COLORADO SPRINGS -- A strong defensive effort helped the Cougars finish their regular season with a victory over Air Force, defeating the Falcons 42-31 in Colorado Springs Saturday.

“We had a great defensive game,” said head coach Jeff Judkins. “I thought Cassie had some big baskets for us. We did a good job of working together.

The Cougars took the lead halfway through the first half on a Sarah Red-Hostetter free throw at the 10:17 mark of the first half and didn’t look back, leading the rest of the game. BYU scored 11 points off of Falcon turnovers in the first half, and went into the break leading by nine, 25-16. The Cougars are 11-1 when leading after twenty minutes.

BYU continued its strong play through the second half, and Air Force would get no closer than eight. Six of Mindy Nielson’s points came in the second half. BYU held Air Force to just 29 percent shooting (16-of-53) for the game.

Cassie King was the game and team's leading scorer with 15 points. The Falcons’ Kim Kreke had 11 boards, a game-high, and Shawnee Slade’s six were a team-high for the Cougars. Nielson chipped in 11 points. BYU has had at least two players in double-figures for the last three games.

The Cougars finish league play with an 18-10, 8-8 record.

BYU will next take the hardwood in the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championships, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 10.

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Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Air Force Academy
03/07/09 2 p.m. at Clune Arena - USAF Academy, Colo.
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 18-10, 8-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
35 RILEY, Kristen...... f  0-7    0-1    0-2    4  1  5   1   0  0  2  3  1  16
54 KING, Cassie........ c  7-10   0-0    1-2    2  3  5   4  15  0  1  0  0  23
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  2-7    1-3    2-2    0  3  3   3   7  4  3  0  1  33
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  5-11   1-3    0-0    0  3  3   0  11  2  0  0  4  34
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... g  3-9    0-1    0-0    3  3  6   0   6  3  2  0  2  31
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R..    0-3    0-2    2-2    2  0  2   1   2  1  2  1  3  15
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    0-4    0-3    0-0    1  4  5   2   0  0  1  0  0  13
24 PETERSON, Dani......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
45 MOEAKI, Keilani.....    0-4    0-0    1-2    2  0  2   1   1  1  0  0  3  21
55 MARKS, Megan........    0-0    0-0    0-2    2  0  2   0   0  1  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   17-57   2-13   6-12  16 21 37  12  42 12 11  4 14 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-33 27.3%   2nd Half:  8-24 33.3%   Game: 29.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-9  22.2%   2nd Half:  0-4   0.0%   Game: 15.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-10 50.0%   2nd Half:  1-2  50.0%   Game: 50.0%    4
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HOME TEAM: Air Force Academy 4-25, 0-16
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
43 KREKE, Kim.......... c  2-8    0-3    2-2    1 11 12   2   6  0  2  0  2  37
54 DUNSWORTH, Liz...... c  2-2    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   3   6  0  2  0  0  28
04 GAULT, Anna......... g  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  2  0  0  29
22 BECK, Raimee........ g  5-11   4-8    0-0    1  4  5   1  14  1  4  0  2  37
34 CULTRA, Brooke...... g  0-7    0-0    2-2    1  6  7   0   2  3  6  0  1  36
10 PUENTES, Stevie.....    0-3    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  2  4  0  0  11
30 SATTERFIELD, Jamela.    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   6
33 SCHJODT, Kathleen...    0-2    0-0    3-4    0  0  0   0   3  0  0  0  0  16
   TEAM................                         1  1  2             2
   Totals..............    9-34   4-13   9-10   4 26 30   8  31  7 22  0  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  5-20 25.0%   2nd Half:  4-14 28.6%   Game: 26.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-7  14.3%   2nd Half:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 30.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  4-4  100 %   Game: 90.0%    1
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Officials: Connie Pardue, Laura Rahe, John W. Haefeli
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Air Force Academy-None.
Attendance: 433
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   25   17  -   42
Air Force Academy.............   16   15  -   31
Points in the paint-BY 20,AF 4. Points off turnovers-BY 18,AF 5.
2nd chance points-BY 13,AF 2. Fast break points-BY 8,AF 0.
Bench points-BY 3,AF 3. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-01:13, AF 2nd-03:49.
Largest lead-BY by 13 2nd-16:29, AF by 1 1st-13:20.

