Hawks and Field Goal Percentage Upset No. 22 Cougars

West Hartford, Conn. (Dec. 2, 2006) -- The University of Hartford Hawks upset the No. 22 Cougars Saturday afternoon, 60-43, as shooting woes and Hawk defense held the Cougars to their lowest scoring game of the season.

"Hartford is a good team, well coached, and very physical," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We started off slow and we didn't seem to ever get in gear. We didn't execute well and we didn't play defensively well either."

Hartford, the 2006 American East Conference Champion, jumped out to an early 13-6 lead, and never looked back. The first eight points for the Cougar points came from Mallary Gillespie as she hit two three-pointers in two attempts and a lay-up, but Gillespie could not stay hot and neither could her teammates.

BYU's first-half woes stemmed from Hartford's double-team defense in the paint and poor shooting on the part of the Cougars. The blue and white struggled in the first half getting open shots, but their tenacious play and three-point philosophy kept the game within reach. With a 13-10 lead and 13:28 to go in the first half, the Hawks scored four unanswered points before Cassie King hit one from down town to bring the game back within four.

Every time the Cougars went on a run during the game, however, the Hawks would go on a better one. After King's three, the Hawks went on another 8-2 run by getting open lay-ups and hitting free throws to take the largest lead of the half at 25-15.

The brightest point of the game for the Cougars was the end of the first half as they cut the Hawk lead to four going into the locker room after an 8-2 run. Dani Kubik Wright led the way as she broke the Hawk double team and went six for six in the half with 12 points.

After a slow start, the Cougars improved their shooting percentage to 39 percent in the first half while the Hawks shot an impressive 51 percent. Both teams had eight turnovers in the first half, but the four-point difference came from Hartford's perfect six for six from the foul line as the Cougars went two for four.

The Hawks came out swinging in the second half as they forced a quick turnover and hit a three to push the lead back to seven in the first minute of the half. Another BYU turnover led to a Hartford fast-break lay-up and the lead shot to nine. Hartford's Lisa Etienne hit a three to take the lead to 12 before BYU gave up another turnover and quick lay-up to give the Hawks a 14-point lead, 39-25.

Cougar freshman Haley Hall stopped the ten-point Hawk run with a three with 16:27 to go in the game. Once again the Hawks kept the pressure on as Danielle Hood returned fire with a two-point jumper of her own on the next possession. The battle continued as BYU's King hit a short hook shot on the next possession, followed by another Etienne lay-up, keeping the Hawk lead at 13.

Both teams were quiet for the next three minutes before the silence was broken by a Hall free throw to cut the lead to 12. Hartford's Ikea Witt scored her tenth point on the ensuing possession, giving the Hawks another 14 point lead. Then Hartford's Courtney Gomez stole the ball from Melinda Johnsen and gave it up to Marylynne Schaefer so that she could hit her third tre of the game. Down 48-31, BYU's Jennie Keele hit her first shot of the game, a deep three, to take the score to 48-34.

The Hawks put on the full court press with ten minutes left in the game to try to seal the upset victory and forced the 16th Cougar turnover. Ten minutes in to the second half, the upset appeared imminent as BYU had only nine points to the Hawks' 21.

After Keele's three, the Cougars did not score again for another four minutes until she hit another lay-up. Hartford's Katie Kelly came back with another quick jumper give her team a 20-point lead and squelch the visiting team's hopes of ever cutting into it. The Hawks outscored the Cougars 31-18 in the second half, making the final score 60-43. The 43-point outing is the lowest on the season for the no. 22 ranked BYU team.

The Cougars had 20 turnovers in the game to the Hawks' 16. BYU shot 33 percent from the field (16-49) and 28 percent from three-point-land (5-18). Wright was the Cougars' leading scorer with 16 points, seven for seven from the field, and the only Cougar to reach double figures.

"A couple of my key players didn't play well tonight and no one else stepped up," Judkins said.

The loss brings the Cougars' record to 4-3. Their next game will be at New Mexico State on Wednesday, December 6 at 7 p.m. The team's next home game will be against Cal State Northridge on Saturday, December 9 at 4 p.m., in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs HARTFORD
12/02/06 2:00 pm at West Hartford, CT (Chase Arena)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 4-3
                          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....... *  2-7    1-3    0-0    2  1  3   1   5  0  4  0  0  19
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. *  3-9    2-6    0-0    0  1  1   1   8  2  3  0  2  29
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... *  0-7    0-2    0-0    1  4  5   1   0  2  2  1  2  26
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... *  1-6    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  4  2  0  0  34
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ *  7-7    0-0    2-3    4  4  8   3  16  0  2  1  0  28
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    0-1    0-1    1-4    1  2  3   0   1  0  1  0  0   6
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
22 FADDIS, Brittany....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
31 AINA, Rachel........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
33 HALL, Haley.........    1-6    1-3    3-4    1  2  3   1   6  3  2  0  2  23
52 RILEY, Lauren.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   3   0  0  3  0  0  15
54 KING, Cassie........    2-4    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   5  0  1  0  0  11
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   16-49   5-18   6-11  12 19 31  12  43 11 20  2  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 38.5%   2nd Half:  6-23 26.1%   Game: 32.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-10 30.0%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 27.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-4  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 54.5%    1
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HOME TEAM: HARTFORD 5-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
14 WITT, Ikea.......... *  5-8    0-0    2-2    0  4  4   1  12  2  1  0  0  29
23 ETIENNE, Lisa....... *  4-9    1-2    4-4    1  2  3   1  13  2  1  0  5  23
24 HOOD, Danielle...... *  4-10   0-0    0-2    3  3  6   0   8  2  5  0  0  29
32 BEVERLY, Erica...... *  4-4    0-0    4-4    2  2  4   2  12  1  2  0  1  21
33 SCHAEFER, MaryLynne. *  3-5    3-5    0-0    0  7  7   2   9  0  0  0  2  26
03 Pratt, Kacey........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
04 McCabe, Jamie.......    0-5    0-4    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  1  0  0  15
10 GOMEZ, Courtney.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   2   0  0  0  0  2  18
11 PETERSON, Jenna.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
15 DIDONATO, Kate......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
22 MATULIS, Danielle...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   6
40 DELVA, Diana........    1-3    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   2  1  0  0  0  10
44 KELLEY, Katie.......    2-5    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   4  1  3  1  0  18
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   23-51   4-12  10-12  11 24 35  12  60  9 14  1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-21 52.4%   2nd Half: 12-30 40.0%   Game: 45.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-5  20.0%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-6  100 %   2nd Half:  4-6  66.7%   Game: 83.3%    1
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Officials: John Palermo, Jack Riordan, Duane Mack
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. HARTFORD-None.
Attendance: 1207
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   25   18  -   43
HARTFORD......................   29   31  -   60