Albuquerque, New Mexico (March 1, 2011) - With a 65-49 road victory over New Mexico, the BYU women's basketball team secured the 2011 Mountain West Conference regular season title after shooting 11 three-pointers in a lights-out shooting game, Tuesday.

"All season long these girls have taken what the defense gives them," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "Today, they gave us three's. We gave a ton of effort and I am so proud of how everyone played."

Senior Coriann Fraughton recorded a career-high 22 points to cement the regular season title for the Cougars and also finished with nine rebounds.

Six different BYU players recorded 3-point shots against the Lobos with Fraughton's four leading the way to tie her career-high. Stephanie Vermunt and Kristen Riley tallied two apiece with Mindy Bonham, Jazmine Foreman and Haley Hall adding one themselves. The Lobos made just three 3-pointers in the game.

New Mexico started the game with a 13-7 lead before the Cougars went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 13 and pressure a timeout from the Lobos.

Back from the timeout, BYU continued on a 9-1 run from there before eventually taking a 31-21 lead at the half. Of the 31 points, 21 had come from Cougar 3-pointers.

Returning to the court after halftime BYU took off on offense by recording five more 3-pointers, shooting 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and shooting a combined 42.9 percent from the field compared to New Mexico's 30.8 percent.

The Lobos attempted to keep the game close in the second half but never got within nine points of the Cougar total. A short run midway through the second was halted quickly with a Bonham 3-pointer before BYU again took control.

A fitting ending of Fraughton adding her fourth, and final, 3-pointer with just 10 seconds to go secured the game for her team.

The Cougars play their final game of the regular season this Saturday, March 4, in Wyoming at 2 p.m. before getting ready for the Mountain West Conference tournament that will be held March 8-12 in Las Vegas.

Postgame Notes

-The Cougars went into the locker room with a 10-point advantage, 31-21. They improved to 20-1 on the year when leading at the half.

-With the 65-49 victory at New Mexico, the BYU women’s team clinch the 2011 MWC Regular Season title. It marks the third regular season crown under head coach Jeff Judkins.

Player

-Coriann Fraughton tallied 22 points marking her 22nd season, 48th career and 11th MWC game putting up double figures in points. The points were team and game highs, and were the most she’s scored in MWC games to date.

-Mindy Bonham scored 11 points marking her 19th season, 59th, career and 10th league game where she’s recorded double digits in points.

-Haley Hall dished out a team high five assists.

-Jazmine Foreman had four steals for team and game highs.

On a 10-game win streak, and in first place entering the final week of MWC action, the Cougar women (21-7, 13-1) round out league play with two road games.

Tues. Mar. 1, BYU is at New Mexico (10-16, 4-10) in a 6 p.m. tip off. Then they battle Wyoming (21-6, 11-3) in Laramie on Sat. Mar. 5 at 2 p.m.

2010-11 STATS SUMMARY

- Shooting from field: (.429, 738-1722)

- Shooting from three-point line: (.329, 200-607)

- Shooting from free-throw line: (.669, 269-402)

- Average points per game: 69.5

- Average rebounds per game: 38.8

- Average assists per game: 19.4

- Average steals per game: 8.4

- Average blocks per game: 4.1

- Average turnovers per game: 14.4

ABOUT BYU

-The Cougars are led in scoring by senior guard Mindy Bonham who averages 12.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Senior forward Coriann Fraughton follows averaging 11.3 points and a team high 7.4 rebounds per contest.

-Bonham also tops the list in assists with a total of 150. She also has the team’s best free throw percentage at .772, 44-57.

-Haley Hall has the most steals on the team with 54.

-Freshman center Jennifer Hamson is tops in the field goal percentage category at .593, 70-118. She also has the most blocks on the team with 38.

-The BYU bench has outscored its opponents 630 to 374 as of 2/27/11. The most points scored by the Cougar bench to date are 44 in the win over BYU-Hawaii on 12/3/10. The most bench points from an opponent on the year are 31 recorded by BYU-Hawaii.

-BYU’s reserves are outrebounding their opponents 398 to 279 as of 2/20/11. The most rebounds by the Cougar bench are 28 vs. Utah State on 11/23/10. The most boards by the opponent bench are Utah State with 24.

ABOUT NEXT MWC OPPONENTS

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

The New Mexico Lobos are in seventh place (10-16, 4-10) coming into the final week of conference games. Two players are scoring in double figures for UNM with senior guard/forward combo Amanda Best and freshman guard Jasmine Patterson both tied contributing 10.7 points each per contest. Best also leads the way in rebounding averaging 7.6 rebounds per game and has the most assists with a total of 79. Junior guard/forward Porche Torrance has the most steals on the team with 49 to date. Head coach Don Flanagan is in his 16th season with the Lobos women’s basketball program.

