Season Home Opener Brings Southern Utah to Marriott Center

The 2004-05 season gets underway for the women's basketball team with a home game against Southern Utah on Friday, Nov. 19. This will be the first regular season game for both teams.

Teams: BYU (0-0) vs. SUU (0-0) Date: Fri., Nov. 19 Time: 7 p.m. Arena: Marriott Ctr.

Follow the women's basketball action live on BYU Radio

All of the women's basketball games can be heard live on BYU radio via the internet. Veteran BYU broadcaster Jay Monsen calls the action. Fans can also access BYU Radio on the Dish Network, Direct TV.

BYU's Probable Starters

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 51 Danielle Cheesman 6-2 Sr 9.8 5.8

F 35 Melinda Johnsen 5-10 So 1.2 1.6

F 32 Kristin Kozlowski 6-2 Sr 3.9 2.0

G 14 Julie Sullivan 5-8 Sr 10.4 2.5

G/F 01 Nancy Seljaas 6-0 Jr 6.5 1.5

Cougar Players Off The Bench

Pos. # Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 33 Ambrosia Anderson 6-2 Jr 9.5 5.6

G/F 25 Kali Taylor 5-11 Sr 5.7 1.4

G 13 Tiari Goold 5-7 So 1.1 0.4

G 10 Laura Stratton 5-6 Jr 1.5 0.2

G 30 Mallary Gillespie 5-10 Fr

F 50 Mary Martha Abell 6-3 Fr

C 52 Lauren Riley 6-3 Fr

2003-04 Final Team Stats

4 Shooting from the field: (.404, 685-1695)

4 Shooting from the free-throw line: (.700, 366-523)

4 Shooting from three-point line: (.329, 142-431)

4 Average points per game: 64.8

Previous Game Recap

BYU played one exhibition game on Nov. 2, defeating Westminster College 83-54. In the game five Cougars scored in double figures with Ambrosia Anderson's team high 12 points. Senior forward Danielle Cheesman led the team effort in rebounds with eight. Newcomer freshman Mallary Gillespie grabbed five boards and dished out a team-high five assits in her 15 miutes of playing of time.

2004-05 Cougar Notables

Three all-conference performers in Julie Sullivan (Second Team), Danielle Cheesman and Ambrosia Anderson (Honorable Mention) return to the BYU team.

uThis year's team returns four starters from last year's lineup (Sullivan, Cheesman, Keele, Taylor)

The top leading scorer on the BYU team, Julie Sullivan, (10.4 ppg) and the top leading rebounder , Danielle Cheesman, (5.8 rpg) are back for their final year in the Cougar blue.

The 2004-05 team returns 11 letterwinners and four starters from last year's team that compiled a 15-14 record and finished 5th, 5-9, in conference play. For the first time, BYU did not play in the championship game of the MWC tournament. The Cougars lost in the quarterfinals 57-60 to UNLV.

Cougar fans will get to see five new faces on the roster that include three freshmen and one transfer from Auburn University. The freshmen are Mary Martha Abell, from Monroe, Louisiana, Mallary Gillespie, from Vineyard, Utah and Mountain View High School, and Lauren Riley, a 6-3 center from San Clementa, Calif. Dani Kubik is a sophomore center from Lawrenceville, Georgia. She played one season at Auburn and will be eligible to play for BYU beginning in December.

Injury Update

Junior guard/forward Jennie Keele fractured her right foot during the team's first practice of the year. She's expected to return to action in early December.

About Southern Utah

Southern Utah opens the 2004-05 campaign with five returning letterwinners and one starter from last year's team that went 18-10, 9-7 in conference play. The team's top returning player is senior forward Sarah Hutton from Orem, Utah and TImpanogos High School. She tallies 10.1 ppg and a team high 5.7 rpg. Head Coach Joe Hillock is in his 9th season with the Thunderbirds. SUU competed in one exhition game against the Utah Showcase Team. The Thunderbirds won the game 92-73. Sarah Hutton had a game-high 26 points.Three other teammates also scored in double figures. SUU outrebounded Utah Showcase a record 59 to 34.

Series Record: 14-3 favoring BYU. SUU is 2-7 when playing at the Marriott Center.

Last Meeting: The two instate schools met last year in Provo where the Thunderbirds picked up a 72-70 victory. The win for SUU was the first over BYU at the Marriott Center since December 9, 1988 when the Thunderbirds won 85-82.

Head Coach - Jeff Judkins

Overall Record: 58-35, begins his fourth season at BYU.

Under Coach Judkins, the team has gone to back-to-back NCAA appearances as well as to the title games of the MWC Championships, winning the title game in 2001-02.

An all-state selection in basketball, football and baseball, Judkins played basketball for the University of Utah Utah from 1974-78. While playing for the Utes, he helped the team win one conference championship and two berths in the NCAA Tournament.

He was a second-team academic All-American and three-time first-team District VII academic selection. Judkins earned three first-team All-WAC honors and was a member of the 1977 United States World Games team that captured the gold medal.

He played five years in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons and the Utah Jazz. He was a second-round pick by the Celtics in 1978, the same year the Celtics selected Larry Bird with the sixth pick overall.

After his NBA career, he returned to the U of U in 1989, and remained with the men's program for 10 years. Judkins, a Salt Lake City native, graduated from Utah in 1978 with a degree in health and physical education. He is a member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and the Crimson Club Hall of Fame.

He and his wife Mary Kay, are the parents of five children: Jessica (24), Jordan (22), Jenna (20), Jaime (17), Jaxson (14).

2004-05 Roster Breakdown

Seniors (4):

Danielle Cheesman, Kristen Kozlowski, Julie Sullivan, Kali Taylor

Juniors (5):

Ambrosia Anderson, Julie Cross, Jennie Keele (Overdiek), Nancy Seljaas, Laura Stratton

Sophomore (3):

Dani Kubik, Tiari Goold,Melinda Johnsen

Freshman (4):

Mary Martha Abell, Mallary Gillespie, Lauren Riley, Summer Sykes

By Position

Forward (6):

Mary Martha Abell, Ambrosia Anderson, Danielle Cheesman, Kristen Kozlowski,

Summer Sykes

Guard (6):

Julie Cross, Mallary Gillespie, Tiari Goold, Laura Stratton, Julie Sullivan, Kali Taylor

Guard/Forward (3):

Melinda Johnsen, Jennie Keele, Nancy Seljaas

Center /Forward(2):

Dani Kubik, Lauren Riley

Team's Practice Schedule/Media Interviews

The BYU team practices at the Marriott Center from 11 a.m., to 2 p.m., on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's. On Tuesday's , practice time is from 1 to 3 p.m., and from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., on Thursdays.

Media interviews with coach Judkins and players can be done prior to or at the end of practice. All interviews must be scheduled in advance with the women's basketball athletic communications director, Norma Collett at 801-422-4908, 801-372-0989 during regular business hours or via email at: collett@byucougars.com

No interviews will be given the day of a game until after the game. Updated information on the women's basketball team is available 24 hours a day on the BYU web site at www.byucougars.com/basketball_w/

Stats on the team are updated on the web site every Monday morning. Media members may contact Norma Collett to receive news releases and game notes via email.

All working media personnel will be put on a media gate list for entry into the arena. The list will be available by the elevators near the main ticket office in the Marriott Center. No other credentials are needed. Media will be assigned a seat on press row to cover each home game.

What's Next

The Cougar team will play two more games at home this month. They host Nevada on Nov. 24 and Arizona on Nov. 27. Tip off for the Nevada game is 7 p.m., and against Arizona , the game begins at 2 p.m.