Second Half of MWC Race Begins With Home Game vs. UNLV

With a 5-3 league record and tied with New Mexico for third place in the most recent MWC standings, BYU starts the second half of MWC play this Saturday.

The Cougars and Rebels (3-5) battle in the Marriott Center on Sat. Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. The game can be seen live worldwide on BYU TV.

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 Jr 9.9 3.3

22 Mindy Bonham (Nielson) G 5-10 Jr 11.1 4.2

33 Haley Hall G 5-4 Jr 8.2 3.7

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 5.2 2.2

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 8.8 5.4

2009-10 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.432, 505-1170)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.349, 136-390)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.653, 194-297)

-- Average points per game: 67.0

-- Average rebounds per game: 38.7

-- Average assists per game: 16.6

-- Average steals per game: 9.9

-- Average blocks per game: 3.5

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.7

Cougars in the NCAA Stats (as of Jan. 31, 2010)

Team

-- Scoring Defense - 29th (56.3)

-- Field Goal Percentage - 29th (.444)

-- Rebound Margin - 27th (+6.3)

-- Assists Per Game - 11th (16.9)

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - 26th (0.95)

Player

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - Haley Hall, 20th (2.18)

Team Starts MWC Race Strong

With a 5-3 record in league play, the Cougar women are off to their best start since the 2006-07 campaign when they began conference play with a 7-1 record, eventually winning the regular season crown with a 12-4 finish. That year they went on to play in the title game of the conference tournament before losing to New Mexico. The team went on to play a first round game in the NCAA Tournament.

Player Injury Report

Freshman guard Kim Parker suffered a season ending injury in the game at Weber State. She has torn ligaments in her left foot.

Sophomore guard Jenteal Jackson will apply for a medical redshirt for this year due to an on-going back problem.

Freshman To Redshirt

Stephanie Vermunt, a 6-0 freshman guard/forward from Airdrie, Alberta, Canada will redshirt the 2009-10 season.

Team Captains

Senior guard Jaime Judkins and junior point guard Haley Hall have been selected by their teammates as co-captains for the 2009-10 season.

SATURDAY’S MWC OPPONENT

UNLV - Sat. Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. MST (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

UNLV comes into the second half of MWC action with a 3-5 league record after picking up a 62-56 victory over Wyoming on Tues. Feb. 2. Junior guard Erica Helms is one of two players on the Rebels team scoring in double figures. She’s averaging 13.4 points and 2.0 rebounds a game. Kelli Thompson, a 6-0 freshman guard/forward combo follows with 12.9 points and 4.4 boards per contest. In the rebound category, sophomore guard/forward Jamie Smith tops the list grabbing 9.8 boards per game. Helms is also the team’s assist and steals leader with a total of 79 and 41 respectively. Kathy Olivier is in her second season as UNLV’s women’s basketball coach.

Stat Comparison

Category BYU UNLV

FG: .432 .366

3FG: .349 .325

FT: .653 .685

Points: 67.0 63.1

Reb: 38.7 38.3

Series Information

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 24-12

BYU Record in Provo: 13-2

BYU Record in Las Vegas: 10-9

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-1

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 14-7

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 1-2

Longest BYU Win Streak: 5 (twice, 2001-02; 2005-07)

Longest UNLV Win Streak: 3 (twice, 1975-79; 2004)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 26, 74-48 in 2005

Largest UNLV Margin of Victory: 13, 77-64 in ‘04

First Meeting this MWC Season

In the first game of the MWC 2010 season the Cougars and Rebels met in Las Vegas on Jan.6 with the visiting BYU team picking up the 10-point 71-61 victory. When playing in Provo UNLV has a 2-13 record. Their last win in the Marriott Center was during the 2003-04 when the Rebels picked up a 67-59 victory on Mar. 6, 2004.

Game Summary - Last outing between BYU and UNLV. Jan. 6, 2010, Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas. BYU won 71-61

The Cougars won their fifth straight game, first in conference, in a 71-61 victory in Vegas. They took an early 13-7 lead in the first half after back-to-back 3-pointers from Haley Hall and Jazmine Foreman. Coriann Wood finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds, for her second double-double of the season.

Key Stats in 1st game BYU UNLV

Field Goal Percentage 27-65 (41.5%) 22-53 (41.5%)

Three-point Percentage 8-26 (30.8%) 5-18 (27.8%)

Free-Throw Percentage 9-12 (75%) 12-17 (70.6%)

Rebounds 40 36

WHAT’S NEXT

After the home contest vs. UNLV, the Cougar team continues the second half of MWC action playing at the Air Force Academy on Feb. 13 before returning home to host CSU on Feb. 17 and Wyoming on Feb. 20.