Cougars Fall to Wildcats in Tournament

MORAGA -- The BYU women’s basketball team took second place in the Concord Hilton Thanksgiving Tournament after a heartbreaking 65-64 loss to the Northwestern Wildcats Saturday at the McKeon Pavilion.

With the one-point loss, the Cougars have compiled a 3-3 record on the year.

"This was a great game for us," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We just made some mental mistakes that hurt us. We played down for most of the game, so it was great to see us battle back to make it a close game."

Kristen Riley led the Cougars with a season-high 14 points, just short of a double-double with nine rebounds. Riley was joined in double figures by Jazmine Foreman and Coriann Fraughton with 10 each. Foreman also contributed four assists and Fraughton grabbed seven rebounds.

Redshirt freshman Kim Parker had a career high of seven rebounds and Haley Hall tied her season record of seven assists.

Amy Jaeschke scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, Beth Marshall scored 16 and Kendall Hackney scored 12.

Northwestern took an early lead in the opening minutes of the first half, jumping ahead as much as seven points during the half.

Despite falling behind 9-2, the Cougars charged on and cut down on the Wildcats’ lead. Only down by two points, Mindy Bonham sank a three-pointer to grab a 23-22 lead for the Cougars in the sixth minute.

Northwestern’s Jaeschke answered with her own three-pointer, but with 3:20 left in the half, Fraughton went up with a jumper to tie the score 25-25. The Wildcats then went on a 7-0 run to break away.

Going into halftime, the Cougars trailed 32-27.

Bonham hit a key jump shot to give the Cougars their second lead of the night. The lead changed nine more times before the end of the game, with Riley, Fraughton and Foreman fighting Jaeschke and Hackney for the lead.

Foreman's three-pointers pulled the Cougars ahead twice, but a late foul put Wildcat Hackney at the foul line for two more points to end the game 65-64.

Fraughton and Riley were named to the Hilton-Concord Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team.

The Cougars will travel to Hawaii for the Hukilau Invitational starting Dec. 3. The team will face BYU Hawaii and the University of San Diego.

Team Notes

For the first time this season, two Cougar players scored in double figures. In four of the team’s six games there has been at least two players putting up double-digit points.

Player Notes

Kristen Riley led the BYU effort with 14 points and nine rebounds which are season highs as well as her second double-figure game of the year and 14th overall.

Coriann Fraughton’s 10 points are her fourth season and 31st career double-digit scoring performance

For the second straight time Jazmine Foreman scored 10 points marking her second double-digit performance of the year and her 22nd overall.

Redshirt freshman Kim Parker grabbed seven boards in the game for season and career highs. Coriann Fraughton also grabbed seven rebounds.