League Race Begins With Two Games

BYU’s women’s basketball team (8-6, 0-0) begins the 2011 Mountain West Conference season with two games this week. The Cougars host UNLV (7-7, 0-0), Wed. Jan. 5 at 7 p.m., then travel to Colorado Springs to take on the Air Force Academy (5-8,0-0) on Sat., Jan. 8 at 2 p.m.

Wednesday night’s game against UNLV airs live worldwide on BYUtv.

2010-11 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.407, 366-899)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.311, 103-331)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.675, 133-197)

-- Average points per game: 69.1

-- Average rebounds per game: 40.1

-- Average assists per game: 19.1

-- Average steals per game: 10.4

-- Average blocks per game: 3.7

-- Average turnovers per game: 15.6

About BYU

The Cougars are led in scoring by senior guard Mindy Bonham who averages 12.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Bonham also has the most steals on the team with 32. Senior forward Coriann Fraughton follows averaging 10.8 points and a team high 6.3 rebounds per contest.

Senior guard Haley Hall tops the assist category with a total of 64.

Jazmine Foreman has the team’s best free throw percentage at .821, 23-28 while junior center Kristen Riley is tops in the field goal percentage category at .511, 48-94.

Record Watching

-- BYU head coach Jeff Judkins has compiled an 188-105 record as of Jan. 1 and is 12 wins away from picking up his 200th career victory.

-- Mindy Bonham has tallying a total of 1,053 points as of 1/2/11 which puts her in 18th place out of 20 on BYU’s 1,000-Points Club. She needs 70 points to tie for 17th place with Behka Stafford’s 1,123 total points.

-- Bonhall has dished out a grand total of 359 career assists as of 1/2/11 which puts her in eighth place all time in career assists. She needs 19 more to move into a seventh place tie with Cindy Battistone’s career total of 378.

-- Jazmine Foreman dished out two assists in the game at Nevada on 1/1/11, which gives her a career total of 337. The total ties for 10th place with Julie Sullivan on the Cougars all-time assist leaders. She needs 10 to tie for ninth place with Melinda Johnsen who tallied 347 career assists.

ABOUT UPCOMING OPPONENTS

UNLV

Heading into the first week of the MWC season, UNLV has compiled a 7-7 record winning their last two games. The Rebels return all five starters from last year’s team that went 13-18, 6-10 overall and finished in 7th place in conference play. Sophomore guard/forward Kelli Thompson is the lone Rebel player scoring in double digits with a 14.5 point average while grabbing 2.9 boards per game. Junior forward Jamie Smith is at the top of the list in the rebound category grabbing 8.7 a contest. Mia Bell has the most assists on the squad with 64 total while Thompson gets the nod in steals for the team with 17 to date. Kathy Olivier enters her third season at the helm of UNLV’s women’s basketball program.

Series History

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 25-12

Last Meeting

BYU and UNLV played twice during last season’s league race with the Cougars picking up both wins. The two team’s opened MWC play in Las Vegas where BYU came away with a 71-61 win. In Provo on Feb. 6, the Cougars picked up the 76-60 victory.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY

The Air Force Academy has compiled a (5-8, 0-0) record to date. They open up MWC play on the road with a game at Utah on Wed. Jan. 5 before hosting the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. The team returns 10 letterwinners and two starters and are under new head coach Andrea Williams. Two Falcon players are scoring in double figures for the team led by senior guard Raimee Beck who tallies 13.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She’s followed by sophomore forward Kelsey Berger who contributes 10.4 points and 2.9 boards a contest. Dymon James leads the way in the rebound category grabbing 7.9 boards a game. Megan Muniz has the most assists on the team with 54 while Jamela Satterfield records the most steals with 28 to date.

Series History

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 24-1

Last Meeting

These two league foes met twice during the 2009-10 conference schedule with BYU capturing both wins. The first matchup was played in Provo where the Cougars captured the 77-46 win. In the second meeting, BYU defeated the Air Force Academy 78-53 in Colorado Springs.

What’s Next

The team continues MWC action hosting Utah on Wed. Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. BYU then travels to Ft. Worth to battle TCU on Wed. Jan. 19 before hosting Colorado State on Sat. Jan. 22.