PROVO -- Friday the 13th proved to be anything but unlucky for the BYU women’s basketball team as it defeated Utah Valley University 73–51 in its home opener.

“If we play like this every night, we will be in a good spot for the season,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. With the victory, Judkins improves his record for home openers to 8-1.

Utah Valley won the tip and Julie Smith started the scoring for the Wolverines. Two early treys by Mindy Nielson and Kristen Riley helped BYU take the lead. The Cougars never looked back and led UVU 24-12 midway through the half.

BYU’s defense notched four steals, three blocks, 22 total rebounds and allowed only four Wolverines to score the entire first half. The Cougars got considerable help from the sidelines, with players recording 21 points off the bench.

“We have a great team that can score this year,” Judkins said. “We have a lot of depth with four players scoring in doubles figures.”

With the score at 45-26, BYU began the second half outscoring UVU 14-2. The Cougars kept up the pace for most of the half but with less than eight minutes left, the Wolverines went on a nine-point streak. The run allowed UVU to come within 19 points, the lowest margin of the half. BYU was able to hold off the Wolverines and come away with the 73-51 victory.

Nielson and Keilani Moeaki led the BYU offense, scoring 14 points apiece. Coriann Wood and Dani Peterson came off the bench scoring in double figures as well with 10 points each. Wood topped the list in rebounds grabbing a team and game high eight boards while junior point guard Haley Hall dished out eight assists in the game.

The Wolverines were led by Smith who scored a team and game high 20 total points while Kyra Prause grabbed a total of seven boards.

The Cougars will continue their season Wednesday when they travel to Seattle to take on the University of Washington.

Official Basketball Box Score
UT VALLEY WOLVERINES vs BYU Cougars
11-13-09 3:35 PM at MARRIOTT CTR PROVO UT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: UT VALLEY WOLVERINES 0-1 ; 0-0 ; GWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 Julie Smith......... f  8-14   0-3    4-5    0  4  4   4  20  0  3  0  0  33
25 Kaycee Mansfield.... f  3-5    1-2    1-1    1  2  3   2   8  1  3  0  0  25
35 Erika Newbold....... c  0-3    0-1    0-0    1  2  3   4   0  0  2  0  0  23
13 Asumi Nakayama...... g  0-5    0-4    4-5    1  4  5   1   4  1  3  0  1  30
33 Kayla Burningham.... g  1-7    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  0  3  0  0  22
04 Cydne Mason.........    0-1    0-0    3-4    1  2  3   1   3  1  2  0  0  16
05 Chantelle Martin....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
14 Jenna Johnson.......    1-2    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   1   4  0  2  0  0  11
20 Kaitlin Bogle.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
22 Kyra Prause.........    1-1    0-0    2-2    1  6  7   0   4  1  3  0  1  13
23 Brynn Bradley.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  1  0   3
42 Blake Reynolds......    1-3    0-0    4-4    2  1  3   1   6  0  1  0  0  21
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   15-41   1-11  20-23   8 24 32  15  51  4 22  1  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0%   2nd Half:  5-16 31.3%   Game: 36.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-8  12.5%   2nd Half:  0-3   0.0%   Game:  9.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-5  100 %   2nd Half: 15-18 83.3%   Game: 87.0%    1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 1-0 ; 0-0 ; MWC
                          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  3-3    2-2    0-2    2  4  6   1   8  2  0  2  0  18
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f  6-7    1-1    1-3    4  0  4   0  14  2  0  0  1  17
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g  3-6    1-3    0-0    1  0  1   3   7  2  2  0  0  21
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  6-11   2-4    0-0    0  1  1   3  14  2  2  0  3  23
33 HALL, Haley......... g  0-5    0-4    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  8  0  0  2  24
01 JACKSON, Jenteal....    0-3    0-2    2-3    1  0  1   2   2  2  1  0  0   9
04 PARKER, Kim.........    0-4    0-2    0-1    1  2  3   4   0  0  0  0  1  12
10 KAUFUSI, Alexis.....    2-5    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   4   4  0  3  0  1  10
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    1-2    1-2    0-0    3  0  3   0   3  1  1  0  0  10
21 BATES, Stephanie....    0-1    0-1    1-2    0  1  1   1   1  1  0  0  1   6
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    4-12   2-4    0-0    5  3  8   2  10  1  2  1  0  18
31 BECK, Marie.........    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  1   4
32 PETERSON, Dani......    4-10   0-1    2-2    3  0  3   3  10  0  2  0  1  16
55 LEACH, Megan........    0-3    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   0   0  0  0  1  1  12
   TEAM................                         5  4  9
   Totals..............   29-74   9-30   6-13  26 20 46  25  73 21 14  4 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-37 51.4%   2nd Half: 10-37 27.0%   Game: 39.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-16 43.8%   2nd Half:  2-14 14.3%   Game: 30.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  6-13 46.2%   Game: 46.2%    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: CLARKE STEVENS; GATOR PARRISH; ERIC LARSON
Technical fouls: UT VALLEY WOLVERINES-TEAM. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 954
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
UT VALLEY WOLVERINES..........   26   25  -   51
BYU Cougars...................   45   28  -   73
OFFICIAL FINAL

Season Opens with Instate Rival UVU

The 2009-10 season begins this week for the BYU women’s basketball team. They host instate rival Utah Valley University, in a 3:30 p.m. tip. on Friday, Nov. 13.

