Slade Leads Second Half Comeback Against SUU

Click to watch the video.

PROVO -- After scoring only five points in the first half, senior Shawnee Slade’s 13 second-half points led the BYU women’s basketball team to a 70-64 victory over Southern Utah on Friday night. With the win the Cougars improve to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 at home in the Marriott Center.

Slade ended the night with a game-high 18 points. Coriann Wood added 10 points for the Cougars, while Mindy Nielson recorded a team-high six rebounds. As a team, BYU forced 26 turnovers, including 15 steals.

“I’m really happy we won, but we didn’t come out mentally ready tonight,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “Sometimes you have to figure out problems as a team. You have to learn by your own mistakes and that’s how you grow. We played about 18 minutes tonight but we have to do better and play a complete 40 minutes.”

The Thunderbirds scored the first points of the game, before BYU went on a 5-0 run after makes by seniors Cassie King and Slade. After a layup by Wood with 16:08 to play in the first half, the Cougars were held scoreless for over four minutes before a three-pointer by Wood closed the SUU lead to 14-10.

BYU continued to put points on the board, despite being outrebounded offensively and defensively, tying the score at 19-19 with back-to-back makes by Megan Marks with 5:54 remaining in the half. Marks’ previous career-high of three points was easily surpassed in the first half alone, as the sophomore from South Jordan, Utah scored a team-high eight points in the first 20 minutes.

Both teams shot well as the first half wound down, trading baskets back-and-forth, with Nielson scoring her first bucket of the game with 10 seconds remaining.

The Cougars were strong coming out of the halftime break, including Slade, who scored eight of BYU’s 10 points to start the half. BYU’s defense held the Thunderbirds scoreless during that streak. Point guard Jazmine Foreman led the Cougars’ defensive efforts—recording three steals in three minutes for BYU.

“I felt a spark within myself at the beginning of the second half and just kind of rolled with it,” said Slade. “I felt it and took the shots when they was there.”

Freshman Kristen Riley blocked a SUU shot, followed by a running layup on the other end of the court, giving BYU the 59-43 lead. Not deterred, the Thunderbirds slowly narrowed the gap after going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line on three consecutive possessions.

With the game clock winding down, successful trips to the free throw line by Foreman and Nielson helped seal the win for BYU.

Up next the Cougars travel to Hawaii to participate in the Seasider Challenge at BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 5-6.

Official Basketball Box Score
Southern Utah TBirds vs Brigham Young
11-28-08 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR  BYU  PROVO UTAH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Southern Utah TBirds 1-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
42 JONES, Cassi........ f  2-4    0-0    0-0    2  4  6   0   4  0  2  1  1  23
44 FARISH, Amanda...... f  3-3    0-0    0-2    2  1  3   3   6  3  3  0  0  21
21 WESTWOOD-HIGBEE, Ann c  1-5    0-0    8-12   3  3  6   1  10  1  4  0  2  25
23 PLATT, Cassie....... g  3-9    0-4    2-2    0  4  4   1   8  4  6  0  0  35
32 SEARS, Caitlyn...... g  5-14   1-3    2-2    5  4  9   3  13  2  1  0  0  33
05 NEVILLE, Lyndie.....    1-1    0-0    3-4    0  1  1   5   5  0  4  0  0  16
14 HOSKING, Dani.......    2-3    2-2    0-0    0  6  6   1   6  0  1  0  0  15
20 SAGERS, JAMIE.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
24 PASCUCCI,  Challis..    5-7    0-0    0-0    3  0  3   2  10  1  3  0  0  20
30 SLADE, Morgan.......    1-2    0-0    0-1    0  0  0   1   2  0  1  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   23-49   3-10  15-23  17 25 42  17  64 11 25  1  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8%   2nd Half: 10-20 50.0%   Game: 46.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 30.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-11 63.6%   2nd Half:  8-12 66.7%   Game: 65.2%    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 3-2
                          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  7-15   1-4    3-5    5  0  5   1  18  3  1  0  1  28
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  3  0  1  16
54 KING, Cassie........ c  4-6    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   5   8  0  0  0  2  20
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  1-7    0-5    6-7    1  2  3   1   8  3  2  0  3  27
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  3-10   0-4    1-2    1  2  3   2   7  6  0  2  1  34
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  1  0  0   8
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   6
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    0-3    0-2    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  2  0  0  2  16
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    4-11   2-6    0-0    2  3  5   4  10  1  2  0  2  16
24 PETERSON, Dani......    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
35 RILEY, Kristen......    4-6    0-1    1-4    3  2  5   2   9  1  2  2  1  13
55 MARKS, Megan........    4-4    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   8  1  1  0  1  11
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   28-67   3-23  11-18  17 14 31  21  70 18 12  4 14 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-35 40.0%   2nd Half: 14-32 43.8%   Game: 41.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-12  8.3%   2nd Half:  2-11 18.2%   Game: 13.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half:  9-12 75.0%   Game: 61.1%    4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: ROBERT STRONG, CODY KETTERLING, KEN SOWBY
Technical fouls: Southern Utah TBirds-FARISH, Amanda. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 762
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Southern Utah TBirds..........   35   29  -   64
Brigham Young.................   31   39  -   70
OFFICIAL FINAL