Portland, OR (Dec. 7, 2002) Despite having a perfect game from the free throw line, going 18-18, the 19th ranked BYU women's basketball team suffered their first loss of the year, 80-77 to Pac-10 foe Oregon.
The Cougars were playing their third game in five days and were participating in this year's College Basketball's Pape Jam from the Rose Garden in Portland.
With just under two minutes to go in the ball game Danielle Cheesman made a three point bucket to give the Cougars a one point 77-76 but little did they know that it would be BYU's last points of the game. Oregon's Kayla Steen made a lay-up and gave the home team a one-point lead with 1:08 showing on the clock, then teammate Alisa Edwards was fouled by the Cougars' Kestlee Nelson. Edwards made both foul shots for an 80-77 lead. Senior guard Erin Thorn takes the ball down the court with 15second s to go, and after getting fouled has just nine seconds left and is unable to make a basket before time ran out on the Cougars perfect season.
Oregon got off to a quick start in the early minutes of the game enjoying a seven point 17-10 lead with 12:53 to go in the period. The Cougars stayed focused and battled back with a three-point bucket by senior All-American Erin Thorn to tie the game up 25-25 at the 7:47 minute mark. The Ducks Cathrine Kraayveld comes right back the other way for an easy lay-up and their two-point lead. Seconds later two huge free throws by BYU's Lisa Hansen ties up the contest at 27-27. Then Kali Taylor's three pointer at the 6:15 minute mark put the Cougars up 30-27 and with just one second left on the clock, Nancy Seljaas made two free throws to send her team into the locker room with a six point 38-32 advantage.
In the first half of play BYU outrebounded Oregon 27-18, but in the second half the Ducks big players pounded from the inside scoring 24 unanswered points to eventually take the lead with 3:18 left on the clock.
"Oregon is a very good team and I knew they would battle back, and they did," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins after the team's first loss of the year. "They (Oregon) decided that our big players are better than yours and you can't stop us, and that's exactly what happened, so I give them a lot of credit."
The loss drops the Cougars to 5-1 on the year, while the Ducks improve to 3-3. The road weary BYU team will get a couple of days of rest before heading to the nation's capital for a game against George Washington University on Wed., Dec. 11.
"I think this has been a good road trip for us," said sophomore guard, Kali Taylor, when asked about the team's first loss of the year. "We just need to learn from this game and we have to come out next week and play much better," Taylor added.
Taylor had a solid performance with a season high 10 points. Despite fighting a cold, BYU's leading scorer Erin Thorn picked up 20 points and seven rebounds in the game. Teammate Danielle Cheesman contributed another solid performance with a season high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Jennifer Leitner, also struggling with a cold had eight points and seven rebounds. The Cougars finished the contest shooting 40 percent from the field and had a perfect game from the foul line.
For the Ducks, Cathrin e Kraayeveld picked d up a double -double with a game high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Carolyn Ganes tallied 25 points and seven rebounds in Oregon's victory.
BYU had to play the entire second half without starting point-guard Julie Sullivan who went into the locker room at the break suffering from a deep thigh contusion.
Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs University of Oregon
12/07/02 3 p.m. at Portland, OR
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 5-0
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 4-7 0-2 0-0 3 4 7 3 8 1 1 0 0 33
45 HANSEN, Lisa........ c 3-5 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 3 8 1 2 0 1 14
11 THORN, Erin......... g 5-12 4-9 6-6 0 7 7 3 20 4 4 0 2 36
14 SULLIVAN, Julie..... g 1-4 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 2 3 1 0 0 0 10
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. * 6-19 2-5 2-2 3 7 10 3 16 3 3 0 2 29
01 SELJAAS, Nancy...... 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 5
04 NELSON, Kestlee..... 1-5 1-2 2-2 0 2 2 2 5 3 1 0 1 32
15 OVERDIEK, Jen....... 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 10
20 LARSON, Brittany.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 7
25 TAYLOR, Kali........ 3-5 1-2 3-3 0 2 2 2 10 1 1 1 0 20
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 2 2 4 2
Totals.............. 25-62 9-21 18-18 10 29 39 24 77 15 14 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 25-62 40.3% Game: 40.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 9-21 42.9% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 18-18 100 % Game: 100 % 1
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HOME TEAM: University of Oregon 3-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 GUNDERSON, Kedzie... f 1-8 0-1 3-4 3 2 5 1 5 2 0 0 0 20
33 KRAAYEVELD, Cathrine f 11-18 1-4 3-4 5 7 12 2 26 1 0 1 1 37
44 BILLS, Andrea....... c 4-6 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 3 8 1 1 1 0 12
12 EDWARDS, Alissa..... g 2-3 1-2 2-2 0 3 3 2 7 3 3 0 1 37
21 DAVIS, Brandi....... g 1-7 0-2 1-1 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 18
04 STEEN, Kayla........ 2-6 0-1 1-3 0 2 2 2 5 2 3 0 0 28
05 SHREVE, Kourtney.... 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 0 1 7 0 0 1 18
15 GANES, Carolyn...... 10-18 0-1 5-5 2 5 7 2 25 0 1 0 0 28
32 OKWUMABUA, Yadili... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 2 3 3
Totals.............. 31-67 2-12 16-23 11 25 36 13 80 18 11 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 31-67 46.3% Game: 46.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 16.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 16-23 69.6% Game: 69.6% 3,1
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Officials:
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. University of Oregon-None.
Attendance: 20762
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 38 39 - 77
University of Oregon.......... 32 48 - 80