PROVO -- With the help of Julie Sullivan's career-high 22 points, the Cougars beat San Diego State 56-45 Thursday night in the Marriott Center, sweeping the season series.
Sullivan's 22 points marks her sixth consecutive game of double-digit scoring and her thirteenth of the season. Freshman Heather Hansen also had a career night, going 3-6 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points. Ashleigh Chamberlain, starting her seventh MWC game, pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
"Heather hasn't played a lot of minutes but she came in with a lot of confidence," said BYU Head Coach Jeff Judkins. "The more she plays, the more comfortable she'll be. I'm happy with all of my freshmen tonight."
Despite falling behind early, the Cougars took control midway through the first half, going on a 12-0 run. Most of the damage came from the free-throw line where the Cougars were 7-for-8 in the half. The Aztecs answered with a 10-2 run of their own to pull within one at 21-20 but Sullivan refused to let her team surrender the lead, scoring six of the Cougars last nine first-half points. Hansen added her first three-pointer of the night to give the Cougars a 30-23 halftime lead.
Both teams came out struggling in the second half. The Cougars managed to score just eight points in the first ten minutes of play, allowing the Aztecs to chip away at the lead and finally tie the game at 38-38. Then Heather Hansen hit her second three-pointer, and the Cougars never looked back, allowing the Aztecs to score just seven points in the last nine minutes while BYU racked up 18.
The Cougars dominated San Diego State in almost every aspect of the game. The rebounding margin favored BYU by nine, 40-31, as did the steals, 10-1. Turnovers, which are usually a problem for the Cougars, were not a factor as BYU committed just eight to the Aztecs 14. BYU finished the night shooting 31 percent from the floor, 31 percent from beyond the arc and 75 percent from the free-throw line.
"I'm excited that we won," Sullivan said. "We didn't play our best, but it was good enough to win. That's all that really matters."
With the win, the Cougars improve to 15-10 overall and 5-8 in the Mountain West Conference, moving them into a fifth place tie with Wyoming going into the final game of the season. The Aztecs drop to 8-18 overall and 3-10 in Conference.
The Cougars will play their final game of the regular season Saturday in the Marriott Center against UNLV. BYU's four graduating seniors, Ashleigh Chamberlain, Angie Gatten, Kestlee Dooley and Melissa Brown, will be honored before the game. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. and can be heard live on BYU Radio.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSSan Diego State vs Brigham Young University
03/04/04 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: San Diego State 8-17; 3-9
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 MATTSON, Candace.... f 4-10 1-3 4-4 1 8 9 5 13 0 1 1 0 38
24 MCCARTNY, Nicolette. f 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 2 3 0 0 0 13
04 FRITZ, Courtney..... g 1-6 1-5 2-2 0 2 2 1 5 1 0 0 0 22
05 ELLIOT, Michelle.... g 5-14 3-10 0-0 0 2 2 2 13 0 6 0 0 33
21 SHAW, Veronica...... g 0-1 0-1 1-4 1 3 4 2 1 2 2 0 0 34
20 STRAWBERRY, Michelle 0-2 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 30
35 DUNLAP, Ashlee...... 3-6 0-0 2-2 0 7 7 1 8 1 2 0 1 20
42 CASEY, Lindsey...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 10
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 15-44 5-20 10-14 4 27 31 16 45 9 14 1 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-22 .409 2nd Half: 6-22 .273 Game: .341 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 .200 2nd Half: 3-10 .300 Game: .250 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 .750 2nd Half: 7-10 .700 Game: .714 2
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young University 14-8;4-8
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f 1-3 0-1 0-2 1 2 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 18
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f 0-8 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 3 1 2 3 1 1 22
40 CHAMBERLAIN, A...... c 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 7 9 3 6 1 2 3 2 22
14 SULLIVAN, Julie..... g 7-13 1-2 7-8 1 4 5 0 22 3 2 0 3 33
15 OVERDIEK, Jennie.... g 1-5 0-1 3-4 2 2 4 0 5 1 0 0 3 23
01 SELJAAS, Nancy...... 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
04 DOOLEY, Kestlee..... 1-1 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 14
13 GOOLD, Tiari........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
23 HANSEN, Heather..... 3-7 3-6 0-0 0 1 1 1 9 1 0 0 0 14
24 HANSEN, Hollie...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 8
25 TAYLOR, Kali........ 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 8
30 BROWN, Melissa...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
32 KOZLOWSKI, Kristen.. 1-3 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 1 2 1 0 0 0 18
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. 0-5 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 11
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 18-57 5-16 15-20 13 27 40 12 56 12 8 4 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-33 .303 2nd Half: 8-24 .333 Game: .316 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 .273 2nd Half: 2-5 .400 Game: .312 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 .875 2nd Half: 8-12 .667 Game: .750 4
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Officials: CONNIE PARDUE, MIKE PRICE, JENNIFER TENTOR
Technical fouls: San Diego State-BENCH. Brigham Young
University-CHEESMAN, Danielle.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
San Diego State............... 23 22 - 45
Brigham Young University...... 30 26 - 56
