BYU Team Effort Falls Short Against Visiting New Mexico In Overtime

Two days after their win over Air Force Thursday night, the BYU Women's basketball team (17-6,8-2) lost at home for the first time this season against the University of New Mexico (17-7, 7-4) 80-75 in overtime Saturday afternoon in the Marriott Center.

The Cougars started the game strong, leading nine to three in the first five minutes of play. Six of the Cougars' first nine points came from Lauren Riley and the other three coming from Dani Wright.

New Mexico battled back with a combination of rebounding and made free throws and brought the BYU lead to one, 15-14, with 10:52 remaining in the first half. After a Melinda Johnsen three point basket brought the Cougar lead back to four, New Mexico scored six unanswered points to give the Lobos a one point lead 20-19 with 7:24 left in the first half. Over the remaining seven minutes, BYU began to heat up and overtake the Lobos with team rebounding and three point shooting and led by five points, 34-29, at halftime. Lauren Riley led the Cougars in the first half with 10 points and six rebounds.

BYU's 34-29 halftime lead was the 15th time this year the Cougars have led going into the locker room. With the loss, they are now 12-1 when leading after the first 20 minutes of play.

Opening the second half of the game, BYU and New Mexico traded baskets until Mallary Gillespie scored five straight points to give the Cougars the lead 41-33. BYU continued to play well over the next six minutes of play with Gillespie hitting two three pointers and Lauren Riley adding a lay-up to bring the Cougar lead to 9, 49-40, with 12 minutes to go in regulation.

New Mexico responded to the BYU run with their own run and cut the Cougar lead to three, 53-50 with 8:48 left in the second half. With 4:18 to go, BYU led by five points, 62-57 after Dani Wright made two free throws. After the made free throws, New Mexico's Amy Beggin hit a three pointer with 3:42 left in the game to cut the Cougar lead to two, 62-60.

With the BYU lead at two, 64-62, Mallary Gillespie hit two free throws with 1:29 left to expand the Cougar lead to four, 66-62. On the next two Lobo possessions, New Mexico's guards were fouled on three point shots and made five of six foul shots cutting the BYU lead down to two with 48 seconds left in the game. On the next Lobo possession, New Mexico's Katie Montgomery was fouled and hit two free throws to tie the score at 66 all with 26 seconds remaining. With time running out in regulation, Cougar Shawnee Slade missed a jump shot, sending the game into overtime.

"We made mistakes at the end," said BYU Head Coach Jeff Judkins.

In the overtime period BYU quickly scored and led 68-66. On the next New Mexico possession, Lobo Amy Beggins was fouled on a three point shot and hit all three free throws and gave New Mexico the lead 69-68. Mallary Gillespie then hit a three pointer to give the Cougars back the lead with 2:43 left in the overtime period. Cassie King made one free throw with two minutes left to give BYU a three-point lead. New Mexico answered with a made jump shot which cut the BYU lead to one, 72-71 with a minute remaining. After a Cougar missed shot, New Mexico hit another three point shot to give the Lobos back the lead, 74-72 with 38 seconds left in overtime. New Mexico's Dionne Marsh was fouled after rebounding a BYU miss and made two free throws to increase the lead to four, 76-72. New Mexico had a five-point lead with seven seconds left when Mallary Gillespie was fouled and hit two free throws. New Mexico quickly inbounded the ball and was quickly fouled by the Cougars. New Mexico hit both of the free throws, which brought the lead to five and gave New Mexico the five-point victory, 80-75.

Despite the loss, BYU remains in first place in the Mountain West Conference.

"We are still in first place, my team will bounce back," said Coach Judkins.

The Cougars had three players score in double figures with Mallary Gillespie leading with 24 points. The other two were Dani Wright with 20 and Lauren Riley with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Wright's 20 points in the game marks the 15th game this season the senior has scored in double figures. Riley hit her first three shots of the game and scored eight of the first twelve BYU points. She finished with a career-high 18 points on 8-10 shooting from the field. It was the sixth time this season the junior has scored in double figures. She also pulled down 11 rebounds for her second double double of the season and the third of her career. The San Clemente, Calif., native also had the Cougars' only block of the game.

BYU next travels to Laramie to take on the Wyoming Cowgirls on Thursday, February 15 at 7 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score
NEW MEXICO LOBOS vs BYU COUGARS
02-10-07 2:05 pm at MARRIOTT CENTER, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: NEW MEXICO LOBOS 17-7, 7-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 E-NUNU, Timi........ f  2-2    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   5   4  1  1  1  0  22
33 MARSH, Dionne....... f  5-9    0-0   17-22   4 13 17   2  27  0  3  2  1  40
41 KIMBLE, Brandi...... c  5-5    1-1    0-0    0  1  1   3  11  2  1  0  0  21
13 MONTGOMERY, Katie... g  6-13   3-5    7-8    0  2  2   3  22  7  1  0  0  45
40 BRIODY, Julie....... g  0-6    0-1    2-3    1  0  1   0   2  1  2  0  1  34
03 WEISSMANN, Eileen...    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  2  0  0  0   8
10 BEGGIN, Amy.........    2-6    2-4    4-5    0  1  1   2  10  2  0  0  1  29
11 SHELTER, Christian..    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
44 HARTILL, Angela.....    1-5    0-0    2-2    1  3  4   3   4  0  1  0  0  21
   TEAM................                         3  2  5
   Totals..............   21-48   6-12  32-40  10 24 34  18  80 15  9  3  3 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-26 34.6%   2nd Half: 10-19 52.6%   OT:  2-3  66.7%   Game: 43.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  3-5  60.0%   OT:  1-2  50.0%   Game: 50.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-10 90.0%   2nd Half: 14-19 73.7%   OT:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 80.0%    5
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 17-6, 8-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f  1-4    1-3    1-3    1  0  1   3   4  3  1  0  0  43
52 RILEY, Lauren....... f  8-10   0-0    2-2    4  7 11   5  18  0  1  1  0  28
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c  6-9    1-2    7-10   3  3  6   4  20  2  3  0  0  27
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g  1-7    0-4    1-2    1  2  3   3   3  6  1  0  1  33
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g  7-12   6-11   4-4    0  2  2   4  24  4  1  0  1  43
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley....    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  1  0  0  0   8
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
22 FADDIS, Brittany....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
32 SLADE, Shawnee......    1-8    0-3    0-0    0  2  2   3   2  4  3  0  0  24
54 KING, Cassie........    0-2    0-0    2-4    1  0  1   2   2  0  1  0  0  19
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   25-54   8-23  17-25  11 20 31  25  75 20 11  1  2 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-23 56.5%   2nd Half: 10-24 41.7%   OT:  2-7  28.6%   Game: 46.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  3-12 25.0%   OT:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 34.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-9  44.4%   2nd Half:  9-10 90.0%   OT:  4-6  66.7%   Game: 68.0%    2
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Officials: RANDY CAMPBELL, KENT JOHNSON, RICK RUYBALID
Technical fouls: NEW MEXICO LOBOS-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 1313
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   OT   Total
NEW MEXICO LOBOS..............   29   37   14  -   80
BYU COUGARS...................   34   32    9  -   75
OFFICIAL FINAL