Cougars Tame Broncos, Remain Perfect at Home

PROVO -- The No. 22 BYU women's basketball team sought redemption against Santa Clara Wednesday night at the Marriott Center after two tough road losses, defeating the Broncos 77-63.

The Broncos put up a good fight, but in the end they were not able to withstand the Cougar onslaught as Shawnee Slade recorded her second double double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scores in the game.

"Slade really came ready to play," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "She was a force. She was aggressive and went to the basket."

Santa Clara set the tone of the game in the first minute as the Broncos' star guard Chandice Cronk rolled off a high pick and drained a deep three-pointer. The Cougars's Jenny Keele came right back to knock down a short jumper and a three-pointer to give the Cougars the lead. BYU jumped out to a 9-3 lead before the Broncos' second leading scorer Ashley Gonnerman hit another three to bring the game back within three at 9-6 in the first three minutes of the game.

After BYU's Melinda Johnsen hit an open lay-up to take a seven point lead at 13-6, the Bronco's were forced to use their first time-out to try to hedge the Cougars' drive. The time-out proved effective as the Bronco's Tracey Walker came off the bench to score five unanswered points before teammate Anna Martin hit another three to give the lead back to Santa Clara at 14-13.

Nine minutes into the game the three point shot was clearly the difference maker. The Broncos were five for eight and the Cougars were two for four and SCU had a two-point lead, 19-21. Keele hit another three with 10:30 left in the half to put the Cougars up by one and, although the Broncos kept the game close, the Cougars did not allow Santa Clara to lead again the rest of the half.

With the game tied at 29 with three minutes to go in the first, Slade stole the ball from SC's Graham and scored a fast break lay-up to give the Cougars the lead again at 31-29. Graham would not be denied, though, and hit a deep three to tie the game at 32 before BYU's Mallary Gillespie answered right back with a three of her own. Those three points were the last of the half as the Cougars took the lead into the locker room, 35-32.

Slade started the second half hitting two free throws, bringing the Cougar lead to five and Dani Kubik Wright hit two more to give BYU a seven-point lead. SC's Cronk tried to take control of the game for the Broncos, but missed a lay-up and three-pointer early in the second before she got to the line and made one free throw.

Both teams stepped away from the three point shot in the second half as BYU had not shot a single one more than six minutes into the half and SC was only 0-1 from behind the arc. Instead of both teams racking up threes, they were racking up fouls. After not going to the line at all in the first half, 10 of the Cougars' first 12 points in the second half came from free throws as they went 10 for 12 and by 13 minutes to go in the game both teams were already in the bonus. BYU's Cassie King had five of those points in the first eight minutes of the half.

After going up by eight early in the second, the Broncos pulled within two with ten minutes left in the game. SC's Jen Gottschalk went to the line and knocked down two big free throws to tie the game, but BYU's Johnson came back and went to the line at the other end of the court and drained two of her own. With the Cougars up by two, the Broncos leading scorer for the game, Graham, knocked down a three to give her team the lead for the first time in the half. The Broncos could not celebrate for long as Gillespie knocked down a quick jumper to give the Cougars the lead again at 52-50 with 7:52 to go in the game.

The Broncos decided to go back to the all-important trey and tied the game at 53-53 with a long-range jumper from Martin. At 55-55 with 6:31 to go, the Cougars put up their first three of the game as Johnsen knocked one down from the wing and was fouled on the play. After hitting her free throw BYU took the lead at 59-55. Johnsen took the outlet pass on a fast break the next play and gave the Cougars a six point lead before the Broncos took another time out to regroup.

SC's Graham hit her fifth shot from down town with five minutes to go to bring her team back within two at 61-59. Kubik Wright hit a lay-up with five on the shot clock to put the Cougars up by four and Slade hit two more free throws as the Cougars went up again by six with four minutes to go. Slade was eight for eight from the line as she put the Cougars up by seven and then hit another jumper as the Cougars went up 69-60 with three minutes to go. With two and a half minutes to go, BYU took their biggest lead of the game at ten points, 71-61, with another Gillespie jump shot.

The Broncos' leading scorer, Cronk, came into the game averaging 20 points a game, but was held to only seven against the Cougars. After allowing seven threes in the first half, the Broncos were held to only three in the second.

By the end of the night, the Cougars shining star was Slade with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 10 for 11 from the line and her second double double of the season. In all, the Cougars had four players in double figures for the first time this season: Slade, 22; Gillespie, 14; Keele, 12; and Johnsen, 10. The Cougars are 2-0 at home, when leading at the half and when leading in rebounds.

"Sometimes when you lose games, you have a hard time getting on track," Judkins said. "We played hard and executed well... It's a dang good team we played tonight and we hope to build on this."

The 3-2 Cougar team goes on another grueling three-game road trip beginning Nov. 29 at Harvard, then at Hartford on Dec. 2 and at New Mexico State on Dec. 6.

BYU returns home on Dec. 9, hosting Cal State Northridge. That game will be played at the Smith Fieldhouse and tips off at 4 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
SCU BRONCOS vs BYU COUGARS
11-22-06 4:30 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: SCU BRONCOS 3-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 GONNERMAN, Ashley... f  2-7    0-2    3-4    2  4  6   2   7  0  4  2  3  18
43 GOTTSCHALK, Jen..... f  2-6    0-1    6-8    4  3  7   3  10  1  1  0  1  20
03 CRONK, Chandice..... g  2-10   2-6    1-1    0  1  1   4   7  0  3  0  0  34
22 GRAHAM, Ashley...... g  5-8    5-5    1-2    0  1  1   1  16  2  0  0  0  32
25 MARTIN, Anna........ g  2-10   2-5    0-0    1  1  2   2   6  1  1  0  0  28
05 GOINS, Claire.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  1   8
12 WALKER, Tracey......    4-11   1-2    1-3    1  1  2   4  10  2  4  0  0  23
24 MONTEITH, Kasey.....    2-6    0-0    1-2    2  3  5   2   5  2  0  1  1  18
31 KIMYACIOGLU, Yasemin    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  1  0  0  1   6
33 PURVIS, Brittany....    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0  13
   TEAM................                         1  5  6
   Totals..............   20-60  10-22  13-20  11 20 31  23  63  9 14  3  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-33 36.4%   2nd Half:  8-27 29.6%   Game: 33.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-15 46.7%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 45.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half: 12-18 66.7%   Game: 65.0%    4
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 3-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f  5-14   1-5   11-12   3  7 10   2  22  2  1  0  1  32
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f  3-3    1-1    3-3    0  7  7   3  10  3  3  1  0  36
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c  2-8    0-1    4-5    3  2  5   4   8  1  5  0  1  19
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g  5-6    1-1    1-1    2  5  7   3  12  3  3  0  4  30
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  5-8    2-3    2-2    1  4  5   1  14  1  1  0  0  33
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
33 HALL, Haley.........    0-2    0-1    1-2    1  1  2   2   1  1  5  0  0  23
52 RILEY, Lauren.......    1-6    0-0    1-2    1  3  4   2   3  0  1  1  0  10
54 KING, Cassie........    2-3    0-0    3-4    0  1  1   3   7  0  0  0  1  13
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   23-51   5-12  26-31  12 32 44  20  77 11 19  2  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-32 43.8%   2nd Half:  9-19 47.4%   Game: 45.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 41.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half: 23-27 85.2%   Game: 83.9%    1
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Officials: CONNIE PARDUE, JACK JONES, MIKE PETTY
Technical fouls: SCU BRONCOS-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 585
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
SCU BRONCOS...................   32   31  -   63
BYU COUGARS...................   35   42  -   77
OFFICIAL FINAL