Cougars Can't Overcome Utes, Lose in Salt Lake

SALT LAKE -- A tough back-and-forth battle ended with the Cougars on the short end, as the Utes topped BYU 59-54 in the Hunstman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

"It was a great game," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "They are tough to beat, especially the last three minutes of the game. I'm proud of our team, we played hard and hit some good shots. I thought Shawnee had one of her best games. Hopefully we can get another shot at them in the tournament."

BYU had things going well offensively in the first half, building to a 21-8 lead on a Shawnee Slade jumper at 9:09. The Cougars would see the Utes cut the lead and go into the halftime break leading 30-29. BYU shot 41 percent (12-of-29) in the first half.

Both teams would trade baskets throughout the second half, and Utah would eventually pull ahead for good, 50-49 on a Morgan Warburton free throw with 5:38 left in the game.

Warburton led all scorers with 18 points, and Mindy Nielson had 14 to lead the Cougars. Katie King’s 16 boards were tops for the game, and Cassie King led BYU with six. Slade finished with 13 points and Jazmine Foreman had 11 points to go with her four assists.

The last time the Cougars had 3 players in double-figures was BYU's win over Long Beach State on Dec. 20.

The Cougars scored 17 points off of 17 Utah turnovers. BYU had only seven turnovers.

BYU’s record falls to 17-9, (7-7, MWC), while Utah improves to 19-8, (12-2, MWC).

Up next, BYU hosts the Wyoming Cowgirls on Senior Night in the Marriott Center on Wednesday, March, 4. The game will be broadcast live on BYUTV, and live stat and audio feeds can be accessed at www.byucougars.com.

The Cougars then travel to Colorado Springs to face Air Force in the final regular conference game of the season on Saturday, March 7 at 2:00 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs University of Utah
02/28/09 1:35 p.m. at Salt Lake City, Utah (Huntsman Center)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 17-9, 7-7 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
23 WOOD, Coriann....... f  1-6    1-4    0-0    1  3  4   2   3  1  0  0  1  23
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f  6-10   0-2    1-3    1  1  2   3  13  3  1  1  1  36
54 KING, Cassie........ c  2-7    0-0    3-4    0  6  6   2   7  0  2  0  1  28
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  4-13   3-5    0-2    0  0  0   2  11  4  1  0  0  40-
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  5-8    2-3    2-2    0  3  3   4  14  3  1  1  4  33
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    0-3    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  2  0  0  1  11
35 RILEY, Kristen......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   7
45 MOEAKI, Keilani.....    3-7    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   3   6  1  0  1  0  22
   TEAM................                         3  1  4             1
   Totals..............   21-54   6-15   6-11   9 14 23  17  54 14  6  3  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4%   2nd Half:  9-25 36.0%   Game: 38.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-10 50.0%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 40.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  6-11 54.5%   Game: 54.5%    1
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HOME TEAM: University of Utah 19-8, 12-2 MWC
                          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  5-11   2-4    3-4    1  1  2   4  15  0  5  0  0  39
22 SAWYER, Halie....... f  1-2    0-0    0-0    1  5  6   2   2  1  2  2  1  29
31 KING, Katie......... c  7-8    1-2    2-2    6 10 16   3  17  1  1  1  0  40
05 STEPHENS, Hanna..... g  0-2    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  2  0  0   8
15 WARBURTON, Morgan... g  7-13   2-5    2-3    0  5  5   2  18  7  4  0  1  40
01 BADON, Janita.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  2  0  0  0   9
10 MCDERMOTT, Josi.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  0  1  0  0   7
20 MCKINNON, Sasha.....    1-4    0-3    1-2    0  2  2   1   3  2  1  0  0  24
23 STEVENSON, Deanne...    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  1  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                            2  2             1
   Totals..............   23-43   5-16   8-11   8 28 36  13  59 15 17  3  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-22 63.6%   2nd Half:  9-21 42.9%   Game: 53.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-5  20.0%   2nd Half:  4-11 36.4%   Game: 31.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-1  100 %   2nd Half:  7-10 70.0%   Game: 72.7%    1
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Officials: Jack Jones, Eric Larson, Maj Forsberg
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. University of Utah-None.
Attendance: 3345
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   29   25  -   54
University of Utah............   30   29  -   59
Points in the paint-BY 14,UT 18. Points off turnovers-BY 17,UT 5.
2nd chance points-BY 5,UT 3. Fast break points-BY 2,UT 2.
Bench points-BY 6,UT 7. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-8 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-02:31, UT 2nd-01:59.
Largest lead-BY by 13 1st-09:09, UT by 8 2nd-15:29.