Title Winners Take Final Regular Season Game

LARAMIE -- The BYU women's basketball team rounded out their regular season with a 69-53 win over Wyoming on the road to keep the outright Mountain West Conference regular season title for 2011.

"I'm so very proud of this team. They understand each other and this was a great effort by everybody. Our depth and aggressiveness were a big key for our victory," said head coach Jeff Judkins.

"Mindy and Coriann played solid games for us and Jen's inside presence were also huge."

The win is the 12th straight for the squad and the longest single-season win streak for a BYU women's team since the 1992-93 season.

Freshman Jennifer Hamson had a career high 18 points and added nine rebounds.

Senior Mindy Bonham also tallied 18 points to go along with three rebounds, two steals and three assists.

Joining Bonham and Hamson in double digits was senior Haley Hall who finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Cougars took a quick 11-5 lead after a 3-pointer from Hall, forcing the Cowgirls to play catch-up for the rest of the half. Wyoming brought the score close with just a 2-point deficit towards the end but a 5-0 run from BYU closed out the half with the Cougars staying on top.

Back from the halftime break, the Cowgirls took the first shots of play to again bring the score within two. However, BYU's 7-0 run response kept the advantage with Cougars.

With under a minute to play and a 14-point advantage with BYU, Hall and Jazmine Foreman put the game away with back-to-back possessions at the charity stripe to add four more points to the board. Free-throws from Wyoming's Brenna Freeze brought the advantage back down to 16 as the Cougars took the final win.

The Cougars will now prepare for the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas to be played March 8-12. As the regular season title holders, BYU will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament and play their first game in the semifinals on Friday at 1 p.m. MT.

With both this year's men and women's basketball teams being crowned MWC regular season champs, a send-off party for both teams has been organized for Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in the Marriott Center before the squads leave for Las Vegas.

Postgame Notes

Team

-For the 11th time on the year and the seventh in MWC action three players scored in double figures. When three players put up double digits in points the Cougars have compiled a 9-2 record.

-The Cougars were up 33-28 at the break improving their record to 21-1 when leading at halftime.

-BYU grabbed 39 rebounds to Wyoming’s 32 improving its mark to 16-2 when outrebounding opponents.

-In the game, the Cougars put up six three pointers extending their record to 19-4 when they get at least five treys in a game.

-The team finished with 13 turnovers and improved its mark to 20-1 when getting 16 or under miscues.

Player

-Jennifer Hamson finished the game with 18 total points to lead all scorers in the game. She had 11 in the first half which are the second most in league play she’s scored in the first half. The points are the sixth in double figures in MWC play and the eighth on the year. At the break she was the only player in double digits for the game.

-Mindy Bonham tallied 18 points picking up her 20th season, 60th career and 11th league game in double figures.

-Haley Hall put up 10 points marking her ninth and 27th double figure contest. It was also her sixth in league games. She also dished out a team high four assists.