In the final week of the 2009 MWC regular season, the Cougar women are tied for fifth place with Wyoming with 7-7 league records. They look to improve on their standings in the last two games. BYU hosts Wyoming (15-12, 7-7) on Wed. Mar. 4 at 7 p.m., before traveling to Colorado Springs to battle the Air Force Falcons (4-23, 0-14) on Sat. Mar. 7 in a 2 p.m. tip.

Game Information

When:3/4/09 Where: vs. WY Tip: 7 p.m. MST Arena: Marriott Ctr.

When:3/7/09 Where: @ AFA Tip: 2 p.m. MST Arena:Clune

Broadcast Plans

Television: The BYU vs. Wyoming game on Wed. Mar. 4 is live worldwide on BYUTV. Jarom Jordan and Kristen Kozlowski will call the action.

Internet: Live audio streaming is available for both games on 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 6.9 4.0

22 Mindy Nielson G 5-10 So 10.7 3.8

32 Shawnee Slade F 5-11 Sr 9.5 4.0

23 Coriann Wood F 6-1 So 6.8 5.0

54 Cassie King C 6-3 Sr 7.2 5.8

Off the Bench

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 So 5.7 3.0

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 Fr 3.6 3.6

14 Sarah Hostetter G/F 5-11 Sr 2.8 1.0

24 Dani Peterson F 6-1 Fr 2.1 1.6

21 Stephanie Buhler F 6-1 Fr (rs) 1.9 0.1

55 Megan Marks F 6-3 So 1.5 1.6

13 Jaime Judkins G 5-6 Jr 1.0 0.2

01 Jenteal Jackson G 5-7 Fr 1.1 0.6

2008-09 Cougar Stats Summary --

-- Shooting from the field: (.377, 574-1524)

-- Shooting from the free-throw line: (.692, 243-351)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.283, 131-463)

-- Average points per game: 58.5

-- Average rebounds per game: 37.6

-- Average assists per game: 13.5

-- Average steals per game: 9.1

-- Average blocks per game: 3.5

-- Average turnovers per game: 16.8

This Week’s MWC Opponents

Wyoming (Mar. 4, 2009) in Provo, Utah - 7 p.m. (MST)

In the final week of the 2009 MWC regular season, the Wyoming Cowgirls are tied for fifth place with the Cougars with identical 7-7 league records. Wyoming has four players scoring in double figures led by Hillary Carlson’s 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. Kristen Scheffler and Megan McGuffey follow with 10.8 points each. Freshman Emma Langford follows with 10.1 points. McGuffey also grabs a team high 6.6 boards a game. Langford and Randi Richardon dish out a team best 75 assists each . Coach Joe Legerski is in his seventh season with the Cowgirls basketball program.

Wyoming Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

10 Rebecca Vanderjagt F 6-3 Sr 2.1 3.0

41 Hillary Carlson F 6-3 So 11.7 5.3

03 Randi Richardson G 5-7 So 3.1 2.4

12 Kristen Scheffler G 5-11 Fr 10.8 2.3

24 Megan McGuffey G 5-11 Sr 10.8 6.6

Stat Comparison

Category BYU WY

Points: 58.5 60.6

FG: .377 .377

FT: .692 .703

3FG: .283 .299

Reb: 37.6 38.1

Series Information

Record: BYU leads the series 46-19

Last Meeting: Wyoming and BYU met earlier this season in Laramie where the Cougars picked up the 58-45 victory. When playing at the Marriott Center, the Cowgirls have compiled a 7-17 record. Wyoming’s last win in Provo was a one-point 57-56 win on Feb. 18, 2006.

