BYU Wins Battle Down Low

PROVO, Utah (Dec. 9) -- BYU (6-3) held off a physical Cal Northridge (3-7) team to win 55-48, Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars ran hard and lead by as much as 13 in the second half and had their largest deficit at 2-0 after the first shot of the game.

Though BYU lead most of the game and was in control most of the second half, it wasn't the victory women's head coach Jeff Judkins wanted.

"I'm not disappointed in their effort, they just aren't executing like we've practiced," Judkins said after the game. "Riley could have had twenty points, but she needs to slow down and take a good shot. Shawnee defended hard and her offense will come."

BYU came out in the first half with aggressive defense. Melinda Johnsen put some pressure on the Northridge guards, and hustle on the defensive boards kept the Cougars on top early in the first half. Six of the first nine points were layups. Then both teams fell on a scoring drought of over five minutes. That was ended by Shawnee Slade who had a block and then came back to draw a foul. She made her free throws to put the Cougars up14-9 just after the 12-minute mark. With 8:07 left in the first half, the Cougars worked the ball around to find Johnsen open for a 20-foot jumpshot. That made it 22-13 for BYU. The Matadors went on an 8-1 run late in the first half to close the gap to 23-22. Northridge rode their momentum to close the half with a one point lead 26-25.

BYU shot 32.3 percent from the field in the first half, while Northridge shot 36.4 percent. The Cougars had a two-point advantage with points in the paint 10-8, but the matadors won the 2nd chance points 6-1.

The Cougars came out running with a 9-1 run, capped off by a Jennie Keele layup at the 16-minute mark. During the run Mallary Gillespie hit one of her four three pointers. With13:12 left in the game Keele stopped her dribble on the right side and found Gillespie for a backdoor layup, making it 38-29. With 8:28 left in the second half, BYU sharp shooter Gillespie hit her fourth three pointer. Lauren Riley had an easy two with a heads-up inbounds pass from Keele under the basket. The Cougars slowed down the pace in the last seven minutes, which might have aided the slow return of the Matadors. However the Cougars held onto a ten point lead most of the quarter.

"We wanted to slow it down and win the game, and Melinda throws it away," Judkins said. "That's hard. We missed layups but still won. We can learn from this and get better. Riley was aggressive and that's what I want. Keele had a good game tonight."

BYU finished the game shooting 34.4 percent and Northridge shot 27.9 percent from the field. The Cougars shot 25 percent from beyond the arc, but cleaned up 16 offensive boards. Gillespie lead all scorers with 14 points, and the team had 24 points in the paint as opposed to 8 for the Matadors. Keele and Johnsen both dished six assists, and Riley pulled down 13 boards, a new season high for her.

BYU hosts Weber State, Thurs., Dec. 14 at the Marriot Center in a 7:00 p.m. tip.

Official Basketball Box Score

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE vs BYU COUGARS

12/9/06 4:00 P.M. at Provo, Utah

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VISITORS: CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 3-7

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

21 Burries, Jazelle.... f 3-13 0-0 1-3 1 3 4 3 7 2 5 1 2 32

44 Tulikihihifo, Ofa... f 4-14 1-1 2-5 1 2 3 1 11 2 0 0 3 31

00 O'Rourke, Kristin... c 3-7 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 1 6 2 2 0 0 19

02 McCaa, Jamie........ g 4-13 2-6 4-4 3 9 12 2 14 1 5 0 2 37

03 Ching, Megan........ g 0-3 0-0 2-4 0 1 1 4 2 0 0 0 3 32

05 Fuleki, Krisztina... 3-7 2-6 0-0 0 2 2 3 8 2 2 0 1 21

10 Howard, Shanice..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4

32 Hahs, Crystal....... 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 8 8 2 0 0 0 1 0 23

52 Thompson, Katrina... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

TEAM................ 1 3 4

Totals.............. 17-61 5-15 9-16 9 30 39 16 48 10 14 2 11 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-33 36.4% 2nd Half: 5-28 17.9% Game: 27.9% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 56.3% 3

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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 6-3

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

15 KEELE, Jennie....... f 4-5 1-2 0-1 0 4 4 1 9 6 1 0 2 32

30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. f 5-17 4-11 2-4 2 6 8 2 16 3 3 1 0 36

45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 5 6 0 2 0 0 11

52 RILEY, Lauren....... c 4-10 0-0 1-2 6 7 13 3 9 1 7 1 4 24

35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... g 2-5 0-2 1-2 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 0 2 36

05 CHEESMAN, Ashley.... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 11

13 JUDKINS, Jaime...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

22 FADDIS, Brittany.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2

32 SLADE, Shawnee...... 2-12 0-3 4-8 1 6 7 2 8 0 0 1 1 30

54 KING, Cassie........ 1-5 0-2 0-0 1 3 4 0 2 1 5 0 0 17

TEAM................ 3 5 8

Totals.............. 21-61 5-20 8-17 16 39 55 19 55 17 20 3 9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-31 32.3% 2nd Half: 11-30 36.7% Game: 34.4% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-12 16.7% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 25.0% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 47.1% 3

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Officials: Connie Pardue, Rob Bryson, Nick Marshall

Technical fouls: CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE-None. BYU COUGARS-None.

Attendance: 749

Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE.......... 26 22 - 48

BYU COUGARS................... 25 30 - 55

Official