Women Advance to Second Round of Preseason WNIT

PROVO -- The No. 24 BYU women's basketball team won its first game of the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament with a 73-50 victory over Idaho State, Friday.

Sophomore forward Shawnee Slade led the Cougars with 10 points and 10 rebounds, her first career double-double. Junior Mallary Gillespie also finished with 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. The win allows BYU to move on in the 16-team, single-elimination tournament to face No. 4 Stanford Monday night in Palo Alto, Calif.

"Idaho State's a good team," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "They will win the Big Sky [Conference]. If they don't win it, they'll be right there. This was a good win for us."

With the game knotted at nine apiece early on, senior guard Jennie Keele converted a layup to give the Cougars an 11-9 lead with 14:30 to go in the first half. The bucket sparked a 13-4 BYU run that included a three-point shot from post-player Cassie King that hit nothing but net.

The closest Idaho State got after the Cougars' run was seven when the Bengals pulled to within 22-15 at the six minute mark. However, BYU would pull away on back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Haley Hall and Gillespie to take a 28-15 lead with 5:30 to play in the first half.

The half ended when senior Melinda Johnsen, who recorded a game-high four steals, stole the ball with six seconds left. Johnsen drove the length of the court and dished it off to Keele who hit the easy deuce at the buzzer, giving the Cougars a 42-25 halftime advantage. BYU connected on six of its 10 three-point tries in the half.

Judkins' squad kept up the pace taking a 52-32 lead five-and-a-half minutes into the second half. The Cougars' aggressive style was too much for Idaho State to handle, and BYU easily captured the 73-50 win. BYU's 32 defensive rebounds limited Idaho State to just six second-chance points on the night. The Cougars also dominated down low, doubling up on the Bengals in points in the paint 32-16.

BYU travels to Palo Alto, Calif. to take on No. 4 Stanford in the second round of the Preseason WNIT. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. MDT on Monday.

Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ISU vs BY
11-10-06 7:30 pm at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: ISU 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
24 Grohs, Michelle..... f  1-5    1-4    2-2    3  4  7   1   5  0  2  1  1  25
30 Diehl, Devin........ f  2-6    1-4    0-0    0  1  1   1   5  2  1  0  0  33
35 Doma, Natalie....... c  6-19   0-1    2-4    3  8 11   2  14  0  3  1  1  30
05 Boesel, Jeni........ g  2-12   1-7    2-3    0  2  2   3   7  0  4  0  3  34
23 Lightfoot, Andrea... g  4-8    0-0    1-3    3  2  5   1   9  2  5  0  1  38
12 Fager, Kaylynn......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
15 Smith, Aralee.......    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  3  3   1   1  5  4  0  2  13
20 Fors, Lisa..........    1-2    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   1   3  0  0  0  0   6
21 Iacovita, Oana......    2-3    0-0    2-4    2  1  3   3   6  0  1  0  0  19
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   18-55   3-16  11-20  12 24 36  13  50  9 20  2  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7%   2nd Half:  6-24 25.0%   Game: 32.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-7  14.3%   2nd Half:  2-9  22.2%   Game: 18.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-3   0.0%   2nd Half: 11-17 64.7%   Game: 55.0%    2
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HOME TEAM: BY 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 SLADE, Shawnee...... f  4-10   1-2    1-2    4  6 10   0  10  4  2  0  2  24
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f  3-7    2-4    0-0    0  2  2   3   8  3  1  1  4  28
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c  3-6    0-1    0-2    2  4  6   5   6  0  1  1  2  14
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g  3-4    0-0    0-2    0  0  0   0   6  3  0  0  1  22
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  4-9    2-5    0-0    0  5  5   1  10  4  4  0  3  30
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  4  5   2   4  1  2  0  0  12
10 EYESTONE, Erica.....    0-0    0-0    1-3    0  0  0   0   1  0  0  0  0   2
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    1-2    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  0  0  0  0   6
22 FADDIS, Brittany....    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   1   0  1  0  0  0   6
24 EYESTONE, Erica.....    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
31 AINA, Rachel........    0-4    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  1  0  0  0   5
33 HALL, Haley.........    3-5    2-3    0-0    0  0  0   3   8  3  5  0  0  18
52 RILEY, Lauren.......    3-5    0-0    2-4    4  2  6   3   8  2  2  2  0  18
54 KING, Cassie........    3-5    1-1    2-2    2  3  5   2   9  0  0  1  1  13
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   29-64   9-20   6-15  16 32 48  21  73 22 17  5 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-29 55.2%   2nd Half: 13-35 37.1%   Game: 45.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-10 60.0%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 45.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  2-7  28.6%   Game: 40.0%    4
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Officials: KEN SOLBY, JULIE KROMENHOOK, RICK THORN
Technical fouls: ISU-None. BY-None.
Attendance: 2388
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
ISU...........................   25   25  -   50
BY............................   42   31  -   73
OFFICIAL FINAL