Big Opening Half Leads to Victory

PROVO -- A strong first half performance by the BYU women’s basketball team allowed an insurmountable lead build to an eventual 60-41 victory over the visiting Air Force Falcons Wednesday at the Marriott Center.

The Cougars were led by sophomore Jazmine Foreman, who finished the game with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a team-leading five assists. Senior Shawnee Slade and guard Mindy Nielson each contributed eight points while Coriann Wood and Keilani Moeaki poured in seven points apiece. Wood also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds on the night.

“It was nice that we played like we do in practice,” said head coach Jeff Judkins. “I thought Jazmine and Mindy did a nice job for us pushing the ball up the court and getting easy buckets.”

The Cougars jumped to a quick 11-3 lead after consecutive buckets by Foreman and Moeaki to gain control of the game. After the Falcons managed to score on separate possessions, BYU answered with points in transition as Nielson got behind the Air Force defense and Foreman doing likewise on another possession.

Wood and Slade combined for 12 points to help the team to 46 percent shooting in the opening half. The Cougars also shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range to build the lead to 41-15 at halftime.

The Cougars’ 41 points in the opening half marked BYU’s highest first-half point total in MWC play and second highest on the season.

“It was nice to get the bench involved and give them opportunities to play,” Judkins said. “Megan Marks played aggressively and I thought our bench was great tonight.”

The Falcons made things interesting in the second half, slowly cutting into the Cougar lead to 50-32.

“In the second half, we were playing with little intensity offensively,” Judkins said. “I always try to emphasize that we need to get better on every possession, so it was unfortunate for us to lose some focus after gaining the big lead.”

The Cougars improve to 5-3 in the conference race while the Falcons fall to 0-8 in league play. The Cougars will next play at Colorado State Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. They return home to host TCU on Feb. 14 at 3 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
Air Force Academy vs Brigham Young
02-04-09 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UTAH
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VISITORS: Air Force Academy 4-17; 0-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
34 CULTRA, Brooke...... f  6-10   0-0    3-4    1  4  5   4  15  1  3  0  3  34
54 DUNSWORTH, Liz...... f  1-7    0-0    0-2    1  8  9   3   2  0  5  0  0  25
43 KREKE, Kim.......... c  4-9    2-4    1-4    0  3  3   1  11  0  5  1  0  34
04 GAULT, Anna......... g  0-3    0-3    2-2    2  3  5   3   2  2  4  0  1  25
22 BECK, Raimee........ g  3-15   1-5    0-0    3  6  9   0   7  4  3  0  1  34
10 PUENTES, Stevie.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  3  3   1   0  0  2  0  1  16
11 BANDI, Jenny........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
30 SATTERFIELD, Jamela.    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0  12
33 SCHJODT, Kathleen...    1-6    0-1    2-5    1  0  1   2   4  0  1  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         4  2  6
   Totals..............   15-51   3-14   8-17  13 29 42  15  41  7 23  1  6 201
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  6-22 27.3%   2nd Half:  9-29 31.0%   Game: 29.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 21.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  7-15 46.7%   Game: 47.1%    3
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 15-5; 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
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f  3-11   2-4    0-0    1  0  1   1   8  2  0  1  0  20
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  3-7    1-1    0-1    1  2  3   2   7  1  1  2  1  16
54 KING, Cassie........ c  2-4    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   1   4  1  0  1  1  14
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  4-7    1-3    1-1    0  3  3   0  10  5  2  0  1  20
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  4-8    0-1    0-0    2  2  4   3   8  3  2  0  3  25
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    0-4    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  2  2  0  2  17
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    1-2    1-1    0-1    1  0  1   1   3  0  0  0  1  12
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    1-4    1-2    0-0    0  1  1   0   3  0  0  0  0  16
21 BUHLER, Stephanie...    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  3  1  1  1  10
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    2-4    1-3    2-2    1  8  9   3   7  0  1  0  1  16
24 PETERSON, Dani......    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  0  2  1  0   9
31 BECK, Marie.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
34 BELL, Marianne......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
35 RILEY, Kristen......    1-3    1-2    2-2    2  0  2   2   5  0  3  0  0  11
55 MARKS, Megan........    1-2    0-0    1-4    1  3  4   2   3  0  1  1  0  10
   TEAM................                         2  5  7
   Totals..............   23-61   8-20   6-11  12 29 41  18  60 17 15  7 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-32 46.9%   2nd Half:  8-29 27.6%   Game: 37.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-9  66.7%   2nd Half:  2-11 18.2%   Game: 40.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 54.5%    2
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Officials: ROBERT STRONG, BRENDA PANTOJA, KYLE BACON
Technical fouls: Air Force Academy-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 540
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Air Force Academy.............   15   26  -   41
Brigham Young.................   41   19  -   60
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-AF 18,BY 24. Points off turnovers-AF 13,BY 20.
2nd chance points-AF 7,BY 7. Fast break points-AF 4,BY 8.
Bench points-AF 4,BY 23. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-AF 2nd-01:16, BY 2nd-04:29.
Largest lead-AF None, BY by 29 2nd-19:41.