PROVO -- A strong first half performance by the BYU women’s basketball team allowed an insurmountable lead build to an eventual 60-41 victory over the visiting Air Force Falcons Wednesday at the Marriott Center.

The Cougars were led by sophomore Jazmine Foreman, who finished the game with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a team-leading five assists. Senior Shawnee Slade and guard Mindy Nielson each contributed eight points while Coriann Wood and Keilani Moeaki poured in seven points apiece. Wood also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds on the night.

“It was nice that we played like we do in practice,” said head coach Jeff Judkins. “I thought Jazmine and Mindy did a nice job for us pushing the ball up the court and getting easy buckets.”

The Cougars jumped to a quick 11-3 lead after consecutive buckets by Foreman and Moeaki to gain control of the game. After the Falcons managed to score on separate possessions, BYU answered with points in transition as Nielson got behind the Air Force defense and Foreman doing likewise on another possession.

Wood and Slade combined for 12 points to help the team to 46 percent shooting in the opening half. The Cougars also shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range to build the lead to 41-15 at halftime.

The Cougars’ 41 points in the opening half marked BYU’s highest first-half point total in MWC play and second highest on the season.

“It was nice to get the bench involved and give them opportunities to play,” Judkins said. “Megan Marks played aggressively and I thought our bench was great tonight.”

The Falcons made things interesting in the second half, slowly cutting into the Cougar lead to 50-32.

“In the second half, we were playing with little intensity offensively,” Judkins said. “I always try to emphasize that we need to get better on every possession, so it was unfortunate for us to lose some focus after gaining the big lead.”

The Cougars improve to 5-3 in the conference race while the Falcons fall to 0-8 in league play. The Cougars will next play at Colorado State Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. They return home to host TCU on Feb. 14 at 3 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
Air Force Academy vs Brigham Young
02-04-09 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UTAH
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VISITORS: Air Force Academy 4-17; 0-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
34 CULTRA, Brooke...... f  6-10   0-0    3-4    1  4  5   4  15  1  3  0  3  34
54 DUNSWORTH, Liz...... f  1-7    0-0    0-2    1  8  9   3   2  0  5  0  0  25
43 KREKE, Kim.......... c  4-9    2-4    1-4    0  3  3   1  11  0  5  1  0  34
04 GAULT, Anna......... g  0-3    0-3    2-2    2  3  5   3   2  2  4  0  1  25
22 BECK, Raimee........ g  3-15   1-5    0-0    3  6  9   0   7  4  3  0  1  34
10 PUENTES, Stevie.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  3  3   1   0  0  2  0  1  16
11 BANDI, Jenny........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
30 SATTERFIELD, Jamela.    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0  12
33 SCHJODT, Kathleen...    1-6    0-1    2-5    1  0  1   2   4  0  1  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         4  2  6
   Totals..............   15-51   3-14   8-17  13 29 42  15  41  7 23  1  6 201
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  6-22 27.3%   2nd Half:  9-29 31.0%   Game: 29.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 21.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  7-15 46.7%   Game: 47.1%    3
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 15-5; 5-3
                          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  3-11   2-4    0-0    1  0  1   1   8  2  0  1  0  20
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  3-7    1-1    0-1    1  2  3   2   7  1  1  2  1  16
54 KING, Cassie........ c  2-4    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   1   4  1  0  1  1  14
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  4-7    1-3    1-1    0  3  3   0  10  5  2  0  1  20
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  4-8    0-1    0-0    2  2  4   3   8  3  2  0  3  25
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    0-4    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  2  2  0  2  17
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    1-2    1-1    0-1    1  0  1   1   3  0  0  0  1  12
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    1-4    1-2    0-0    0  1  1   0   3  0  0  0  0  16
21 BUHLER, Stephanie...    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  3  1  1  1  10
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    2-4    1-3    2-2    1  8  9   3   7  0  1  0  1  16
24 PETERSON, Dani......    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  0  2  1  0   9
31 BECK, Marie.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
34 BELL, Marianne......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
35 RILEY, Kristen......    1-3    1-2    2-2    2  0  2   2   5  0  3  0  0  11
55 MARKS, Megan........    1-2    0-0    1-4    1  3  4   2   3  0  1  1  0  10
   TEAM................                         2  5  7
   Totals..............   23-61   8-20   6-11  12 29 41  18  60 17 15  7 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-32 46.9%   2nd Half:  8-29 27.6%   Game: 37.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-9  66.7%   2nd Half:  2-11 18.2%   Game: 40.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 54.5%    2
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Officials: ROBERT STRONG, BRENDA PANTOJA, KYLE BACON
Technical fouls: Air Force Academy-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 540
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Air Force Academy.............   15   26  -   41
Brigham Young.................   41   19  -   60
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-AF 18,BY 24. Points off turnovers-AF 13,BY 20.
2nd chance points-AF 7,BY 7. Fast break points-AF 4,BY 8.
Bench points-AF 4,BY 23. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-AF 2nd-01:16, BY 2nd-04:29.
Largest lead-AF None, BY by 29 2nd-19:41.

