE, Brandi...... *  2-5    0-1    0-0    2  3  5   2   4  0  2  0  0  15
00 SASO, Morgan........    2-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   4  0  0  0  0   3
11 BLACK, Lindsay......    1-2    1-1    0-0    0  2  2   0   3  1  2  1  0  16
14 VOGT, Judy..........    1-3    1-3    0-0    0  1  1   1   3  1  0  0  0  13
15 E-NUNU, Timi........    0-2    0-0    1-2    0  2  2   2   1  0  0  0  0  12
23 MAJEWSKI, Rachel....    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   4
25 OLUDE, Wande........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  0  1  0  0   2
40 BRIODY, Julie.......    0-1    0-0    2-2    0  2  2   0   2  1  1  0  0   4
44 HARTILL, Angela.....    2-4    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   4  2  0  0  0  11
   TEAM................                         2  5  7
   Totals..............   21-58   4-15   9-12  14 27 41  18  55 14 17  3  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5%   2nd Half: 11-29 37.9%   Game: 36.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half:  2-9  22.2%   Game: 26.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half:  2-4  50.0%   Game: 75.0%    0
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 18-1; 8-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 KEELE, Jennie....... *  5-6    1-1    1-5    0  3  3   3  12  3  3  0  0  26
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. *  5-12   3-8    1-2    2  6  8   2  14  7  2  0  0  36
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. *  3-12   1-5    0-0    1  0  1   5   7  2  3  0  0  26
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... *  4-6    1-2    1-2    0  8  8   0  10  6  1  1  1  40
45 KUBIK, Dani......... *  3-5    0-0    1-2    1  3  4   5   7  0  2  0  0  19
01 SELJAAS, Nancy......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
24 HUTSON, Vanessa.....    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  0  0  1  13
32 SLADE, Shawnee......    0-2    0-0    2-2    1  0  1   0   2  0  0  0  3  16
52 RILEY, Lauren.......    4-6    0-0    0-1    0  4  4   3   8  1  2  4  0  21
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   24-52   6-19   6-14   5 26 31  19  60 20 13  5  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9%   2nd Half: 10-25 40.0%   Game: 46.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-11 45.5%   2nd Half:  1-8  12.5%   Game: 31.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  4-9  44.4%   Game: 42.9%    4
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Officials: CONNIE PARDUE, RICK MORRIS, ANITA MYLES
Technical fouls: NM Lobos-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 2346
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
NM Lobos......................   29   26  -   55
BYU Cougars...................   35   25  -   60
OFFICIAL FINAL