In-State Rivals Coming To Provo

Back from winning its fourth straight Hukilau Invitational and riding a six-game win streak, BYU women’s basketball returns to the comfort of the Marriott Center to host two in-state rivals.

Southern Utah (2-5) makes an appearance in the Marriott Center on Thurs., Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. Then the University of Utah (3-3) comes to Provo on Sat., Dec. 10 for the Deseret First Duel in women’s basketball. Tip off for the Cougars and Utes matchup is 3 p.m. Both games will air live worldwide on BYUtv.

2011-12 Probable Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG
33	Haley Steed	G	5-4	Sr	9.4	5.8
4	Kim Parker	G	5-11	So	13.7	3.8
21	Lexi Eaton	G/F	5-11	Fr	9.9	2.7
32	Dani Peterson	F	6-1	Sr	7.9	4.7
35	Kristen Riley	C	6-3	Sr	7.0	6.2

2011-12 Stats Summary
-- Shooting from field: (.436, 238-546)
-- Shooting from three-point line: (.345, 57-165)
-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.728, 123-169)
-- Average points per game: 72.9
-- Average rebounds per game: 39.4
-- Average assists per game: 19.2
-- Average steals per game: 11.1
-- Average blocks per game: 4.4
-- Average turnovers per game: 16.6

About BYU
--The Cougars leading scorer is sophomore Kim Parker who averages 13.7 points per game.
--Senior center Kristen Riley leads the way in the rebound category grabbing 6.2 boards a game. She’s followed by senior guard Haley Steed who averages 5.8 rebounds per game. Senior forward Dani Peterson comes in third grabbing 4.7 boards a contest.
--Steed leads the way in assists and steals with 53 and 23 respectively--Jennifer Hamson tops the list in blocks with 17 and she also has the team’s best field goal percentage (.600, 18-30).
--True freshman Lexi Eaton has the team’s best free throw percentage (.864, 19-22).

Record Watching
-- Haley Steed has recorded 375 assists as of 12/04/11, placing her in 11th place. She needs three to tie for 10th place with Cindy Battistone (378).
-- Haley Steed has a total of 170 steals to date and needs 59 to tie for seventh place with Karina Zapata who finished her BYU career with 229.
-- Kristen Riley has 60 blocks as of 12/04/11. She needs 10 to tie for sixth place all-time with Mindy Bonham’s 70.
-- As of 12/04/11, 6-7 sophomore center Jennifer Hamson has tallied 62 blocks and needs eight to tie for sixth place with Mindy Bonham’s 70.

Deseret First Duel in Women’s Basketball
Saturday’s home game against the University of Utah will be the Deseret First Duel in women’s basketball between the two instate rivals. The winning team will pick up three points for its respective school.
The Deseret First Duel began during the 2007-08 season. In this year’s current standings, Utah leads 10-6.

THURSDAY OPPONENT
SOUTHERN UTAH
Southern Utah enters the week with a 2-5 record capturing wins over New Mexico State and Utah Valley University. The Thunderbirds return seven letterwinners including two starters from last year’s team that compiled a 16-13, 10-8 record. They have two players who are putting up double figures in points with 14.6 from freshman guard Hailey Mandelko and 10.1 points from sophomore forward Carli Morehead. She also tops the list on the glass grabbing 7.7 rebounds per game. Mandelko leads the way in assists with a total of 20 and in steals with 10 to date. The Thunderbirds are shooting 38 percent from the field, 73 percent from the charity strip and are averaging 62.3 points a game. Head coach JR Payne is in her third year at the helm of Southern Utah’s women’s basketball program.

2011-12 Probable Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG
15	Carli Moreland	F	6-1	So	10.1	7.7
34	Kimie Hawkins	F	5-11	Jr	7.7	5.3
31	Tayler Anderson	F/G	6-0	Jr	5.7	7.3
10	DJ Norman	G	5-9	So	7.4	1.7
23	Hailey Mandelko	G	5-8	Fr	14.6	3.6

Series Breakdown
Overall Series Record: BYU leads 17-3
BYU Record in Provo: 9-2
BYU Record in Cedar City: 7-1
BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0
BYU Record under coach Judkins: 5-1
BYU Record in Overtime Games: n/a

SATURDAY OPPONENT
UTAH
The University of Utah has compiled a 3-3 record so far this year and host Idaho State on Tues., Dec. 6 before making the trip to Provo for Saturday’s game. They return four starters from last year’s team that tallied an 18-17 record and finished tied for fourth place in the MWC regular season. Three Ute players are scoring in double figures led by Taryn Wicijowski who gets 15.7 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. She’s followed by Michelle Plouffe who averages 14.0 points and a grabs a team high 8.8 boards a contest. Rounding out the double digits in scoring is Janita Badon with 10.0 points and 6.5 rebounds. She also is tops on the team in assists and in steals with 31 and eight respectively. Utah is shooting 44 percent from the field, 66 percent from the free throw line while averaging 63.0 points per game. Anthony Levrets is in his second season with the University of Utah women’s basketball program.

2011-12 Probable Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG
11	Taryn Wicijowski	F	6-3	So	15.7	7.8
15	Michelle Plouffe	F	6-4	So	14.0	8.8
01	Janita Badon	G	5-7	Sr	10.0	6.5
03	Iwalani Rodrigues	G	5-9	Jr	8.7	2.3
13	Rachel Messer	G	5-9	Jr	5.7	1.7

Series Breakdown
Overall Series Record: Utah leads 61-37
BYU Record in Provo: 18-21
BYU Record in Salt Lake City: 10-30
BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 9-10
BYU Record under coach Judkins: 10-15
BYU Record in Overtime Games: 0-3

Last Meeting
These two teams met twice during the 2011 MWC regular season with the Cougars sweeping the series, winning in Provo 68-50 on 1/12/11 and then getting a 61-58 victory in Salt Lake City on 2/12/11. The two instate rivals met for a third time in Las Vegas in the semifinals of the MWC Championships with Utah getting the 50-49 win on 3/11/11.

What’s Next
After the two home games against instate rivals, the Cougars continue playing teams from the state of Utah. Up next is a road trip to Logan to take on instate rival Utah State on Saturday, Dec. 17 in a 2 p.m. tipoff.

File Attachments

gms10-11s.pdf