Women Host SDSU, Play at Utah in MWC Action

With just two weeks remaining in the 2009 MWC race, the BYU women (17-7, 7-5) continue league play hosting SDSU (18-6, 9-3) on Wed. Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. They follow it up with a short road trip to Salt Lake City to take on instate rival Utah (18-7, 11-1).The Cougars and Utes battle Sat., Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m. at the Huntsman Center. The contest will be the second Deseret First Duel matchup in women’s basketball.

Game Information

When:2/25/09 Where: vs.SDSU Tip: 7 p.m. MST Arena: Marriott Ctr.

When:2/28/09 Where:@Utah Tip:1:30 p.m. MST Arena:Huntsman Ctr.

Broadcast Plans

Television: The BYU vs. SDSU game will air live worldwide on BYUTV. Jarom Jordan and Kristen Kozlowski will call the action.The Cougars and Utes game on Feb. 28 is live on the Mtn., with Mike Evans and Andrea Lloyd calling the action.

Internet: Live audio streaming is available for both games on the internet at BYU Radio with Jay Monsen calling the action. A link is available by going to http://www.byucougars.com/basketball_w/

Stats: Live stats through GameTracker are available as well. A link is available by logging on to the BYU women’s basketball home page at http://www.byucougars.com/basketball_w/

BYU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

03 Jazmine Foreman G 5-5 So 7.0 4.1

22 Mindy Nielson G 5-10 So 10.8 3.9

32 Shawnee Slade F 5-11 Sr 9.5 4.1

45 Keilani Moeaki F 6-2 So 5.6 3.1

54 Cassie King C 6-3 Sr 7.4 5.9

Off the Bench

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

23 Coriann Wood F 6-1 So 7.1 5.1

35 Kristen Riley C 6-3 Fr 3.7 3.6

14 Sarah Hostetter G/F 5-11 Sr 2.9 1.0

24 Dani Peterson F 6-1 Fr 2.0 1.5

21 Stephanie Buhler F 6-1 Fr (rs) 1.9 0.1

55 Megan Marks F 6-3 So 1.4 1.4

13 Jaime Judkins G 5-6 Jr 1.1 0.2

01 Jenteal Jackson G 5-7 Fr 0.9 0.6

2008-09 Cougar Stats Summary --

-- Shooting from the field: (.379, 536-1416)

-- Shooting from the free-throw line: (.706, 228-323)

-- Shooting from three-point line: (.278, 121-436)

-- Average points per game: 59.2

-- Average rebounds per game: 38.0

-- Average assists per game: 13.6

-- Average steals per game: 9.4

-- Average blocks per game: 3.5

-- Average turnovers per game: 17.4

Head Coach - Jeff Judkins

Overall Record: 156-85

2008-09: 17-7, 7-5

This Week’s MWC Opponents

San Diego State (Feb. 25, 2009) in Provo, Utah - 7 p.m. (MST)

San Diego State comes to Provo in third place in this week’s league standings with a 9-3 record. Paris Johnson is one of three players scoring in double figures for the Aztecs with 15.1 points and a team high 8.5 rebounds. Jene Morris follows with 13.8 points and 2.8 boards, while Quenese Davis is contributing 11.4 points and grabs 4.0 boards per game. Morris leads in the steals category with 72 to date and Davis tops the team in assists dishing out 136 so far this season. Head coach Beth Burns is in her 12th season at the helm of the women’s basketball program at SDSU.

SDSU Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

24 Jennifer Layton-Bailes F 6-1 Sr 8.8 4.8

32 Paris Johnson C 6-4 So 15.1 8.5

02 Coco Davis G 5-9 So 4.5 3.6

03 Quenese Davis G 5-9 Jr 11.4 4.0

05 Jene Morris G 5-9 Jr 13.8 2.8

Stat Comparison

Category BYU SDSU

Points: 59.2 64.8

FG: .379 .428

FT: .706 .597

3FG: .278 .341

Reb: 38.0 34.5

Series Information

Record: BYU leads the series 25-11

Last Meeting: The Aztecs and Cougars met in January in the first of two league games. In the contest in San Diego, the home team won 56-36. When playing at the Marriott Center, SDSU has compiled a 2-12 record winning last in Provo on Jan. 14, 1995 when both teams were in the WAC. San Diego State won that game 63-55. Coach Judkins has a 13-2 record against the Aztecs.

First Meeting in 2009 - San Diego,Calif. on 1/24/09

Score: 56-36 in favor of SDSU

A tough road outing was made more difficult by BYU’s shooting woes as they fell to San Diego State 56-36 after shooting just 12-of-51 (24 percent) from the field. Aztec center Paris Johnson led all scorers in the game with 15 points, and had a game-high 11 rebounds. Sarah Red-Hostetter led the Cougars with nine points, and Kristen Riley had career-highs with eight rebounds and three blocks. San Diego State turned 24 Cougar turnovers into twenty six points, and the Aztecs out-rebounded BYU 43-33.

