In their first game of the new year, BYU (10-2) continued its winning ways, cruising to a 65-37 win over Portland for the team's eighth-straight victory.

I'm very happy with this win, especially for our bench players," said head coach Jeff Judkins.

After jumping to a 10-3 lead just 3:22 into the game, the Cougars saw the Pilots close the lead to one, 10-9, before stretching the margin again through the rest of the first half. BYU would fight off each run from Portland, and went into the break with a 10-point advantage, 30-20.

In the second half, a consistent offensive attack helped BYU pull away from the Pilots. The Cougars outscored Portland 35-17 in the final twenty minutes.

Mindy Nielson had five assists in the game, and Shawnee Slade led the team and all scorers with nine points. Neither team had a player in double-figures.

Freshman Kristen Riley led all rebounders with seven rebounds, and Megan Marks added six boards. As a team, BYU outrebounded Portland 46-31.

The Cougars shot 44 percent (26-of-59) from the field and held the Pilots to just 27 percent (13-of-49) shooting.

BYU outscored Portland 24-14 in the paint, and the Cougar bench outscored the Pilots' reserves 36-19.

"Our bench players played very well today. They all (Megan, Stephanie, Jenteal, Jaime, Dani) came in and did their part. They proved they can play with anyone," added Judkins.

The Cougars return home to the Marriott Center to open the 2008-09 Mountain West Conference season when they take on Colorado State at 3:00 p.m. on Jan. 10. The game will be broadcast live on BYUTV.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Portland
1/3/09 2:00 PM at Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young 10-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f  4-9    1-3    0-0    2  2  4   2   9  0  0  0  1  22
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  1-1    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   2   2  2  2  1  0  16
54 KING, Cassie........ c  2-4    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   1   4  1  1  0  0  15
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  4-7    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   2   8  2  1  0  2  20
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  3-10   0-2    0-0    0  3  3   2   6  5  2  0  1  24
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  2  4  0  0  15
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    2-3    1-1    2-2    0  0  0   1   7  1  0  0  0   8
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    2-4    0-2    1-3    2  0  2   2   5  4  2  0  1  14
21 BUHLER, Stephanie...    2-4    2-4    0-0    0  0  0   0   6  0  2  0  2  16
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    2-6    1-2    0-0    2  2  4   0   5  1  2  0  1  16
24 PETERSON, Dani......    1-4    0-1    2-4    2  3  5   1   4  0  0  0  0  11
35 RILEY, Kristen......    1-2    0-0    2-4    2  5  7   0   4  0  2  1  2  13
55 MARKS, Megan........    2-5    1-1    0-0    1  5  6   2   5  1  1  0  1  10
   TEAM................                         4  1  5
   Totals..............   26-59   6-17   7-13  18 28 46  16  65 19 19  2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-32 40.6%   2nd Half: 13-27 48.1%   Game: 44.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 35.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-3  33.3%   2nd Half:  6-10 60.0%   Game: 53.8%    0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Portland 7-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 SIEVERS, Allyson.... f  1-6    0-0    4-4    1  5  6   2   6  0  3  0  3  26
33 CLEMENS, Jessica.... f  0-3    0-0    1-2    0  3  3   1   1  0  3  0  0  15
11 CRONIN, Tara........ g  2-5    0-1    1-2    1  1  2   1   5  1  2  0  1  18
14 DOLLENTE, Laiken.... g  2-8    0-1    2-2    1  1  2   0   6  1  3  1  0  26
22 BURRIS, Karlie...... g  0-3    0-3    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  3  2  2  3  29
10 TECLEMARIAM, ReZina.    1-4    0-2    2-3    1  2  3   2   4  1  3  0  0  23
20 WASSOM, Jennifer....    2-4    0-1    0-0    2  1  3   1   4  2  2  0  2  20
24 BROWN, Nakeisha.....    0-3    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  0  1  0  0   6
30 KOEBEL, Carly.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   0   2  0  0  2  1   8
42 GANNIS, Alexis......    0-4    0-0    1-2    1  3  4   1   1  1  0  0  0   7
50 ANGEL, Lauren.......    4-8    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   8  0  1  1  0  22
   TEAM................                         3     3             1
   Totals..............   13-49   0-9   11-15  11 20 31  12  37  9 21  6 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-22 36.4%   2nd Half:  5-27 18.5%   Game: 26.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-2   0.0%   2nd Half:  0-7   0.0%   Game:  0.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half:  7-9  77.8%   Game: 73.3%   1,1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Bethany Graves, Penny Davis, Paul Patterson
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Portland-None.
Attendance: 420
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   30   35  -   65
Portland......................   20   17  -   37

Riding a seven-game winning streak and an impressive 9-2 record, the Cougar women play one final nonconference game this weekend before MWC action. BYU travels to Oregon to play at the University of Portland (7-6) on Sat., Jan. 3 in a 3 p.m., MT tip off.

