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PROVO -- In a battle of two teams fighting to keep their seasons alive, the BYU women’s basketball team defeated Pepperdine 62-58 in the Marriott Center.

The win improves their record to 21-9 and they will advance to the second round of the WNIT where they will take on Arizona State in Tempe on Tuesday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. PT.

"I'm happy about tonight," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "This was a great win. In the last four minutes we held them to just two points and I think that was the key of the game. I'm glad the girls were able to keep with it and knock down the points when they had to."

BYU was led by Mindy Bonham with 13 points, followed closely by Haley Hall with 11 and Kristen Riley with nine. Coriann Wood also contributed eight points and led the Cougars with seven rebounds. Jazmine Foreman paced BYU with six assists.

Despite Pepperdine scoring the game’s first points, the Cougars soon took a lead thanks to sharp shooting by Bonham who began the game shooting four-for-four in the first eight minutes of the game and scoring eight of BYU’s first 18 points.

After a media timeout with approximately twelve minutes left in the first half, the Cougar bench began to make an impact on the court with senior Jaime Judkins hitting a trey and Alexis Kaufusi converting on the inside.

Although the Waves made several impressive plays in the half, including hitting a three-pointer with one second remaining on the shot clock, BYU was able to head to the locker room with a six-point lead, 36-30, at the half. The Cougars are now 19-2 when they lead at the half

The Waves would take their first lead since the opening minute of the game at 41-40 with fifteen minutes remaining. However, Pepperdine found its lead to be short lived after the Cougars went on a 9-0 run led by guard duo of Foreman and Hall.

The game was not decided until the final minutes as the Cougars were able to hold the lead, secured off a trey by Bonham with 2:20 left to play. With strong defensive play, the waves were forced to foul BYU and send them to the charity stripe where they would seal the win.

BYU will continue its run in the WNIT as they face Arizona State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. PT in Tempe, Arizona.

With an impressive (20-9, 11-5) record and a second place finish in the MWC, the BYU women’s basketball team joins March Madness with its fifth invitation to the WNIT.

The Cougars will host Pepperdine (20-11, 9-5) on Thurs. Mar. 18 at 7 p.m.

BYU was one of 31 teams to receive an Automatic Berth. Three other schools from the MWC (WY, UNM and Utah) received At-large Berths in to the 64-team field.

Pepperdine finished third in the West Coast Conference and lost to No. 14-ranked Gonzaga in their league’s championship game.

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 Jr 9.6 3.3

22 Mindy Bonham (Nielson) G 5-10 Jr 11.3 4.1

33 Haley Hall G 5-4 Jr 8.7 3.7

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 Jr 4.7 2.2

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 So 8.2 5.7

2009-10 Stats Summary

-- Shooting from field: (.424, 713-1682)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.355, 200-564)

-- Shooting from free-throw line: (.658, 263-400)

-- Average points per game: 65.1

-- Average rebounds per game: 37.7

-- Average assists per game: 16.5

-- Average steals per game: 9.3

-- Average blocks per game: 3.4

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.1

Cougars in the NCAA Stats (as of Mar. 14, 2010)

Team

-- Assists Per Game - 13th (16.6)

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - 26nd (0.97)

-- Three-Point Field Goals Per Game - 37th (6.9)

-- Scoring Defense - 39th (57.3)

-- Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - 40th (35.5)

Player

-- Assist/Turnover Ratio - Haley Hall, 22nd (2.0)

Team Has Strong Showing In The MWC 2009-10 Race

With an 11-5 record, the Cougar women clinched a second place finish in league play. BYU was picked to finish sixth in the MWC.

