BYU Suffers First Home Loss of the Season

PROVO -- Plagued by a poor shooting performance and lackluster play, the BYU women's basketball team suffered its first loss at home this season, falling to Colorado State, 63-52.

Colorado State (13-3, 2-0) and BYU (12-4, 2-1) came into the much-anticipated game with identical records and the sole rights to first place in the conference at stake. However, following a tight first half, the Cougars could not battle back for a win.

"We struggled with our shooting tonight," said BYU head coach Trent Shippen. "We shot 38 percent when we usually average around 48 percent. Part of that was their defense and part of that was us."

The Rams held each of BYU's top three scorers to under double digits. Jill Adams, Cady Williams and Erin Thorn scored a combined 14 points, 26 below their usual average of 40 total points per game. The only two Cougars to score in double figures were guard Stacy Jensen with 14 and forward Lori Cuff with 11.

Center Lisa Narkiewicz led the Rams with 16 points and seven rebounds, while guard Angie Thorton tacked on 12 points. Colorado State outrebounded the Cougars 32-31 and shot 44 percent to BYU's 38.

"They were definitely better than us tonight," Shippen said. "We've got to be more mentally tough against good, quality opponents, especially on our home floor."

With the loss, BYU saw its consecutive win streak snapped at six.

The Cougars will continue Mountain West Conference play Saturday, hosting Wyoming at 4 p.m.