Wood Leads Cougars To First International Win of 2010 Tour

Bellinzona, Switzerland (May 15, 2010) Led by 17 points from junior Coriann Wood, the BYU women’s basketball team had no trouble adjusting to international play easily defeating Bellinzona Club Team 97-27, Saturday.

Midway into the first of four 10-minuite quarters the Cougars were up 17-5 finishing the quarter leading 26-14.

“I thought Coriann played really well with a lot of confidence which is what we will need from her for the upcoming season,” said head coach Jeff Judkins.

After two quarters of play Wood had 13 of her total points, nine coming from three-point range. She also grabbed two rebounds on the night.

Junior guard Marie Beck began the second quarter at the free throw line for two of her 12 points. Megan Marks came through for the Cougars in the fourth quarter scoring five of her nine points.

“Megan had a strong presence passing and playing good defense and Marie played aggressively both offensively and defensively,” added Judkins.

BYU had the game all wrapped up with a convincing 42-point, 60-18 advantage to start the third quarter of action that saw the out matched Bellinzona Club Team score just four points in the 10-minute span. They would finish the game scoring seven of their 27 total points in the fourth quarter.

Guard Jazmine Foreman went the full length of the court for an easy two points giving the team a 79-20 advantage heading into the final 10–minute quarter. Foreman finished the game with 10 points and four rebounds.

This first of four games BYU will play on their European tour gave redshirt freshman Stephanie Vermunt her first opportunity to step onto the court and she made the most of it scoring 11 points and grabbing four rebounds.

“It was really nice to see Stephanie finally playing on the court for our team, said coach Judkins. “We’re excited to be able to play her this next season.”

Alexis Kaufusi and Kristen Riley led the Cougar effort in the rebound category grabbing seven boards each. Kaufusi added 10 points with Riley contributing seven. Dani Peterson saw significant minutes in the contest and was one of the six players to score in double digits with 10 to go along with her six boards. Mindy Bonham finished with eight points while point guard Haley Hall had three.

The Cougars next play in a two-day tournament in Pordenone, Italy on May 18 and 19.