In a dominating offensive show, the Cougars of BYU pummeled the Falcons of Air Force 81-52 in Clune Arena. With the win, the Cougars are 2-2 in Mountain West Conference play and 11-6 overall. The Falcons fell to 0-3 in the conference and 4-12 overall.
The Cougars took a commanding 42-27 half time lead and never looked back in completing the 29 point blowout.
Phenomenal from three-point range, the Cougars were led by All-American Erin Thorn's 23 points on 7 of 10 shooting behind the arc. Close on her heels, Heather Cheesman came off the bench with a perfect offensive performance, going 6-6 from three-point range and 8-8 overall to give the Cougars 22 points and set a new personal record. Heather's previous best was 16 points.
Also reaching double digits in points was Heather's sister Danielle who had 12 points.
The Cougars shot well as a team hitting 53 percent from the floor, 58 percent from three-point land. Adding to their offensive display, the Cougars were nearly perfect from the foul line hitting 18 of 19.
As good as the Cougars were offensively, they may have been even better on defense, holding the Falcons to a dismal 32 percent shooting from the field.
"We played a good game and shot the ball well," said head coach Jeff Judkins. "Heather Cheesman had her best offensive game of the year and Chanell Rose had her best defensive gave of the year."
Heather Cheesman's 6-6 shooting from three-point range is a new BYU record for three-point shooting percentage. The previous record was held by Behka Stafford who shot 6-7 in 1993. BYU's 15 three-pointers is second all-time and tied a previous conference best set four years ago against Air Force.
Junior forward Jennifer Leitner sat out Saturday's game with a sprained wrist but is expected back next week.
The Cougars will play Utah at Utah Jan. 26 before returning to Provo for a two-game home stand. Tip-off will be 3 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
BYU vs AF
01/19/02 12:00 p.m. at Air Force Academy (Clune Arena)
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VISITORS: BYU 11-6, 2-2 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Rose, Chanell....... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 1 0 2 2 2 3 20
31 Osguthorpe, Lisa.... f 1-2 0-1 4-4 1 2 3 2 6 2 2 0 1 17
51 Cheesman, Danielle.. c 3-4 0-0 6-6 1 5 6 2 12 0 4 1 1 23
11 Thorn, Erin......... g 7-10 7-10 2-2 0 3 3 1 23 1 1 0 1 24
22 Jensen, Stacy....... g 2-7 1-2 0-0 0 3 3 4 5 5 3 0 1 24
05 Lewis, Amy.......... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 2 5 0 1 8
12 Pearson, Melanie.... 1-3 0-2 2-3 0 2 2 1 4 3 1 0 1 14
20 Larson, Brittany.... 0-1 0-0 4-4 0 0 0 2 4 1 1 0 1 17
25 Taylor, Kali........ 1-5 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 16
45 Hansen, Lisa........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 0 5 0 0 15
50 Cheesman, Heather... 8-8 6-6 0-0 2 0 2 2 22 2 0 1 1 22
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 24-45 15-26 18-19 7 23 30 23 81 19 24 4 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8% 2nd Half: 13-22 59.1% Game: 53.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-13 53.8% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 57.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 13-14 92.9% 2nd Half: 5-5 100 % Game: 94.7% 1
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HOME TEAM: AF 4-12, 0-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 JACKSON, Amoy....... f 3-8 0-3 6-13 3 4 7 0 12 1 0 0 1 27
25 RUSS, Rozalyn....... f 0-3 0-1 2-2 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 13
35 CLIFTON, Samantha... f 3-7 0-0 0-1 1 0 1 1 6 0 2 0 0 27
05 HOWELL, Latoya...... g 2-6 1-3 5-6 2 1 3 4 10 2 8 1 3 26
22 TOMLINSON, Alison... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 1 16
11 GROVE, Gwen......... 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 2 8
14 CHILDRESS, Janea.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
20 BLUNT, Kaelin....... 1-2 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 0 4 0 6 0 1 8
30 GROSS, Emily........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 12
32 STILLMAN, Wendy..... 2-5 0-1 4-6 1 2 3 3 8 0 1 1 1 15
33 BENNETT, Morgan..... 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 17
40 NEFF, Shawna........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 3 1 4 1 0 2 2 0 1 17
42 BAUER, Brooke....... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 14-44 2-14 22-34 15 14 29 15 52 8 25 2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-24 37.5% 2nd Half: 5-20 25.0% Game: 31.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 14.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 15-24 62.5% Game: 64.7% 4
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Officials: Edward Flores, Sue Kennedy, Tanya Porter
Technical fouls: BYU-None. AF-None.
Attendance: 244
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU........................... 42 39 - 81
AF............................ 27 25 - 52