PROVO -- For the second consecutive game, the BYU women's basketball team battled back from a second-half deficit, but the Cougars could not pull out a win against Montana, losing 70-67, Saturday night at the Marriott Center.
A three-pointer by Montana guard Cheryl Keller put the Lady Grizzlies up 69-67 with 19 seconds remaining, but sophomore All-American Erin Thorn missed a jumper with six seconds remaining that would have tied the game. BYU fouled Montana guard Brooklynn Lorenzo who made one of two free throws to increase the lead to 70-67. A last second desperation heave by Thorn fell short as did the Cougars.
Down by nine points at the 14:08 mark of the second half, BYU chipped into Montana's margin and eventually took its first lead since 8-7, with 3:44 remaining in the game. The teams battled back and forth the rest of the way. Thorn hit a clutch three-point basket with 2:22 remaining to put BYU up 67-64, but Keller hit the eventual game-winning shot to seal the victory.
"Montana played really well tonight and they hit some big shots," said BYU head coach Trent Shippen. "Our biggest problem is that we start off slow. We knew what they (Montana) were going to do, but we need to come out ready to play."
Thorn led a balanced BYU scoring attack with 15 points while freshman Julie Whetten scored a season and career high 12 points, with Stacy Jensen chipping in 10 points and five rebounds.
BYU shot only 39 percent from the field while Montana hit on 50 percent of its field goal attempts. The Cougars made 7-of-19 three pointers while the Lady Grizzlies made 8-of-16 from behind the arc.
Linda Cummings led a balanced Montana attack, scoring 13 points while Lauren Cooper and Keller also scored 13. Center Laura Valley chipped in 10 points for the Lady Grizzlies.
The loss drops the Cougars to 5-3 on the season while Montana improves to 7-2. BYU will host Weber State, Friday at 7 p.m., in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
MONTANA Grizzlies vs BYU Cougars
12-09-00 7:00 PM at BYU MARRIOTT CENTER PROVO UT
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VISITORS: MONTANA Grizzlies 7-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 COOPER, LAUREN...... f 5-9 2-4 1-1 0 4 4 1 13 3 1 0 0 28
22 CUMMINGS, Linda..... f 5-12 1-2 2-2 0 7 7 2 13 3 1 0 0 32
32 VALLEY, Laura....... c 4-5 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 5 10 0 3 1 0 23
12 KELLER, Cheryl...... g 5-8 3-4 0-0 0 3 3 2 13 1 0 0 1 26
23 LORENZEN, Brooklyn.. g 3-5 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 7 3 0 0 2 20
03 PHILLIPS, Amy....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
15 FARISS, Jamie....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
24 MONTER, LeAnn....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 6 2 0 0 20
33 NEIER, Leah......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
43 SCHILDT, Simarron... 2-7 1-4 2-2 2 5 7 1 7 0 1 0 1 25
55 DEMING, Julie....... 3-6 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 7 0 1 0 0 22
TEAM................ 1 4 5
Totals.............. 27-54 8-16 8-9 4 25 29 17 70 16 10 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 .538 2nd Half: 13-28 .464 Game: .500 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 .571 2nd Half: 4-9 .444 Game: .500 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 1.000 2nd Half: 6-7 .857 Game: .889 0
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 5-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
31 OSGUTHORPE, Lisa.... f 1-6 0-1 1-1 4 0 4 3 3 4 3 0 1 24
50 CHEESMAN, Heather... f 3-9 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 2 6 0 0 0 0 31
44 BEUS, Caroline...... c 1-4 0-0 4-5 3 1 4 3 6 1 1 0 1 25
11 THORN, Erin......... g 6-14 3-8 0-0 0 5 5 0 15 4 1 1 0 35
22 JENSEN, Stacy....... g 4-11 1-4 1-2 2 3 5 2 10 2 5 0 0 35
04 SHIPPEN, Kaly G..... 2-4 1-3 2-3 1 0 1 2 7 0 0 0 0 10
14 WHETTEN, Julie...... 4-4 2-2 2-2 0 3 3 0 12 2 1 0 0 17
15 COX, Jorja.......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
20 LARSON, Brittany.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
23 ROSE, Chanell....... 2-5 0-0 4-4 0 3 3 1 8 0 0 1 1 16
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 23-59 7-19 14-17 14 24 38 14 67 13 12 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-29 .310 2nd Half: 14-30 .467 Game: .390 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 .222 2nd Half: 5-10 .500 Game: .368 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-10 1.000 2nd Half: 4-7 .571 Game: .824 0
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Officials: AMANDA MYLES, MIKE PETTY, CAMERON INOUGE
Technical fouls: MONTANA Grizzlies-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 506
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
MONTANA Grizzlies............. 34 36 - 70
BYU Cougars................... 30 37 - 67