PROVO -- Playing in front of a home crowd on Senior Day, the BYU women’s basketball team proved its season is far from over, defeating Mountain West Conference Champion TCU, 70-65, on Saturday.

The win gives the Cougars (20-8, 11-5 MWC) a second place finish in the MWC, after being picked to finish sixth in the pre-season, and will be the No. 2 seed heading into next week’s tournament.

“I’m real proud of these guys,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “We figured out a way to win when TCU came back on us and stuck together as a team, which we’ve done all year. It was a great effort by so many people. We’re getting better as a team, and I like a lot of things we’re doing.”

Junior Haley Hall led the way for BYU with 17 points, including three treys. With TCU threatening at the end of the game, Hall scored the Cougars’ final nine points to secure the win. Other double-digit scorers for BYU included Kristen Riley and Mindy Bonham each with 12 points and Alexis Kaufusi with 10. Riley also posted a double-double on the afternoon with 10 rebounds while Bonham tied her career high with nine assists.

The Cougars struck first with a pair of free throws, but both teams struggled from the field early, going a combined 1-for-8 in the first three minutes. BYU’s tenacious defense caused six early TCU turnovers and allowed the Cougars to open up a 17-7 lead at the 12:48 mark behind six points each from Riley and Bonham.

Missed TCU shots continued to turn into Cougar opportunities as BYU racked up rebounds on both ends of the floor and dictated the pace of the game. Two timely three-pointers kept the Horned Frogs close, but the Cougars continued to push the ball and crash the boards to maintain the advantage. Leading 25-19, BYU’s Jazmine Foreman drained a trey from four feet behind the line to ignite the crowd and force a TCU timeout with 4:01 left in the half. Despite being held scoreless for the remainder of the opening period, BYU still took a 28-23 lead into the locker room.

BYU opened up the second half much as it did in the first, with a 9-3 run to post the team’s largest lead of the game at 37-26. TCU found its offensive footing after calling a timeout with 18:15 left, but the Cougars continued to make shots and hold on to the lead. A spate of TCU free throws looked like the beginning of a comeback until Coriann Wood and Foreman put in back-to-back layups to push the advantage to 50-37 with just over 12 minutes left to play.

From there, the two teams traded buckets until a trey from Wood, who was playing with four fouls, gave BYU a 60-44 lead. However, foul trouble plagued the Cougars down the stretch as the advantage was quickly whittled down to eight points at the free-throw line with under four minutes left in the game. Finally, it was BYU’s turn at the charity stripe as Hall sank two to push the lead back to double-digits at 63-53.

But moments later, a Horned Frog lay in, followed by a TCU trey, cut the advantage in half and had the Cougars on the ropes. TCU continued to score from the free-throw line as BYU struggled from the field until suddenly a game that was once in hand was down to 65-63 with 50 seconds to play. But Hall once again came up big, draining a huge three-pointer as the clock ticked down to 15 seconds. After an uncontested layup on the other end, Hall made two more free throws to put the game away.

As the No. 2 seed, BYU receives a bye into the semifinal round of the MWC Tournament. The Cougars will play their first game in Las Vegas on Friday.

“We’re excited for the tournament and the chance we have to do well and win,” said Judkins. “If we come out and play our game, we can beat anybody.”

Playing in the final league games of the 2010 campaign and tied for second place in the latest league standings, the BYU women’s basketball team hosts Utah and TCU this week.

The Cougars (18-8, 9-5) host instate rival Utah (18-9, 9-5) on Wed. Mar. 2 at 7 p.m. The game is the second Deseret First Duel matchup between the two schools. On Sat., Mar. 6, BYU hosts first place TCU (21-6, 11-3) at 2 p.m.

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 Jr 9.9 3.3

22 Mindy Bonham (Nielson) G 5-10 Jr 11.4 4.2

33 Haley Hall G 5-4 Jr 8.3 3.7

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 4.8 2.2

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 8.3 5.6

2009-10 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.428, 648-1514)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.360, 181-503)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.648, 241-372)

-- Average points per game: 66.1

-- Average rebounds per game: 38.0

-- Average assists per game: 16.6

-- Average steals per game: 9.4

-- Average blocks per game: 3.6

-- Average turnovers per game: 16.9

Cougars in the NCAA Stats (as of Mar. 1, 2010)

Team

-- Assists Per Game - 12th (16.7)

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - 23rd (0.98)

-- Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - 34th (36.1)

-- Three-Point Field Goals Per Game - 36th (7.0)

Player

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - Haley Hall, 16th (2.18)

Team Has Strong Showing In The MWC 2009-10 Race

With a 9-5 record in league play, the Cougar women continue to have success in the conference. As of 3/01/10, the team is tied for second place in the latest MWC standings with just two games left. BYU was picked to finish sixth in the conference.

Player Injury Report

Freshman guard Kim Parker suffered a season ending injury in the game at Weber State. She has torn ligaments in her left foot.

Sophomore guard Jenteal Jackson will apply for a medical redshirt for this year due to an on-going back problem.

Freshman To Redshirt

Stephanie Vermunt, a 6-0 freshman guard/forward from Airdrie, Alberta, Canada will redshirt the 2009-10 season.