Game Information

When:1/3/09 Where: Portland Tip: 2 p.m PT Arena: Chilles Ctr.

Broadcast Plans

Internet: Audio streaming is available for the game via the internet at BYU Radio with Jay Monsen calling the action. A link is available by going to http://www.byucougars.com/basketball_w/

Stats: Live stats through GameTracker are available as well. A link is available by logging on to the BYU women’s basketball home page at http://www.byucougars.com/basketball_w/

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 So 7.0 3.5

22 Mindy Nielson G 5-10 So 11.8 3.3

32 Shawnee Slade F 5-11 Sr 12.1 4.4

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 So 5.8 3.8

54 Cassie King C 6-3 Sr 7.7 5.6

Off the Bench

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

23 Coriann Wood F 6-1 So 9.2 4.9

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 Fr 3.7 3.3

14 Sarah Hostetter G/F 5-11 Sr 2.6 1.0

55 Megan Marks F 6-3 So 1.4 0.7

24 Dani Peterson F 6-1 Fr 1.1 1.6

01 Jenteal Jackson G 5-7 Fr 0.8 1.0

13 Jaime Judkins G 5-6 Jr 0.2 0.2

21 Stephanie Buhler F 6-1 Fr (rs) 0.4 0.2

2008-09 Cougar Stats Summary --

-- Shooting from the field: (.399, 261-654)

-- Shooting from the free-throw line: (.728, 126-173)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.265, 54-204)

-- Average points per game: 63.8

-- Average assists per game: 14.0

-- Average steals per game: 9.5

-- Average blocks per game: 3.7

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.4

Pacific Northwest Connections

Three student-athletes on this year’s BYU roster hail from the Pacific Northwest.

Stephanie Buhler is from Oregon City, Oregon and Oregon City High School.

Jazmine Foreman hails from Vancouver, Washington and Hudson’s Bay HS.

Coriann Wood is from Basin City, Washington and prepped at Connell High School.

This Week’s Cougar Opponent

University of Portland (Jan. 3, 2009) in Portland, OR - 2 p.m. (PT)

The University of Portland has compiled a 7-6 game to date including a 4-1 home record heading into the last week of non-conference games. Portland returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last year’s team that went 15-15, and 5-9 in the West Coast Conference. Laiken Dollente, a 5-8 junior guard, tops the list in scoring for the Pilots with an average of 17.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Another guard, Tara Cronin, is also a scoring threat for the team with her 7.9 points and a team high 6.7 boards per contest. Coach Jim Sollars is in his 23rd year at the helm of the women’s basketball program.

University of Portland Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

20 Jennifer Wassom F 5-11 Sr 4.4 0.7

32 Allyson Sievers F 6-2 Sr 5.2 5.4

50 Lauren Angel C 6-3 So 7.4 3.4

11 Tara Cronin G 5-10 So 7.9 6.7

14 Laiken Dollente G 5-8 Jr 17.6 3.6

Stat Comparison

Category BYU POR

Points: 63.8 62.3

FG: .399 .392

FT: .728 .727

3FG: .265 .369

Reb: 36.6 37.2

Series Information

Record: BYU leads the series with a 6-4 record.

Last Meeting: Dec. 30, 2005. In the last matchup between these two schools, the Cougars picked up a 64-55 victory in Provo, Utah. At Portland, BYU has a 3-2 record with its last win coming on Nov. 30, 2004, a 70-35 decision in favor of the visiting Cougar team. The last time BYU lost in Portland was on 11/15/97 where they dropped a 63-87 loss to the Pilots.

Cougars Travel Itinerary to Portland, OR

Team flight: Fri., Jan. 2 - Delta #1209 departs Salt Lake City at 11:10 a.m., arrives in Portland at 12:08 p.m.

Team flight: Sun., Jan. 4 - Delta #1158 departs Portland at 6:00 a.m., arrives in Salt Lake City at 8:49 a.m.

Team hotel: Portland Marriott City Center, 520 Southwest Broadway, 503-226-6300, 503-227-7515, fax.

What’s Next

The 2009 league race gets underway the week of Jan. 5 with BYU hosting CSU on Sat., Jan. 10 in a 3 p.m. tip off, before playing at TCU on Tues., Jan. 13 in a 6:30 p.m. CT start time.

Both league contests will have television coverage. The home game vs. CSU will air live world-wide on BYUTV, while the TCU game will air live on the Mtn.

The next MWC game for the Cougars is on Sat., Jan. 17 when the New Mexico Lobos come to the Marriott Center in a 3 p.m., start.