Team Suffers 10-point Road Loss to Fresno State

Fresno, Calif. (Nov. 17, 2006) -- With two games in two days and little time to rest and prepare for Fresno State, No. 18 BYU (2-2)dropped a disappointing 61-51 decision to the Bulldogs.

In the first half both teams traded leads before Fresno State went ahead 10-6 on a layup by Chantella Perera. Then BYU came back and went on a 10-2 run capped off by a free throw by Dani Wright that put the Cougars up 16-12. The Bulldogs bounced back and pushed the game to 28-21 with 1:44 left in the half. The Cougars cut the deficit to three with a jumper from Shawnee Slade and a last second layup by Lauren Riley.

Perera was the deciding factor in this game. She scored a game high 21 points for the Bulldogs with fellow guard Tierre Wilson also putting up double digits scoring with her 10 points.

"Fresno State played more aggressive on offense and defense than we did," said head coach Jeff Judkins.

"We have a long way to go and we need to find our team identity. Hopefully we'll learn from this game and bounce back. I also think because of our fatigue we made some uncharacteristic mental mistakes," added Judkins.

BYU senior leader Melinda Johnsen led BYU in scoring, three pointers and had two steals on the night. Wright, playing center for BYU put in 10 points to boost the Cougars. The team shot 35 percent from the field and 17 percent from beyond the arc while the Bulldogs shot 34 percent from the field and 41 percent from behind the three point line.

The game was closer than the final score suggests. With just over two minutes left to go, Mallary Gillespie put in two of her nine to get the Cougars within two, 53-51. Fresno's Wilson got her final three points putting the Bulldogs up 56-51. From there Fresno was able to take advantage of free throws to put the game away. Fresno State shot 26 free throws to the Cougars five, a stat that was more important late in the game when Wright had to sit with four fouls six minutes into the second half.

BYU will get much needed rest from a grueling week-long road trip and will host Santa Clara on Nov. 22 at 4:30 pm.

Official Basketball Box Score
#18 Brigham Young vs Fresno State
11/17/06 7:05 p.m. at Save Mart Center -- Fresno, Calif.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: #18 Brigham Young 2-2
                          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  3-9    1-2    0-0    2  4  6   1   7  0  3  0  0  34
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f  5-11   2-6    0-0    0  3  3   2  12  1  1  0  2  37
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c  4-7    0-0    2-3    0  3  3   4  10  0  3  0  0  23
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g  1-6    0-3    0-1    2  1  3   3   2  3  4  1  2  23
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  4-15   1-7    0-0    3  4  7   4   9  2  0  0  1  32
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  0   2
33 HALL, Haley.........    2-10   0-5    0-0    1  2  3   5   4  4  1  0  1  24
52 RILEY, Lauren.......    2-3    0-0    0-0    3  3  6   4   4  2  2  2  0  20
54 KING, Cassie........    1-1    0-0    1-1    0  0  0   0   3  0  1  1  0   5
   TEAM................                         2  4  6
   Totals..............   22-62   4-23   3-5   13 24 37  23  51 13 16  4  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8%   2nd Half: 11-39 28.2%   Game: 35.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-7   0.0%   2nd Half:  4-16 25.0%   Game: 17.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-5  60.0%   2nd Half:  0-0   0.0%   Game: 60.0%    1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Fresno State 2-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 Green, Brittani..... f  0-4    0-2    6-8    2  3  5   2   6  4  0  0  0  26
44 THIGPIN, Jenny...... c  3-6    0-0    1-3    1  4  5   4   7  0  2  0  1  21
03 Wilson, Tierre...... g  4-11   2-5    0-0    0  3  3   2  10  2  2  0  1  27
11 PERERA, Chantella... g  6-13   4-5    5-6    0  5  5   1  21  1  5  0  0  36
32 MARSHALL, Jasmine... g  1-7    0-1    1-4    2  5  7   0   3  2  1  2  2  30
01 Roberson, Andrea....    3-8    0-3    0-0    6  1  7   1   6  1  0  1  1  21
10 DIGGS, Paige........    1-4    0-0    3-5    2  2  4   2   5  2  3  0  1  23
23 HENRY, Erica........    1-3    1-1    0-0    2  3  5   1   3  0  2  2  1  16
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   19-56   7-17  16-26  17 28 45  13  61 12 15  5  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-27 33.3%   2nd Half: 10-29 34.5%   Game: 33.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-8  37.5%   2nd Half:  4-9  44.4%   Game: 41.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-12 58.3%   2nd Half:  9-14 64.3%   Game: 61.5%    6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Melissa Barlow, Lisa Jones, Maj Forsberg
Technical fouls: #18 Brigham Young-None. Fresno State-None.
Attendance: 3144
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
#18 Brigham Young.............   25   26  -   51
Fresno State..................   28   33  -   61