First Meeting in 2009 - Laramie, WY on 1/31/09

Score: 58-45 in favor of BYU

The Cougars, led by Keilani Moekai’s 13 points, improved to 3-1 on the road in MWC play with a 58-45 win over Wyoming. The teams exchanged leads in the first half before the Cougars were able to pull away, stretching their lead to 23-16 on a Moeaki layup with 3:25 left before halftime. BYU went on a 11-4 run at the start of the second period and a 34-24 advantage with 14:38 left. Moeaki led all scorers while Jazmine Foreman, Kristen Riley and Coriann Wood had a game-high six rebounds each.

Key Stats in 1st Game BYU WY

Field Goal Percentage22-53 (42%) 13-of-49 (27%)

Free-Throw Percentage9-of-12 (75%) 16-of-21 (76%)

Three-point Percentage 5-of-11 (46%) 3-of-16 (19%)

Rebounds 40 32

Air Force Academy (Mar. 7, 2009) in Colorado Springs, CO - 2 p.m. (MST)

The Air Force Falcons are in last place in this week’s league standings with a 0-14 record. They host UNLV on Wed., Mar. 4 before playing BYU at Clune Arena. Sophomore guard Raimee Beck tops the leader board in scoring for the Air Force Academy contributing 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Senior guard/forward combo Brooke Cultra scores 11.5 points and grabs 6.2 boards per contest. In the rebounds category, senior Kim Kreke grabs a team high 9.4 boards and a team best 42 blocks on the season. Leading the way in assists is Anna Gualt, a 5-5 freshman guard who has dished out a total of 91 to date.

Air Force Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

54 Liz Dunsworth F 6-2 So 3.7 4.3

43 Kim Kreke C 6-4 Sr 9.3 9.4

34 Brooke Cultra F/G 6-0 Sr 11.5 6.2

22 Raimee Beck G 5-8 So 12.7 5.7

04 Anna Gault G 5-5 Fr 2.3 1.7

Stat Comparison

Category BYU AFA

Points: 58.5 48.8

FG: .377 .321

FT: .692 .759

3FG: .283 .298

Reb: 37.6 36.4

Series Information

Record: BYU leads the series 21-1

Last Meeting: In the first contest between the Cougars and Falcons in 2009, the homestanding BYU team grabbed the 60-41 win in Provo on Feb. 4

First Meeting in 2009 - Provo, Utah on 2/04/09

Score: 60-41 in favor of the Cougars

A strong first half performance by BYU allowed an insurmountable lead build to an eventual 60-41 victory. The Cougars jumped to a quick 11-3 lead after consecutive buckets by Jazmine Foreman and Keilani Moeaki to gain control of the game and went into halftime with a 41-15 advantage. The Falcons made things interesting in the second half, slowly cutting into the Cougar lead to 50-32. Foreman finished the game with 10 points and a team-leading five assists. Senior Shawnee Slade and guard Nielson each contributed eight points while Coriann Wood and Moeaki poured in seven points apiece. Wood also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds on the night.

Key Stats in 1st game BYU AFA

Field Goal Percentage23-of-61 (38%)15-of-51 (29%)

Free-Throw Percentage 6-of-11 (55%)8-of-17 (47%)

Three-point Percentage 8-of-20 (40%)3-of-14 (21%)

Rebounds 41 42

Travel Itinerary - to Colorado Springs

Team Flight: Delta flight# 4069 departs from Salt Lake City on Fri. Mar. 6 at 1:50 p.m., and arrives in Colorado Springs at 3:27 p.m.

Team Flight: Delta flight# 2009 departs from Colorado Springs on Sun. Mar. 8 at 7:30 a.m., and arrives in Salt Lake City at 9:05 a.m.

Team Hotel: Colorado Springs Marriott - 5580 Tech Center Drive, 719-260-1800, 719-260-1492, fax.

What’s Next

The 2009 MWC Women’s Basketball Championships gets underway beginning Tues., Mar. 9 in Las Vegas at the Thomas and Mack Center. The tournament runs through Sat., Mar. 14. The winner of the women’s championship gets an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.