After two MWC wins at home last week, the Cougar women take to the road for the remaining league games. That road swings starts this Saturday as BYU meets instate rival Utah at the Huntsman Center. The Utes (20-4, 10-1) and the Cougars 16-8, 7-4) tip off at 3 p.m.
Tip off: BYU (16-8, 7-4) vs Utah (20-4, 10-1, ) 3 p.m., MST Arena: Huntsman Center
live webcast/kjzz, chan. 14
All of BYU's women's basketball games can be heard live via the internet at byu radio. org BYU radio can also be heard on the Dish Network and on Direct TV. Veteran BYU broadcaster Jay Monsen is the play-by-play announcer for all games. Saturday's matchup with Utah will also air live locally on KJZZ, Chan. 14. Steve Brown will do the play by play and Holly Rowe will provide color analysis.
BYU's Probable Starters
Pos.#NameHt.Yr.PPGRPG
F40Ashleigh Chamberlain6-4Jr4.32.7
G15Jen Overdiek5-10Fr3.72.6
C51Danielle Cheesman6-2So11.45.7
G11 Erin Thorn 5-10 Sr18.54.3
G04Kestlee Nelson5-8 Jr3.51.7
Cougar Players Off The Bench
Pos.#NameHt.Yr.PPGRPG
F45Lisa Hansen6-5Sr3.83.1
F25Kali Taylor5-11So4.32.1
F33Ambrosia Anderson6-2Fr4.12.6
G/F01Nancy Seljaas6-0 Fr2.30.9
F20Brittany Larson6-0Sr1.01.5
Player Updates/injuries
Freshman forward/guard Jen Overdiek suffered a broken nose and a couple of fractures to her right eye during Monday's (Feb. 24) practice. She is questionable for Saturday's game. Senior forward Brittany Larson broke her hand in practice the week of Feb. 18 and is out for at least three weeks. Senior forward Jennifer Leitner was dismissed from the team on Jan. 31 indefinitely for breaking team rules. Sophomore guard Julie Sullivan injured her knee (torn ACL) during practice on Jan. 13. She is out for the rest of the season.
Cougar Review
The remaining league schedule will put the Cougar women on the road for three MWC games. BYU is in second place in the league standings with a 7-4 conference record and an 16-8 overall record.
BYU returns three starters from last season's 24-9, 10-4 team who made history by winning their first-ever NCAA Tournament game, going on to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the Midwest Regional.
All-American and MWC MVP Erin Thorn leads the Cougar offense with an average of 18.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. Sophomore forward Danielle Cheesman follows in scoring and is averaging 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
This season's roster has seen the return of MWC's 1999-2000 Newcomer of the Year Julie Whetten Sullivan who redshirted last year. She reclaimed her starting point-guard spot contributing 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds, but as of Jan. 13 will not continue to play suffering a torn ACL. UVSC junior transfer Kestlee Nelson has replaced Sullivan at the starting point guard spot. Nelson contributes 3.5 points and 1.7 rebounds a game.
Sophomore Kali Taylor started in eight games and has played in all games to date. Her stats include averaging 4.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Coach Jeff Judkins has been rotating two transfer players at one of the forward spots with UCSB transfer and senior Lisa Hansen and Kanab, Utah native Ashleigh Chamberlain. Hansen tallies 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds a game while Chamberlain, who got her first Cougar start on 1/18/03 vs Wyoming, averages 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Senior forward Brittany Larson has played in all games and contributes 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds.
Utah high school standouts Jen Overdiek, Nancy Seljaas and Ambrosia Anderson from Colorado Springs, Colorado are also contributing to this year's Cougar effort. Overdiek, who has started in the last six games, had a career high 15 points vs UNLV on 1/25/03 and a career high seven rebounds against Utah on 2/1/03. Seljaas picked up season highs in points with 13 against the Air Force Academy on 2/8/03. In that game she also tallied a season high six boards. Anderson has also had strong performances this year including a career high 14 points against UNLV on 2/20/03.
