Second-half Effort Falls Short Against Utah

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PROVO -- Despite a strong comeback effort in the second half against the visiting Utah Utes, the BYU women’s basketball team fell 55-63 as the teams renewed their Deseret First Duel rivalry, Wednesday.

“We played with energy and we played physical, but the mistakes we made hurt us and the Utes capitalized on all of them,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said.

A competitive first half featured five lead changes with neither team taking control. The Cougars appeared to go into halftime with a lead, but a Whipple steal with just a few seconds remaining created a free throw opportunity to tie the score at 27-27 at halftime.

Utah started the second half on a 10-point run to go up 37-27 before Wood and Nielson converted consecutive three-pointers to get the Cougars back into the game.

The Utes maintained a lead throughout the second half to build a 50-42 lead.

BYU trimmed the lead to 53-48 when Foreman stole the ball away from Utah’s Katie King and pushed the ball to Slade, who made the easy transition layup. But it would not be enough.

The Cougars shot 32 percent in the game on 20-of-61 shooting and 5-of-16 from 3-point range. Coriann Wood led the team with 13 points while Keilani Moeaki scored 12. Mindy Nielson also contributed with nine points with Shawnee Slade and Kristen Riley scoring six and five points, respectively. Nielson had three steals while Jazmine Foreman led the team with four assists.

“In games like this, every possession is important,” Judkins said. “We missed a lot of layups and we had good looks. Give Utah credit; Coach Elliott always does a good job of preparing her team.”

Wood led the team with seven points with Riley and Nielsen contributing five and four points, respectively in the first half of action.

The Cougars fall to 3-2 in conference play and will next play this Saturday at Wyoming. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
University of Utah vs Brigham Young
01-28-09 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO, UTAH
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VISITORS: University of Utah 13-6; 6-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 WHIPPLE, Kalee...... f  3-10   2-7    2-2    3  3  6   3  10  1  1  0  2  38
22 SAWYER, Halie....... f  1-7    0-2    5-8    2  6  8   4   7  2  1  3  0  38
31 KING, Katie......... f  8-13   0-0    0-0    5  8 13   0  16  1  4  1  0  36
05 STEPHENS, Hanna..... g  1-2    1-2    0-0    0  2  2   2   3  1  4  0  1  20
15 WARBURTON, Morgan... g  4-11   1-4    8-8    0  4  4   4  17  6  3  0  1  34
01 BADON, Janita.......    3-9    1-4    1-1    0  2  2   2   8  2  3  0  1  20
10 MCDERMOTT, Josi.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
12 KNIGHT, Cydney......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
23 STEVENSON, Deanne...    1-1    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   2  0  0  0  0   3
42 MUNNS, Mandy........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  1  0  0   4
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   21-54   5-19  16-19  13 27 40  16  63 14 17  4  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-26 30.8%   2nd Half: 13-28 46.4%   Game: 38.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-13 23.1%   2nd Half:  2-6  33.3%   Game: 26.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-10 80.0%   2nd Half:  8-9  88.9%   Game: 84.2%    2
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 13-5;3-3
                          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  2-10   0-4    2-2    1  2  3   3   6  1  1  1  2  33
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  5-8    0-0    2-3    1  3  4   3  12  0  5  0  1  22
54 KING, Cassie........ c  1-4    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   2   2  0  3  0  1  20
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  1-10   0-4    1-2    2  4  6   2   3  4  4  0  2  37
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  4-8    1-2    0-0    2  3  5   4   9  2  0  1  3  32
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  1  0  0   3
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    1-5    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   2   3  0  0  0  1  14
21 BUHLER, Stephanie...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    3-8    2-3    5-6    3  3  6   1  13  3  1  0  2  26
35 RILEY, Kristen......    2-7    1-1    0-0    2  1  3   2   5  2  1  0  0  11
   TEAM................                         3  2  5
   Totals..............   20-61   5-16  10-13  15 21 36  19  55 12 16  2 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-32 34.4%   2nd Half:  9-29 31.0%   Game: 32.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-7  42.9%   2nd Half:  2-9  22.2%   Game: 31.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  8-11 72.7%   Game: 76.9%    2
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Officials: MELISSA BARLOW, KENT JOHNSON, CHUCK GONZALEZ
Technical fouls: University of Utah-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 1731
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
University of Utah............   27   36  -   63
Brigham Young.................   27   28  -   55
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-UT 28,BY 20. Points off turnovers-UT 22,BY 20.
2nd chance points-UT 14,BY 16. Fast break points-UT 4,BY 2.
Bench points-UT 10,BY 23. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-7 times.
Last FG-UT 2nd-00:12, BY 2nd-00:44.
Largest lead-UT by 11 2nd-13:12, BY by 6 1st-17:46.