2010 MWC Postseason Honors

Mindy Bonham - Second Team All-MWC

Mindy Bonham - All-Defensive Team

Jazmine Foreman - All-Defensive Team

Jazmine Foreman - Honorable Mention All-MWC

Coriann Wood - 6th Player of the Year

Coriann Wood - Honorable Mention All-MWC

Haley Hall - Honorable Mention All-MWC

Kristen Riley - Honorable Mention All-MWC

Ticket Prices - First Round Game

Student General Admission - $5

Adult General Admission - $6

Reserved - $7

Courtside - $20

Tickets may be purchased at the Marriott Center Ticket office or online at http://www.byutickets.com/

Poll Watching in 2009-10 (as of 3/15/10)

The Cougars received votes in the AP poll twice this year. The week of Jan. 18 they received three nods while the week of Mar. 8 they received two votes.

COUGARS IN THE WNIT - 2010

This will be the fifth time that the BYU women’s basketball team has been selected to compete in the expanded 64-team single elimination WNIT. In the postseason tournament, the Cougars have compiled a 3-4 record in four appearances. The last time BYU was in the WNIT was during the 2004-05 campaign where they fell to Gonzaga 57-71 in the first round.

BYU also competed in the Preseason WNIT during the 2006-07 campaign where they advanced to the Final Four after a 73-50 home victory over Idaho State, an upset 55-52 victory over then No. 5 ranked Stanford on their home court before falling to the Baylor Bears 58-84.

ABOUT THE POSTSEASON WNIT

The Women’s National Invitation Tournament consists of 64 Division I women’s basketball teams who compete at participating schools including the semifinals and the championships. Every round is single elimination.

The Postseason WNIT features 32 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and the championship.

2010 WNIT First Round Opponent

PEPPERDINE - The Waves finished the 2010 regular season with a (20-11, 9-5) record, a third place finish in the West Coast Conference and lost to No. 14 ranked Gonzaga in their league championship game. Pepperdine returns two starters, seven letterwinners and was picked to finish third in the WCC behind Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount. When playing on the road they’ve compiled an 8-6 record. Two players are scoring in double figures for Pepperdine led by 14.8 points from 6-3 forward/center Miranda Ayim who also grabs a team high 6.6 rebounds per game. She’s followed by sophomore guard Jazmine Jackson who tallies 11.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. Jackson also has the most assists and steals on the team with 84 and 56 respectively. Head coach Julie Rousseau is in her sixth season at the helm of the women’s basketball program at Pepperdine.

Pepperdine Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

21 Miranda Ayim F/C 6-3 Sr 14.8 6.6

15 Skye Barnett F/G 5-11 So 6.3 4.8

05 Jazmine Jackson G 5-9 So 11.7 5.6

23 Katie Menton G 5-10 So 8.8 2.9

32 Lauren Bell G 5-8 So 9.2 3.1

Stat Comparison

Category BYU PEP

FG: .424 .366

3FG: .355 .295

FT: .658 .725

Points: 65.6 66.6

Reb: 37.7 37.1

Series Information

Overall Series Record: Series is tied 1-1

BYU Record in Provo: N/A

BYU Record in Pepperdine: 0-1

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-0

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: N/A

BYU Record in Overtime Games: N/A

Longest BYU Win Streak: 1 (1983)

Longest Pepperdine Win Streak: 1 (1979)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 20, 98-78 in 1983

Largest Pepperdine Margin of Victory: 1, 67-66 in ‘79

Last Meeting

BYU and Pepperdine have not played each other for 27 years. Their last matchup was on Dec. 9, 1983 when the two were competing in the Long Beach State Tournament. In that game, the Cougars picked up the 98-78 win. In their previous game, the two schools met in Malibu on Dec. 29, 1979 where the Waves recorded the one-point, 67-66 victory.

BYU/Pepperdine Connections

The Cougars Mindy Bonham and the Waves T’Keyah Shealy played on the same high school team (Regis Jesuit) for two years. The two also played two summers on the club team Mile High Magic.

What’s Next

The winner of Thursday night’s game advances to the second round and plays the winner of the game in Tempe between Arizona State and New Mexico State. That contest will be played on Wed. Mar. 17.