BYU Overwhelms UVU in Season Opener

PROVO -- Friday the 13th proved to be anything but unlucky for the BYU women’s basketball team as it defeated Utah Valley University 73–51 in its home opener.

“If we play like this every night, we will be in a good spot for the season,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. With the victory, Judkins improves his record for home openers to 8-1.

Utah Valley won the tip and Julie Smith started the scoring for the Wolverines. Two early treys by Mindy Nielson and Kristen Riley helped BYU take the lead. The Cougars never looked back and led UVU 24-12 midway through the half.

BYU’s defense notched four steals, three blocks, 22 total rebounds and allowed only four Wolverines to score the entire first half. The Cougars got considerable help from the sidelines, with players recording 21 points off the bench.

“We have a great team that can score this year,” Judkins said. “We have a lot of depth with four players scoring in doubles figures.”

With the score at 45-26, BYU began the second half outscoring UVU 14-2. The Cougars kept up the pace for most of the half but with less than eight minutes left, the Wolverines went on a nine-point streak. The run allowed UVU to come within 19 points, the lowest margin of the half. BYU was able to hold off the Wolverines and come away with the 73-51 victory.

Nielson and Keilani Moeaki led the BYU offense, scoring 14 points apiece. Coriann Wood and Dani Peterson came off the bench scoring in double figures as well with 10 points each. Wood topped the list in rebounds grabbing a team and game high eight boards while junior point guard Haley Hall dished out eight assists in the game.

The Wolverines were led by Smith who scored a team and game high 20 total points while Kyra Prause grabbed a total of seven boards.

The Cougars will continue their season Wednesday when they travel to Seattle to take on the University of Washington.

Official Basketball Box Score
UT VALLEY WOLVERINES vs BYU Cougars
11-13-09 3:35 PM at MARRIOTT CTR PROVO UT
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VISITORS: UT VALLEY WOLVERINES 0-1 ; 0-0 ; GWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 Julie Smith......... f  8-14   0-3    4-5    0  4  4   4  20  0  3  0  0  33
25 Kaycee Mansfield.... f  3-5    1-2    1-1    1  2  3   2   8  1  3  0  0  25
35 Erika Newbold....... c  0-3    0-1    0-0    1  2  3   4   0  0  2  0  0  23
13 Asumi Nakayama...... g  0-5    0-4    4-5    1  4  5   1   4  1  3  0  1  30
33 Kayla Burningham.... g  1-7    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  0  3  0  0  22
04 Cydne Mason.........    0-1    0-0    3-4    1  2  3   1   3  1  2  0  0  16
05 Chantelle Martin....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
14 Jenna Johnson.......    1-2    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   1   4  0  2  0  0  11
20 Kaitlin Bogle.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
22 Kyra Prause.........    1-1    0-0    2-2    1  6  7   0   4  1  3  0  1  13
23 Brynn Bradley.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  1  0   3
42 Blake Reynolds......    1-3    0-0    4-4    2  1  3   1   6  0  1  0  0  21
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   15-41   1-11  20-23   8 24 32  15  51  4 22  1  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0%   2nd Half:  5-16 31.3%   Game: 36.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-8  12.5%   2nd Half:  0-3   0.0%   Game:  9.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-5  100 %   2nd Half: 15-18 83.3%   Game: 87.0%    1
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 1-0 ; 0-0 ; MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
35 RILEY, Kristen...... f  3-3    2-2    0-2    2  4  6   1   8  2  0  2  0  18
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  6-7    1-1    1-3    4  0  4   0  14  2  0  0  1  17
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  3-6    1-3    0-0    1  0  1   3   7  2  2  0  0  21
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  6-11   2-4    0-0    0  1  1   3  14  2  2  0  3  23
33 HALL, Haley......... g  0-5    0-4    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  8  0  0  2  24
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    0-3    0-2    2-3    1  0  1   2   2  2  1  0  0   9
04 PARKER, Kim.........    0-4    0-2    0-1    1  2  3   4   0  0  0  0  1  12
10 KAUFUSI, Alexis.....    2-5    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   4   4  0  3  0  1  10
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    1-2    1-2    0-0    3  0  3   0   3  1  1  0  0  10
21 BATES, Stephanie....    0-1    0-1    1-2    0  1  1   1   1  1  0  0  1   6
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    4-12   2-4    0-0    5  3  8   2  10  1  2  1  0  18
31 BECK, Marie.........    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  1   4
32 PETERSON, Dani......    4-10   0-1    2-2    3  0  3   3  10  0  2  0  1  16
55 LEACH, Megan........    0-3    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   0   0  0  0  1  1  12
   TEAM................                         5  4  9
   Totals..............   29-74   9-30   6-13  26 20 46  25  73 21 14  4 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-37 51.4%   2nd Half: 10-37 27.0%   Game: 39.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-16 43.8%   2nd Half:  2-14 14.3%   Game: 30.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  6-13 46.2%   Game: 46.2%    2
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Officials: CLARKE STEVENS; GATOR PARRISH; ERIC LARSON
Technical fouls: UT VALLEY WOLVERINES-TEAM. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 954
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
UT VALLEY WOLVERINES..........   26   25  -   51
BYU Cougars...................   45   28  -   73
OFFICIAL FINAL