Women Drop Another Conference Game

USAFA -- The BYU women's basketball team fell to Air Force on Saturday for the first time in program history, 54-49. With the loss, the Cougars are now 13-13 overall and 7-7 in the Mountain West Conference, while the Falcons improved to 10-16 (4-10 MWC) on the year.

BYU was led by a pair of juniors who each recorded a team-high 10 points in Cassie King and Shawnee Slade. The Cougars also saw an impressive performance from senior captain Lauren Riley-Varley who pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.

"We had our opportunities to win this game, but we just could not execute down the stretch," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. "Cassie [King] did a great job scoring for us in the post. I hope we are able to learn from this loss."

Air Force was led on the afternoon by senior forward Alecia Steele who recorded a double-double as she finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. BYU was up by one with 36 seconds left, 49-48, before the Air Force rattled off six unanswered points to win.

Slade help keep the Cougars in the game as she hit two big mid-range jumpers to keep her team in the game. Her last made basket came with 56 seconds to play and helped put BYU up by one 49-48.

Although the Cougars were able to keep the score close with the Falcons all afternoon, BYU was unable to convert on any shots attempted in the final 45 seconds of the game which allowed the Air Force to close the game out on a 6-0 run and seal the victory.

The first half was highly contested and went back and forth for the first 20 minutes of the game. A major factor of the early action was BYU's stiff defense. The Cougars held the Falcons to only 29 percent shooting in the first half.

Air Force was able to keep the score close as they pulled down 10 first-half offensive rebounds creating additional scoring opportunities

Riley-Varley also helped the Cougars in the first half as she collected nine rebounds before her team went into the locker room up by one 24-23.

The BYU women's basketball team will next be in action on March 5 as they take on Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. That game will begin at 6 p.m. and will be televised live on the Mtn.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young Univer vs Air Force Academy
3/1/08 2:00 p.m. at Clune Arena - USAF Academy, Colo.
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VISITORS: Brigham Young Univer 13-13, 7-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley.... f  2-6    0-0    1-1    0  2  2   3   5  1  1  1  0  21
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f  4-11   1-3    1-2    1  1  2   1  10  2  0  0  0  37
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g  2-6    2-4    2-2    1  1  2   2   8  2  3  1  1  32
30 CARLING, Mallary.... g  2-11   2-9    0-0    1  1  2   1   6  5  3  0  2  33
52 VARLEY, Lauren...... *  1-4    0-0    0-0    5  9 14   2   2  0  2  2  0  27
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   7
13 JUDKINS, Jaime......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  1  1  0  1   7
14 RED, Sarah..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  1  0  0   3
23 WOOD, Coriann.......    2-2    2-2    2-2    1  1  2   3   8  1  1  1  0  14
45 MOEAKI, Keilani.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  0  0  0   5
54 KING, Cassie........    5-6    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   1  10  0  0  0  0  14
   TEAM................                         1  5  6             2
   Totals..............   18-48   7-19   6-7   11 23 34  17  49 14 14  5  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23 43.5%   2nd Half:  8-25 32.0%   Game: 37.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 36.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-1  100 %   2nd Half:  5-6  83.3%   Game: 85.7%    1
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HOME TEAM: Air Force Academy 10-16, 4-10
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 STEELE, Alecia...... f  6-15   0-0    3-6    6  6 12   0  15  0  0  0  1  38
20 BECK, Raimee........ g  4-12   1-6    1-2    2  2  4   1  10  1  2  0  4  37
30 FINDLAY, Pamela..... g  2-8    1-3    4-4    2  2  4   2   9  3  4  0  0  32
34 CULTRA, Brooke...... g  1-5    0-1    2-3    1  0  1   1   4  1  0  0  0  20
43 KREKE, Kim.......... *  2-7    1-2    2-2    3  4  7   4   7  0  1  1  1  28
22 DAVIS, Jamie........    3-7    1-5    0-0    1  0  1   2   7  2  1  0  2  32
35 LOVELESS, Dana......    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  4  4   0   2  0  1  0  0  12
54 DUNSWORTH, Liz......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
   TEAM................                         4  1  5
   Totals..............   19-57   4-17  12-17  19 19 38  11  54  7  9  1  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-31 29.0%   2nd Half: 10-26 38.5%   Game: 33.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-9  22.2%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 23.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  9-13 69.2%   Game: 70.6%    1
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Officials: Jack Jones, Marianne Karp, Peter Contreras
Technical fouls: Brigham Young Univer-None. Air Force Academy-None.
Attendance: 424
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young Univer..........   24   25  -   49
Air Force Academy.............   23   31  -   54
Points in the paint-BY 10,AF 10. Points off turnovers-BY 4,AF 15.
2nd chance points-BY 9,AF 17. Fast break points-BY 0,AF 0.
Bench points-BY 18,AF 9. Score tied-11 times. Lead changed-9 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-01:00, AF 2nd-00:32.
Largest lead-BY by 6 1st-01:37, AF by 5 2nd-00:04.