PROVO -- The BYU women's basketball team won their first game of the 2009-10 season 85-58 in an exhibition game against the Westminster Griffins, Friday.

"We shot the ball well and did a good job of moving up and down the court," said head coach Jeff Judkins. "We need to do a better job of rebounding, which is something we'll continue to work on."

A 15-4 lead after the first eight minutes of play would prove to be the pace of the game for the Cougars. BYU's Haley Hall put up early points for the Cougars and continued to lead throughout the game, finishing with 14 points and six rebounds to lead all players.

In the second half, BYU went on a 10-0 run against the Griffins, their longest streak of the night.

The Cougar bench saw big points against Westminster from Dani Peterson, Alexis Kaufusi and Stephanie Buhler Bates. Peterson finished with nine points, Kafusi with 10 and Buhler Bates with 11.

Going into the half, BYU led 40-27 with Hall leading with eight points. Foreman was the only Cougar to visit the line in the first half where she went 1-for-2. As a team against the Griffins, the Cougars ended with five visits to the free-throw line going 8-for-10.

The Griffins were held to a single-digit score until minute 7:07 in the first half. The Cougars were in double-digits just six minutes into playing time.

The second half began with Kim Parker and Kaufusi starting for Foreman and Kristen Riley, who finished the game with five rebounds.

The Griffins were led on the offense by Nicole Yazzie who ended with 11 points. Teammate Dani Evans finished the game with six rebounds.

BYU will play its second exhibition game tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the Marriott Center against Chadron State.

Official Basketball Box Score
Westminster College vs BYU Cougars
11/06/09 7:00 pm at Marriott Center, BYU, Provo, UT
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VISITORS: Westminster College 2-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
25 Michelle Pace....... f  2-8    0-1    4-5    0  2  2   0   8  2  0  0  1  23
03 Dani Evans.......... g  3-6    2-4    0-0    4  2  6   3   8  1  4  0  1  28
14 Keshia Catten....... g  2-5    2-5    2-2    0  1  1   0   8  4  4  0  2  32
21 McKenzie Jessop..... g  2-6    1-4    0-0    1  1  2   2   5  2  1  0  1  32
30 Allie Eastman....... g  3-8    1-4    1-2    3  2  5   0   8  1  0  0  1  23
10 Lexi Philipps.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0  11
12 Nicole Yazzie.......    3-7    1-5    4-5    1  2  3   2  11  1  1  0  1  21
22 Nicole Lynch........    1-2    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  1  0  0   3
23 Candace Smith.......    1-4    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   2   4  0  2  0  0   6
32 O. Pierce-Eiselein..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
33 Angela Fales........    0-1    0-1    2-2    1  1  2   1   2  1  2  0  0  12
41 Heather Anderson....    0-4    0-4    1-2    0  0  0   1   1  0  1  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         4  1  5
   Totals..............   17-52   8-30  16-20  15 13 28  11  58 12 17  0  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-24 33.3%   2nd Half:  9-28 32.1%   Game: 32.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-14 21.4%   2nd Half:  5-16 31.3%   Game: 26.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-10 80.0%   2nd Half:  8-10 80.0%   Game: 80.0%    2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 1-0
                          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  0-0    0-0    0-0    3  2  5   2   0  0  2  2  0  13
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  1-1    0-0    2-2    1  0  1   0   4  0  3  0  0  14
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  1-3    0-2    1-2    0  1  1   0   3  7  3  0  3  13
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  3-3    1-1    2-2    1  0  1   3   9  1  1  0  0  15
33 HALL, Haley......... g  5-7    4-6    0-0    2  4  6   1  14  4  1  0  0  17
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    2-4    2-3    0-0    1  0  1   3   6  4  3  0  1  18
04 PARKER, Kim.........    2-4    2-4    0-0    0  2  2   2   6  1  1  0  0  12
10 KAUFUSI, Alexis.....    5-8    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0  10  0  1  0  0  17
12 VERMUNT, Stephanie..    1-3    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  2  0  0  0  11
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    1-3    1-3    0-0    0  3  3   1   3  1  1  0  1  15
21 BATES, Stephanie....    3-8    3-8    2-2    0  0  0   0  11  1  1  0  1   9
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    1-3    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   2   2  0  1  0  0  13
31 BECK, Marie.........    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  0  0  0   5
32 PETERSON, Dani......    4-6    0-0    1-2    3  1  4   3   9  1  0  0  1  13
55 LEACH, Megan........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  3  1  1  1  15
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   31-55  15-31   8-10  13 22 35  18  85 25 19  3  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-30 53.3%   2nd Half: 15-25 60.0%   Game: 56.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-16 43.8%   2nd Half:  8-15 53.3%   Game: 48.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  7-8  87.5%   Game: 80.0%    0
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Officials: KEN SOWBY, LAURA RAHE, BRIAN ABBOTT
Technical fouls: Westminster College-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 487
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Westminster College...........   27   31  -   58
BYU Cougars...................   40   45  -   85
OFFICIAL FINAL

PROVO, Utah (Nov. 3, 2009) Gearing up for the start of the 2009-10 basketball season, the BYU women’s basketball team will play two exhibition games this week.

The Cougars host nearby Westminster College on Fri., Nov. 6 and Chadron State on Sat. Nov. 7. Tip off for the games are 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.

Three starters and 12 letterwinners return to the court for BYU this year looking to continue the tradition of winning seasons and advancing further in both the MWC tournament and in the NCAA’s.

The three starters back, all juniors, are 5-10 guard Mindy Nielson (10.4 ppg; 3.9 rpg), 5-5 point guard Jazmine Foreman (6.8 ppg; 4.0 rpg) and 6-2 forward Keilani Moeaki (5.3 ppg; 2.8 rpg). Nielson returns as the team’s scoring leader while Foreman tops the team in assists.

Junior point guard Haley Hall is also back for the 2009-10 campaign after her third straight season ending ACL injury. Hall played in the first game last year at Portland State where she tallied 11 points including going 6-6 from the free throw line before suffering the knee injury.

Part of the team’s success from last season was due to the depth of the Cougar squad. That bench strength came from the consistent play of Coriann Wood (6.4 ppg; 4.8 rpg), Kristen Riley (3.3 ppg; 3.6 rpg), Stephanie Buhler Bates (2.4 ppg; 0.2 rpg), Dani Peterson (2.0 ppg; 1.5 rpg), and Megan Marks Leach (1.4 ppg; 1.6 rpg).

Jaime Judkins is the lone senior on the squad. She played an average of 5.1 minutes in 19 games. She along with freshman Jenteal Jackson, came off the bench for the Cougars with Jackson playing in a total of 25 contests while junior guard Marie Beck saw action in three games last year.

Three talented freshmen will join the team this season led by Alexis Kaufusi who prepped at Timpview High School and redshirted last year. Utah standout Kim Parker from Heber City and Wasatch High School, and Stephanie Vermunt from Airdrie, Alberta, Canada and Bert Church High School round out the freshman class.

After the two exhibition games, the Cougar team opens up its nonconference schedule hosting Utah Valley University on Friday, Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m. The team then plays its next three games on the road at Washington, Montana State and Southern Utah before returning to the Marriott Center for a game against Kansas State on Nov. 27.