Salt Lake City, UT (Jan.26, 2002) Melanie Pearson's off the bench performance propels BYU to a 77-65 win over Utah at the Huntsman Center Saturday.
In a passionate pre-game speech, coach Jeff Judkins asked the Cougars to play with focus and intensity, citing all the reasons they could win. And the BYU team did, they delivered offensively, defensively and with the win.
The Cougars played swarming defense to unsettle the Utah offense early in the game and kept a hand in the face of every Utah shooter to hold the Utes to 36 percent shooting through the first half.
It wasn't just the BYU defense giving Utah fits all day. The Cougar offense hit 60 percent through the first half.
BYU's last win at Utah came in a 46-41 defensive battle in 2000. By the end of the first half Saturday, the Cougars had already scored 41 to take a 12-point half-time lead into the locker room that included shooting 50 percent from behind the arc and 70 percent from the free throw line.
"We came out and played hard from the start," said Coach Judkins, "and were able to maintain our intensity."
The Cougars received another great performance off the bench as Melanie Pearson scored 12 points in the first period, setting a new personal best for points in a half.
"Melanie played a great game for us off the bench and really sparked us," said Judkins.
The Cougars, 8-0 when leading at the half, got off to a slow start in the second period allowing the Utes to trim the lead to eight before coming alive offensively on a three-pointer by All-American Erin Thorn.
Senior guard Stacy Jensen left the game less than three minutes into the second half after suffering a cut above her right eye while fighting for a loose ball. She returned at the 15-minute mark unaffected by the injury. Jensen finished the night with eight points and six stitches.
Utah continued to chip away at the Cougars lead throughout the second half, getting as close as seven before the Cougar offense came alive with some clutch shooting and great hustle to rebuild a double digit lead they would never lose.
Pearson continued her hot shooting in the second period scoring another 16 points, missing only two shots for the game. She finished the game leading all scorers with 28, a new season high at BYU, just two points shy of her 30 point career-high while playing for UCLA.
Erin Gibbons led Utah with 21 points followed by Lauren Beckman's 15 points and seven rebounds. The Tues shot 36 percent from the field for the game.
All-American Erin Thorn finished the game with 15 points for the Cougars followed by Lisa Hansen's nine. Junior forward Jennifer Loiter had a team high nine rebounds.
The Cougars shot 49 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range going 10-20 in the game.
BYU 12-6, 3-2 on the season returns to action Thursday, Jan. 31 in Provo against San Diego State. Tip off will be 7 p.m.
Utah falls to 9-8, 2-3 in the MWC and host UNLV on Thursday, Jan. 31 in conference action.
Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Utah
01/26/01 3:00 pm at Salt Lake City, Utah (Huntsman Center)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 12-6, 3-2 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 LEITNER, Jennifer... f 3-7 1-3 1-2 3 6 9 3 8 3 3 3 2 32
31 Osguthorpe, Lisa.... f 2-4 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 1 4 6 0 0 0 32
51 Cheesman, Danielle.. c 2-6 0-1 1-4 2 3 5 3 5 1 0 0 1 23
11 Thorn, Erin......... g 5-12 3-5 2-2 0 5 5 4 15 5 5 0 0 31
22 Jensen, Stacy....... g 3-8 1-2 1-1 0 2 2 5 8 2 0 0 0 34
05 Lewis, Amy.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
12 Pearson, Melanie.... 7-9 5-7 9-9 2 1 3 4 28 0 1 0 0 20
20 Larson, Brittany.... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
23 Rose, Chanell....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 7
25 Taylor, Kali........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
45 Hansen, Lisa........ 4-5 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 2 9 0 0 1 0 15
TEAM................ 1 2 3 1
Totals.............. 26-53 10-20 15-21 9 23 32 25 77 18 11 4 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-25 60.0% 2nd Half: 11-28 39.3% Game: 49.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% Game: 50.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 71.4% 2
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HOME TEAM: Utah 9-8, 2-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 McCOLL, Katherine... f 1-5 0-0 1-1 3 3 6 4 3 1 2 0 1 25
25 HERBERT, Lindsay.... f 3-9 1-3 2-3 0 2 2 4 9 3 1 0 1 32
52 BECKMAN, Lauren..... c 4-9 0-1 7-8 2 5 7 4 15 2 2 1 0 35
04 GIBBONS, Erin....... g 5-14 3-8 8-10 1 2 3 0 21 2 2 0 1 38
14 STIREMAN, Kelsy..... g 3-4 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 7 2 3 0 1 25
05 WOBBE, Sarah........ 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 15
12 ELLETT, Katrena..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
32 SITTERUD, Lana...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
33 HENDRIX, Sharee..... 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 5
45 MARSHALL, Carley.... 3-9 0-3 1-3 3 2 5 3 7 0 1 0 0 20
TEAM................ 2 4 6
Totals.............. 19-52 5-16 22-29 13 22 35 18 65 11 11 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-25 36.0% 2nd Half: 10-27 37.0% Game: 36.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 15-20 75.0% Game: 75.9% 4
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Officials: Scotty Hermann, Les Williams, Jack Jones
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Utah-None.
Attendance: 3556
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 41 36 - 77
Utah.......................... 29 36 - 65