The first half of MWC play concludes this week for BYU’s women’s basketball team (14-5, 4-3). On Wed., Feb. 4, the Cougars host the Air Force Academy (4-16, 0-7). The game starts at 7 p.m., and is scheduled to air live on BYUTV.

Game Information

When:02/02/09 Who: vs.AF Tip: 7 p.m. MST Arena: Marriott Ctr.

Broadcast Plans

Television: The game between BYU and the Air Force Academy will air live worldwide on BYUTV. Jarom Jordan and Cougar standout Kristen Kozlowski will call the action.

Internet: Live audio streaming is available for both games 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 7.2 3.7

22 Mindy Nielson G 5-10 So 11.3 4.2

32 Shawnee Slade F 5-11 Sr 10.3 4.3

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 So 6.4 3.6

54 Cassie King C 6-3 Sr 7.2 5.8

Off the Bench

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

23 Coriann Wood F 6-1 So 7.4 4.7

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 Fr 3.8 3.5

14 Sarah Hostetter G/F 5-11 Sr 2.9 0.8

24 Dani Peterson F 6-1 Fr 1.6 1.6

21 Stephanie Buhler F 6-1 Fr (rs) 1.6 0.1

55 Megan Marks F 6-3 So 1.4 1.3

01 Jenteal Jackson G 5-7 Fr 0.9 0.7

13 Jaime Judkins G 5-6 Jr 0.8 0.2

2008-09 Cougar Stats Summary --

-- Shooting from the field: (.389, 439-1128)

-- Shooting from the free-throw line: (.722, 195-270)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.274, 90-328)

-- Average points per game: 61.2

-- Average assists per game: 13.7

-- Average steals per game: 9.6

-- Average blocks per game: 3.5

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.4

Head Coach - Jeff Judkins

Overall Record: 153-83

2008-09: 14-5, 4-3

This Week's MWC Opponent

Air Force Academy (Feb. 4, 2009) in Provo, UT - 7 p.m. (MST)

The Air Force Falcons come to Provo with a 4-16, 0-7 record and are in last place in the MWC standings. After the game with BYU on Wednesday, they return home to host SDSU. The Falcons rank fourth in the country in free throw percentage shooting 78.7 from the charity stripe. Raimee Beck and Brooke Cultra are the two players for the Air Force that are scoring in double figures. Beck scores 12.9 points and 5.7 rebounds while Cultra contributes 12.7 points and 6.8 boards a game. Kim Kreke tops the list in the rebound category with 9.7 boards per contest. Anna Gault is the team’s assist leader with a total of 72 to date and Beck is at the top in steals with 26 so far this year. Head Coach Ardie McInelly is in her eighth season at the helm of the women’s basketball program at the Academy.

Air Force Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

54 Liz Dunsworth F 6-2 So 3.7 4.1

43 Kim Kreke C 6-4 Sr 9.5 9.7

34 Brooke Cultra F/G 6-0 Sr 12.7 6.8

22 Raimee Beck G 5-8 So 12.9 5.7

04 Anna Gault G 5-5 Fr 2.0 1.6

Stat Comparison

Category BYU AF

Points: 61.2 51.5

FG: .389 .341

FT: .722 .787

3FG: .274 .297

Reb: 37.7 36.7

Series Information

Record: BYU leads the series 20-1

Last Meeting: Both league foes met twice during last season’s MWC race with each team winning on its home court. On Jan. 30, the Cougars grabbed a 52-47 victory in the Marriott Center. At Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, the Academy picked up a 54-49 win on Mar. 1, for the first time in the series between the two schools.

What’s Next

After the home game with the Air Force Academy, the second half of league action begins with BYU traveling to Ft. Collins to battle CSU on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. On Sat., Feb. 14 the team hosts TCU in a 3 p.m., tip off from the Marriott Center. The contest with the Horned Frogs is scheduled to air live worldwide on BYUTV.