The Wolverines are one of four instate schools the Cougars will play this season. BYU will play at SUU, at Weber State, and at Utah State during the nonconference schedule. In MWC action they will play the University of Utah twice.

Head coach Jeff Judkins begins his ninth season at the helm of the women’s program where he has a 7-1 record in home openers. His only loss was against TCU during the 2003-04 season where the Horned Frogs won by five points 79-74.

BYU Probable Starters (2008-09 Stats)

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 Jr 6.8 4.0

22 Mindy Nielson G 5-10 Jr 10.4 3.9

33 Haley Hall G 5-11 Jr (injured 2008-09)

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 5.3 2.8

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 3.3 3.6

Off the Bench

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

23 Coriann Wood F 6-1 Jr 6.4 4.8

21 Stephanie Buhler-Bates F 6-1 So 2.4 0.2

32 Dani Peterson F 6-1 So 2.0 1.5

01 Jenteal Jackson G 5-7 So 1.0 0.7

55 Megan Leach F 6-3 So 1.4 1.6

13 Jaime Judkins G 5-6 Sr 0.9 0.3

10 Alexis Kaufusi F 6-1 Fr (redshirt 2008-09)

04 Kim Parker G 5-11 Fr (Wasatch HS)

12 Stephanie Vermunt G/F 6-0 Fr (Bert Church HS, CAN)

BYU/UVU Connections

Friday’s meeting will bring home BYU’s former Director of Operations (Dan Nielson) who was recently hired as an assistant coach for UVU. BYU’s newest assistant coach Chris Boettcher comes to the Cougar program after eight seasons as an assistant, the last two as the associate head coach wit the Wolverines. UVU’s head coach Cathy Nixon played her college career at BYU (1985-88) where she garnered two All-American citations in 1987 and 1988.

About BYU Team

-- Cougars return 12 letterwinners and three starters from a team that went 18-11 and 8-8 finishing tied for fifth place in the MWC regular season.

-- Letterwinners includes one senior, (Jaime Judkins), six juniors, and four sophomores. Redshirt freshman Alexis Kaufusi (6-1, Forward) from Provo, Utah and Timpview HS will also be in the lineup.

-- 2009-10 class is made up of two players:

Kim Parker - 5-11 G/F, Heber, UT/Wasatch High School

Stephanie Vermunt - 6-0 F, Airdrie, Alberta, CAN/Bert Church High School

About BYU Players

-- Mindy Nielson, a junior, returns as one of three starters and as the team’s leading scorer (10.4 ppg).

-- Junior point guard Jazmine Foreman is the second returning starter and BYU’s assist leader, dishing out a total of 113 for a 3.9 average last season.

-- Junior forward Keilani Moeaki rounds out the third starter back for the 2009-10 season. She started in 25 of the 29 games played contributing 5.3 points and 2.8 boards per contest.

-- Coriann Wood finished the 2008-09 campaign as the second leading rebounder on the squad grabbing 4.8 boards a game. The 6-0 junior forward returns after playing in all games.

-- Haley Hall, who started in the game at Portland State in Nov. 2008 before suffering her third season-ending ACL injury is expected to return to action after surgery and rehabilitation

2008-09 Final Cougar Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.372, 635-1706)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.692, 265-383)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.274, 142-518)

-- Average points per game: 57.8

-- Average rebounds per game: 37.5

-- Average assists per game: 13.5

-- Average steals per game: 9.3

-- Average blocks per game: 3.6

-- Average turnovers per game: 16.4

This Week’s Cougar Opponents

Utah Valley University - Fri. Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m. (Provo, Utah) - Marriott Center

The Wolverines from Utah Valley University return three starters and six letterwinners from a team that went 17-10 last year. Among the three starters back this season are senior forward Julie Smith who averaged 18.3 points and 6.4 boards a game and senior guard Asumi Nakayama who tallied 4.2 points and 2.3 boards per game. Utah Valley played an exhibition game against Montana Tech last week, a team they defeated 69-54. In that contest, Smith led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed a team and game high nine boards. Kaycee Mansfield and Kayla Burningham also scored in double digits for the Wolverines with 14 and 11 points respectively. Head coach Cathy Nixon is in her 15th season at Utah Valley University.

Stat Comparison

Category BYU UVU (2008-09 stats)

Points: 57.8 76.1

FG: .372 .477

3FG: .274 .351

FT: .692 .739

Reb: 37.5 38.2

Series Information

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 3-0

BYU Record in Provo: 2-0

BYU Record in Orem: 1-0

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: N/A

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 3-0

BYU Record in Overtime Games: N/A

Longest BYU Win Streak: 3 (2005-2007)

Longest Utah Valley Win Streak: N/A

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 20, 72-52 in 2007

Largest Utah Valley Margin of Victory: N/A

Last Meeting

These two teams met last during the 2007-08 campaign with BYU getting a 72-52 victory in Provo, Utah on Dec. 8.

UP Next

The Cougars take their first road trip of the season beginning with a game against Pac-10 foe Washington on Nov. 18, then play at Montana State on Nov. 20 before returning to the state of Utah to play at Southern Utah on Nov. 24. The day after Thanksgiving, BYU is back in the Marriott Center hosting Kansas State on Fri. Nov. 27 in a 3:30 p.m. This will be the first time that the Wildcats have been to Provo and the Marriott Center. The last time these two teams met dates back to the 1978-79 season.