Series History

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 39-28

BYU Record in Provo: 23-8

BYU Record in Albuquerque: 12-17

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 4-3

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 7-16

Last Meeting – in Provo on Jan. 29 (BYU won 76-54)

A balanced scoring attack led the BYU women’s basketball team to its third straight MWC victory over the New Mexico Lobos 76-54.

Four Cougars finished in double figures, with seniors Mindy Bonham and Coriann Fraughton 17 points apiece. Bonham also dished out 10 assists to earn her third career double-double, while freshman Jennifer Hamson contributed with 15 points and Kristen Riley added 11.

BYU (14-7, 6-1) opened the game by shooting lights out, nailing seven of their first 10 shots to take an early 14-6 lead. During that same stretch the BYU defense held the Lobos to just 4-for-11 from the field and caused two New Mexico shot clock violations.

Senior Jazmine Foreman helped keep the BYU lead at eight with an arching three-point basket at the shot clock buzzer to make it 20-12. Bonham followed suit on the following possession as she nailed her first trey of the game to stretch the lead to 23-14.

UNM started the second half with five quick points to narrow the Cougar lead to five but Bonham scored a fast break lay up to end the run and continued on to score seven of the next nine BYU points, giving them the 12-point lead at 48-36. Fraughton ended a Lobo run late in the second half by hitting shots on three consecutive possessions to put the Cougars back up by eight, 60-52. Strong defense and free throw shooting helped the Cougars close out the game and earn their sixth MWC win this season.

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING

Wyoming is in third place in the latest MWC standings with a (21-6, 11-3) record. They play at San Diego State on Wed. Mar. 2 before hosting the Cougars on Sat. Mar. 5. For the Cowgirls there are two players scoring in double figures with senior Aubrey Vandiver leading the way averaging 18.3 points and a team high 9.1 boards a contest. Hillary Carlson follows contributing 17.1 points per game while grabbing 7.2 rebounds. Another senior, Jade Kennedy has the most assists on the team with a total of 106. Vandiver leads in the steals category with 38. Head coach Joe Legerski is in his eighth season with the women’s basketball program.

Series History

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 49-21

BYU Record in Provo: 19-8

BYU Record in Laramie: 20-13

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 3-0

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 13-8

Last Meeting – in Provo on Feb. 2 (BYU won 73-48)

Finishing the first round of league play, the BYU women’s basketball team shook off Wyoming with a 73-48 victory.

Coriann Fraughton recorded her third-straight game in double figures with 19 points, including three 3-pointers, and four rebounds. Haley Hall and Kristen Riley each added 11 points to the total. Hall, Riley and Jennifer Hamson led in rebounds each with seven. Mindy Bonham led in assists with eight.

Bonham went 6-0 to start the game. Ten minutes into the half, Riley took the ball in for a layup on a steal, giving the Cougars the edge they needed to stay in control of the game.

Hall cut off the Cowgirl 9-2 run with a field goal at 37 seconds on the clock to save the Cougar lead. She got the rebound off a Cowgirls’ missed shot and got the ball just past half court, sinking a three-pointer at the buzzer. BYU went to the locker room with a 28-22 lead.

The Cougars started the second half with another run, going 11-2 to give the home team a 49-31 lead as they continued to distance themselves from the Cowgirls. Fraughton’s three treys pushed the Cougars to their 25-point lead in the second half.

TEAM TRAVEL

(New Mexico)

Team Flight: Delta #4731 departs Salt Lake City, Mon. Feb. 28 at 4:48 p.m., arriving in Albuquerque at 6:28 p.m.

Team Flight: Delta #4733 departs Albuquerque, Wed. Mar. 2 at 8:30 a.m., arriving in Salt Lake City at 10:16 a.m.

Team Hotel: Albuquerque Marriott, 2101 Louisiana Blvd. NE, 505-881-6800, 505-888-2982, fax.

(Wyoming)

Team Flight: Delta #4518 departs Salt Lake City, Fri. Mar. 4 at 12:40 p.m., arriving in Denver at 2:06 p.m. The team then takes bus to Laramie.

Team Flight: Frontier departs Denver, Sat. Mar. 5 at 9:15 p.m., arriving in Salt Lake City at 10:30 p.m.

Team Hotel: Hampton Inn, 3715 E. Grand Ave., 307-742-0125, 307-742-0125, fax.

WHAT’S NEXT

After finishing the 2011 league race on the road, the team heads to Las Vegas for the 2011 MWC Women’s Basketball Championships from the Thomas & Mack Center Mar. 8-12. The tournament winner receives an automatic bid into the 2011 NCAA tournament.