Team Hosts Pepperdine Thursday

With a 3-1 WCC record, BYU women’s basketball returns home for its next league game. The Cougars (14-3, 3-1) get set to host Pepperdine (8-7, 3-1), Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. The game airs live worldwide on BYUtv.

2011-12 Stats Summary
- Shooting from field: (.442, 453-1024)
- Shooting from three-point line: (.361, 118-327)
- Shooting from free-throw line: (.728, 217-298)
- Average points per game: 73.0
- Average rebounds per game: 40.4
- Average assists per game: 18.9
- Average steals per game: 9.8
- Average blocks per game: 5.6
- Average turnovers per game: 16.5

THURSDAY GAME PROMOTION
- Thursday's game vs. Pepperdine is Ward Night. Pay $10 and receive as many tickets as you want for your ward.

About BYU
-The Cougars leading scorer is sophomore guard Kim Parker who averages 11.2 points per game.
-Kristen Riley is at the top of the leaderboard in rebounds averaging 6.3 per game.
-Haley Steed leads the way in assists and steals with 109 and 38 respectively.
-Jennifer Hamson tops the list in blocks with 33.
-Dani Peterson has the team’s best field goal percentage (.563, 49-87).
-True freshman Lexi Eaton has the team’s best free throw percentage (.886, 31-35).
-Stephanie Vermunt is the squad’s best scorer from behind the arc, shooting (.561, 23-41).

Record Watching
- Haley Steed has recorded 431 assists as of 01/09/12, placing her in eighth place all-time. She needs one to tie for seventh place with former assistant coach and standout Stacy Jensen’s 432.
- Steed has a total of 185 steals to date and needs 44 to tie for seventh place with Karina Zapata’s career high 229.
- Steed has made 159 3-pointers as of 01/09/12 putting her in sixth place overall. She needs 12 to tie for fifth place with Thais Kidd's career best 171.
- Kristen Riley has 69 blocks as of 01/09/12 and needs one to tie for sixth place all-time with former teammate Mindy Bonham’s 70.
- Riley has grabbed 582 rebounds as of 1/09/12 and needs 20 to tie for 10th place all-time with Cathy Nixon's 602.
- As of 01/09/12, 6-7 sophomore center Jennifer Hamson has tallied 78 blocks and needs one to tie for fifth place with Cathy Nixon’s 79 total.

THURSDAY WCC OPPONENT
PEPPERDINE
Pepperdine has compiled an (8-7, 3-1) overall record to date picking up WCC wins over San Francisco, Santa Clara and Portland. The Waves return all five starters from last year’s team that went 18-12, 9-5 finishing third in the WCC and went to the postseason WNIT for the second straight time. Pepperdine has three players scoring in double figures led by 16.4 points from Jazmine Jackson. She also averages a team best 5.3 boards a game. Lauren Bell follows in scoring with 13.2 points with Katie Menton rounding out double-digit points with 13.1. Bell has the most assists and steals on the squad with 47 and 48 respectively. The Waves shoot 36 percent from the field, 30 percent from behind the arc, 71 percent from the free throw line and put up 62.7 points per game. Head coach Julie Rousseau is in her eighth season at the helm of the women’s basketball program.

Series Breakdown
Overall Series Record: BYU leads the series 2-1
BYU Record in Provo: 1-0
BYU Record in Malibu: 0-1
BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0
BYU Record under coach Judkins: 1-0
BYU Record in Overtime Games: n/a

Last Meeting
These two new WCC teams met last during the 2009-10 season when Pepperdine and BYU were competing in the postseason WNIT. In first round action from Provo on 3/18/10, the Cougars beat the Waves 62-58 to advance to the second round. That year BYU advanced to the Elite Eight of the WNIT before falling to eventual champion California. In the game vs. Pepperdine Haley Hall had 11 points, Kristen Riley contributed nine with Alexis Kaufusi coming off the bench chipping in eight points and grabbing five rebounds. Dani Peterson also came off the bench getting four rebounds.

What’s Next
BYU returns to California, this time to San Diego to take on the Toreros on Sat. Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. Fans can follow the action live on BYU Radio.There will not be any live video or live stats available for the game at San Diego. The Cougars will remain on the road the following week playing at Loyola Marymount on Thurs. Jan. 19 before returning home to host Portland on Sat. Jan. 21 at 2 p.m.