Cougars Rise to Victory

Las Cruces, N.M. (Dec. 6, 2006) -- BYU (5-3) beat New Mexico State University (3-6) with a score of 60-43 in their first meeting since 1990. It was a memorable game for BYU senior center Dani Kubik Wright who posted her third career double double, her first of the season. She led all scorers with 16 points and pulled down 11 boards. She had help from junior guard Mallary Gillespie.

"Dani Kubi played a great second half game," said BYU women's head coach Jeff Judkins after the game. "We were really pleased with the play of Mallary (Gillespie), both offensively and defensively. She did a great job on their leading scorer and made some great plays for us on offense."

Gillespie had the difficult task of keeping NMSU guard Sherell Neal in check. She has averaged 16.8 points a game and Gillespie answered the call by keeping her below the average at 13. On offense Gillespie out did her counterpart by scoring 14 points for the Cougars.

BYU ended the first half with a 24-22 lead but the first half did not go the Cougar's way. Both teams came out slow with the first basket coming after four minutes of play. Cougar guard Mallary Gillespie's made the first basket with a three pointer to take the early 3-0 lead. Cassie King added two more to push the lead to five. BYU had a drought after that falling behind 14-7 with 9:22 left in the first half. Ashley Chessman came off the bench to hit a three pointer that gave BYU new hope. After Shawnee Slade hit her first basket for the Cougars, Chessman scored another basket while drawing the foul. She completed the three-point play to put BYU within one with 1:41 left in the game. Both teams committed turnovers in the next minute. But out of a timeout, with 35 seconds left in the half, Gillespie hit another three pointer to put the Cougars ahead again 24-22.

At the half, BYU was hitting 40.9 percent and 75 percent from the charity stripe. New Mexico State was shooting 29.6 from the field and made all four of their free throws. BYU finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field and NMSU shot 27 percent. The Cougars out rebounded the Aggies 38-32, putting BYU at 3-0 when they out rebound their opponent, and 4-0 when they lead at the half.

"I was happy with the play of our bench," Judkins said. "Especially Shawnee (Slade), Ashley (Chessman) and Cassie (King)."

BYU held onto their lead in the second half thanks to a three pointer from senior guard Melinda Johnsen. Her shot put BYU up 32-28 with 14:34 remaining. New Mexico State turned the ball over on their next possession, giving the Cougars a chance to extend the lead. Dani Kubik-Wright answered with a field goal to put the Cougars up 34-28 with 13:47 left in the game. New Mexico State was scoreless for 3 minutes after that allowing BYU to extend their lead to 44-30 with about seven minutes left. NMS came back with a three pointer at the 6:00 mark, making it a 46-34 BYU advantage. The Cougars held on to a 48-39 lead with 3:46 left in the game. BYU pulled ahead 54-41 on a Wright field goal at the 1:30 mark, which was quickly followed by another basket pushing them to 56-41. Neal put in a final field goal for NMSU in the last minute to make it 56-43. Gillespie put her final stamp on the game with two of her 14 points in the final seconds of the regulation.

The Cougars play again against Cal State Northrigde at 4:00 on Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Official Basketball Box Score
BYU vs NMSU
12/6/06 7:05 PM at Las Cruces, NM (Pan American Center)
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VISITORS: BYU 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
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f  2-3    1-1    0-1    1  3  4   1   5  3  5  1  3  32
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ f  6-7    0-0    4-4    4  7 11   3  16  1  6  1  0  22
52 RILEY, Lauren....... c  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  2  0  0  11
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g  1-4    0-2    0-0    0  4  4   2   2  0  1  0  1  27
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  5-13   2-9    2-3    0  0  0   1  14  3  2  0  4  32
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    2-3    1-1    1-1    1  0  1   1   6  0  1  0  0   8
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
22 FADDIS, Brittany....    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  1  1   0   2  0  1  0  0   4
31 AINA, Rachel........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
32 SLADE, Shawnee......    3-12   0-2    3-4    1  6  7   3   9  1  0  1  1  28
33 HALL, Haley.........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  1  0  0  14
54 KING, Cassie........    2-3    0-1    2-3    2  4  6   1   6  0  0  1  0  20
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   21-47   4-16  14-18   9 29 38  15  60  8 19  4  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-22 40.9%   2nd Half: 12-25 48.0%   Game: 44.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half: 11-14 78.6%   Game: 77.8%    0
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HOME TEAM: NMSU 3-6
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 Neal, Sherell....... f  4-10   0-0    5-7    3  2  5   3  13  1  3  3  3  32
21 Jawara, Anikia...... f  2-11   0-0    4-6    7  5 12   4   8  0  4  0  2  22
23 Joy, Janel.......... f  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  3  0  0  12
03 Foster, Jazmyn...... g  1-3    0-2    0-0    0  2  2   0   2  0  1  0  1  14
05 Russell-Nava, Cecili g  0-11   0-8    1-2    0  2  2   2   1  3  2  0  2  39
04 Spanich, Hannah.....    2-4    0-1    0-0    0  4  4   1   4  0  0  0  0  13
10 Bribiescas, Monique.    3-7    3-5    0-0    0  2  2   1   9  1  2  0  1  27
22 Henry, Kayla........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
33 Denning, Carla......    2-4    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   1   4  1  0  1  0  19
35 Walton, Tyshae......    1-4    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0  19
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   15-55   3-16  10-15  11 21 32  14  43  7 15  4  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-27 29.6%   2nd Half:  7-28 25.0%   Game: 27.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  1-9  11.1%   Game: 18.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-4  100 %   2nd Half:  6-11 54.5%   Game: 66.7%    5
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Officials: Jack Jones, Brian Hall, Lisa Jones
Technical fouls: BYU-None. NMSU-None.
Attendance: 476
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU...........................   24   36  -   60
NMSU..........................   22   21  -   43