Tough Shooting Ends Cougar Run in MWC Tourney

LAS VEGAS -- The No. 2 seeded BYU women’s basketball team fell to the San Diego State Aztecs 47-77 in the semifinals of the 20010 MWC women's basketball tournament. The Cougars finished the 2010 regular MWC season in second place and had a two-round bye in this year's tournament.

"This wasn't the kind of game I wanted to have our team play tonight," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "I think they [San Diego State] came out very aggressive defensively. We just didn't really execute the way we should have early in the game."

The BYU lineup was led by Coriann Wood with 11 points. This game was Wood’s 17th double-figure game of the season and 26th of her career. Wood also added five rebounds to BYU’s total of 29 and was the only Cougar to score from the three-point line.

Mindy Bonham added eights points to the Cougar effort with the second highest score on the team and was perfect from the free-throw line.

Jazmine Foreman led the Cougars with her six rebounds on the game and perfect free-throw shooting. Foreman fouled out of the game with five minutes left on the clock after being BYU's offensive catalyst through most of the game.

The Cougars found themselves in foul trouble from the very start with a call on BYU’s Kristen Riley just 20 seconds into the start of the game. Trouble continued for BYU as they tallied seven team founds with 13 minutes left to play in the half. The Aztecs went to the free-throw line 15 times in the first half and eight times in the second while BYU's eight trips in the first would also be their total for the game.

Shooting woes kept the Cougars in the dark for the most part of the game, shooting 36.4 percent from the field and just seven percent from the 3-point line.

With 38 seconds left on the clock before halftime, BYU cut the Aztec lead to ten after back-to-back trips to the charity stripe from Mindy Bonham and Jazmine Foreman, both going 2-for-2. The last 30 seconds of the half featured the Aztecs tallying five straight points to give them the 15-point lead as they headed into the locker room.

"The second half we came out the same way," Judkins said. "They just took it to us. They probably played the best I've seen them."

The Cougar bench, despite tough shooting percentage, still outscored the Aztec bench 19-9 as they have against almost all of their opponents throughout the season.

BYU will now wait for an opportunity to extend its season with an invitation to the postseason national tournaments.