Team Captains

Senior guard Jaime Judkins and junior point guard Haley Hall have been selected by their teammates as co-captains for the 2009-10 season.

THIS WEEK’S MWC OPPONENTS

UNIV. OF UTAH - Wed. Mar 3 at 7 p.m. MT (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

In the final MWC regular season, the Utes are currently tied with BYU for second place with a 9-5 record and are 18-9 overall. Two players on the Utah roster are scoring in double figures led by senior Kalee Whipple’s 17.5 points. Taryn Wicijowski is next with 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Halie Sawyer, a 6-1 senior forward leads the team in rebounds grabbing 7.9 boards a game. Janita Badon has the most assists and steals on the team with 130 and 57 respectively. Elaine Elliott is in her 26th season at the helm of the Utah women’s basketball program.

UTAH Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

02 Kalee Whipple F 6-0 Sr 17.5 6.5

22 Halie Sawyer F 6-1 Sr 6.7 7.9

11 Taryn Wicijowski C 6-3 Fr 14.2 6.7

01 Janita Badon G 5-6 So 9.1 5.7

13 Rachel Messer G 5-9 Fr 3.7 1.5

Stat Comparison

Category BYU UT

FG: .428 .414

3FG: .360 .322

FT: .648 .688

Points: 66.1 59.3

Reb: 38.0 38.9

Series Information

Overall Series Record: Utah leads 60-34

BYU Record in Provo: 16-21

BYU Record in Salt Lake CIty : 9-30

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 9-9

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 7-13

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 0-3

Longest BYU Win Streak: 4 (1979-1980)

Longest Utah Win Streak: 10 (1995-1998)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 22, 87-65 in 1985

Largest Utah Margin of Victory: 35, 93-58 in 1991

First Meeting This MWC Season

The two instate rivals and MWC foes met the first time in Salt Lake City on Jan. 30 with the Cougars picking up a 69-52 victory. When Utah plays in the Marriott Center they’ve compiled a 21-16 record with their last win coming during the 2008-09 campaign, a 63-55 victory on Jan. 28, 2009.

DESERET FIRST DUEL GAME

On Wed. Mar. 3, the Cougars and Utes will not only battle in MWC action, but they will each look to add points to their respective schools in the annual Deseret First Duel in women’s basketball. BYU already picked up five points in the first meeting between the Utes and Cougars on Jan. 30 with a 69-52 win in Salt Lake City.

HOW DOES THE DUEL WORK?

BYU and Utah compete head-to-head in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football, women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s swimming. Points are awarded to the school that wins each game, meet, or match. A team trophy is also presented to the winner in each sport. BYU won the inaugural Deseret First Duel in 2007-08, while Utah claimed the title in 2008-09. So far during the 2009-10 campaign, the Cougars are ahead in points 27-7.

TCU - Sat. Mar. 6 at 2 p.m. MT (Provo, UT) - Marriott Center

The TCU Horned Frogs are currently in first place in the latest MWC standings with an 11-3 record. They host New Mexico on Tues. Mar. 2 before making the trip to Provo for Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the Cougars. On the Horned Frogs team three players are putting up double digit points led by 14.7 from Emily Carter, 14.0 from Helena Sverrisdottir and 10.6 points from TK La Fleur. On the rebound category, Starr Crawford tops the list grabbing 8.9 boards a game. Sverrisdottir, a 6-1 junior forward, leads the team in assists and in steals with a total of 143 and 61 respectively. Jeff Mittie is in his 11th season as the women’s basketball coach at TCU.

TCU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

11 Starr Crawford F 6-0 Fr 9.9 8.9

15 Emily Carter F 6-1 Jr 14.7 2.9

04 Helena Sverrisdottir G/F 6-1 Jr 14.0 6.8

01 Antoinette Thompson G 5-7 Fr 3.4 3.2

24 Eboni Mangum G 5-8 Sr 8.1 2.3

Stat Comparison

Category BYU TCU

FG: .441 .422

3FG: .356 .361

FT: .650 .742

Points: 68.4 73.4

Reb: 39.2 40.1

Series Information

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 8-7

BYU Record in Provo: 3-3

BYU Record in Ft. Worth : 4-4

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 5-7

BYU Record in Overtime Games: N/A

Longest BYU Win Streak: 4 (2006-2007)

Longest TCU Win Streak: 3 (2007-2009)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 17, 73-56 in 2006

Largest TCU Margin of Victory: 20, 75-55 in ‘09

First Meeting This MWC Season

BYU and TCU had their first matchup of the 2010 MWC season in Ft. Worth on Feb. 3 where the Horned Frogs picked up the 64-40 home win. When TCU plays in the Marriott Center they’ve tallied a 3-3 record. Their last victory in Provo was on Feb. 14, 2009, a 75-55 win over the Cougars.

WHAT’S NEXT

With the final two leagues at home the 2010 MWC regular season concludes for the Cougars. The team will then prepare to compete in the 2010 Conoco MWC Women’s Basketball Championships, Mar. 10-13 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center. The pairings will be announced on Saturday night, Mar. 6 at the conclusion of that day’s games. The winner of the women’s championship gets an automatic bid into the 2010 NCAA Tournament.