Key Stats in 1st Game BYU SDSU

Field Goal Percentage12-of-51 (23%) 23-of-55 (42%)

Free-Throw Percentage11-of-14 (77%) 6-of-13 (46%)

Three-point Percentage 1-of-10 (10%) 4-of-14 (29%)

Rebounds 33 43

UTAH (Feb. 28, 2009) in Salt Lake City, UT - 1:30 p.m. (MST)

The University of Utah is in first place in the MWC race with an 11-1 league record. The team’s lone loss was at SDSU. They are at UNLV on Wed., Feb. 25 before hosting the Cougars on Sat. Topping the list in scoring for the Utes is Morgan Warburton with 18.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Junior Kalee Whipple is next with 17.6 points and 6.2 boards. In third place in scoring is Katie King who tallies 10.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. In the rebound category the team is led by Halie Sawyer who grabs 8.3 boards per contest. The team’s assist leader is Warburton with 87 and Whipple leads in steals with 63 to date.

UTAH Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

22 Halie Sawyer F 6-1 Jr 8.2 8.3

31 Katie King F 6-1 Sr 10.8 7.0

02 Kalee Whipple F/G 6-0 Jr 17.6 6.2

05 Hanna Stephens G 5-8 Fr 3.1 1.8

15 Morgan Warburton G 5-11 Sr 18.9 6.4

Stat Comparison

Category BYU UTAH

Points: 59.2 65.2

FG: .379 .455

FT: .706 .815

3FG: .278 .353

Reb: 38.0 38.9

Series Information

Record: Utah leads the series with a 59-33 record.

Last Meeting: In the first matchup between these two instate rivals and MWC foes, the Utes grabbed the 63-55 victory in Provo on Jan. 28, 2009. When playing at the Huntsman Center, the Cougars have an 8-29 record where they last won on Jan. 7, 2006, a 61-60 victory. Coach Jeff Judkins has an 6-11 record against Utah.

First Meeting in 2009 - Provo, Utah on 1/28/09

Score: 63-55 in favor of Utah

Despite a strong comeback effort in the second half against the visiting Utah Utes, the BYU women’s basketball team fell 55-63 as the teams renewed their Deseret First Duel rivalry. A competitive first half featured five lead changes with neither team taking control. The Cougars appeared to go into halftime with a lead, but a Kalee Whipple steal with just a few seconds remaining created a free throw opportunity to tie the score at 27-27 at halftime. The Utes maintained a lead throughout the second half to build a 50-42 lead. BYU trimmed the lead to 53-48 when Foreman stole the ball away from Utah’s Katie King and pushed the ball to Slade, who made the easy transition layup. But, it would not be enough.

Key Stats in 1st game BYU UTAH

Field Goal Percentage20-of-61 (33%) 21-of-54) 39%

Free-Throw Percentage10-of-13 (77%) 16-of-19 (84%)

Three-point Percentage5-of-16 (31%) 5-of-19 (29%)

Rebounds 36 40

DESERET FIRST DUEL SERIES (2008-09)

As the second year of the Deseret First Duel Series is underway, the University of Utah has a 29-8 advantage heading into this week’s battles in both men and women’s basketball competitions. The Cougars claimed sports supremacy over the Utes last season and took home the first Deseret First Duel trophy with a 34-30 edge in the point tally. The rivalry series includes competition in the 12 sports in which the two universities compete head to head during regular-season play and uses a system that awards points to the winner of each competition.

A team trophy is awarded to the individual winner of each sport -- football, basketball, softball, etc. Points won by the individual sports count toward each school’s overall total.

The 2007-08 season marked the first year of the Deseret First Duel Rivalry Series presented by Deseret First Credit Union. The term Deseret refers to the original name of the territory of Utah (State of Deseret) and is an appropriate name for an athletic rivalry that dates back to the 1890s. The term Duel refers to a contest between two parties to decide a point of honor. Blending the two terms is the ideal name for a formalized series.

The Utah vs. BYU rivalry is one of the oldest and strongest in the country. In November 2005, the Wall Street Journal rated the rivalry the fourth best in college athletics. Thanks to a partnership with Deseret First Credit Union, the rivalry now has an official name and a traveling trophy to signify yearly supremacy.

What’s Next

The MWC race comes to an end next week as the Cougars host Wyoming on Wed., March 4 at 7 p.m., before their final regular season league game at the Air Force Academy on Sat., Mar.7.

The following week the team travels to Las Vegas to compete in the 2009 MWC Women’s Basketball Championships, March. 10-14. The tournament champion gets an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.