2002-03 Cougar Stats
u Shooting from the field: (.432, 590-1367)
u Shooting from the free-throw line: (.741, 274-370)
u Shooting from three-point line: (.379, 168-443)
u Average points per game: 67.6
byu numbers
u (12) - career high assists for Erin Thorn vs CSU on 2/15/03
u (89) - season high points vs Air Force 2/8/03
u (18) - defense holds both UNM and AF to 18 points in first half in their first league meeting
u (32) - consecutive games where Erin Thorn has scored at least one 3-pointer
u (1,920) - Erin Thorn's career points to date. She's now in fourth place in all-time scoring in BYU women's basketball history. Jackie Beene McBride holds third place with a total of 2,191 points during her four-year career from 1978 to 1982
A look at this week's opponent
Utah
The University of Utah is currently in first place in the MWC standings for the regular season with a 10-1 record. Overall, the team has a 20-4 record, that includes a 6-0 record in MWC play at the Huntsman Center. The Utes lone conference loss was to Colorado State in Ft. Collins on 2/13/03. Freshman Kim Smith is one of three Utah players scoring in double figures. Smith tallies 17.2 points and a team high 6.9 rebounds per game. Shona Thorburn follows with 15.2 points and 5.5 boards. Carley Marshall is contributing 10.3 points and is grabbing 6.1 boards a game. As a team, the Utes are shooting 41 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free throw line. When shooting behind the arc, the team is shooting 35 percent. In all games, Utah is scoring 65.8 points while holding opponents to a low 49.1 percent.
Utah Probable Starters
Pos.#NameHt.Yr.PPGRPG
F04Kim Smith6-1Fr17.26.9
F30Mandie Little6-0Jr5.45.8
C45Carley Marshall6-2Jr10.36.1
G10Shona Thorburn5-10So15.25.5
G14Kelsy Stireman5-7Jr3.82.4
Last meeting
In the first league contest between these two instate rivals in Provo, it was Utah who came up with the 67-50 win on the Cougars home court. It was BYU's lone conference loss at the Marriott Center.
Series record
Record: 29-47 for Utah. At the Huntsman Center, the Cougars have a 7-33 record.
Thorn watch
Erin Thorn - 5-10 Senior Guard, Orem, Utah/Mountain View HS
u Senior Erin Thorn was picked as a 2002-03 Pre-Season College All-America Second Team honoree.
u Thorn was also named to the "Players to Watch" list for the 2003 Senior CLASS Award, but did not make the final list of 10 players.
u Stats to date include scoring in double figures in all but two games, tallying a season high 34 points (just two shy of her career high 36 points) against Montana State on Dec. 30. She continues to be the team's leading scorer with an average of 18.3 points, is third on the list in rebounds with 4.4 boards a game and has tallied a team high 134 assists to date, that's an average of 5.6 per game. Thorn had 21 straight free throws before missing one against the University of Denver on 1/4/03.
u Thorn has scored at least one three-pointer in 32 consecutive games to date.
Media Picks Cougars MWC Champs
During this year's MWC Basketball Media Day, the media picked BYU to win this year's regular season title capturing eight of the 15 first-place votes.
Senior guard and All-American Erin Thorn earned Top Returning Player honors.
She was joined on the squad by five additional seniors, including teammate Jennifer Leitner. Colorado State's Ashley Augspurger, New Mexico's Jordan Adams, UNLV's Constance Jinks and Wyoming's Carrie Bacon are the other conference players honored.
2002-03 Mountain West Conference Preseason Media Poll
Rk. Team (1st-place votes) Pts
1. BYU (8) 110
2. Colorado State (7) 103
3. New Mexico (1)91
4. Utah 70
5. UNLV 69
6. Wyoming 49
7. San Diego State 31
8. Air Force 17
2002-03 MWC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Jennifer Leitner, Sr., F BYU
Erin Thorn, Sr., G BYU
Ashley Augspurger, Sr., F Colorado State
Jordan Adams, Sr., C New Mexico
Constance Jinks, Sr., G UNLV
Carrie Bacon, Sr., F Wyoming
2002-03 MWC Women's Basketball Preseason Top Returning Player
Erin Thorn, Sr., G BYU
COUGARS IN THE MWC ( as of feb. 24, 2003, conf games only)
TEAM (All Games)
CategoryPlaceAvg/G
pScoring Offense1st67.5
pScoring Defense3rd58.3
pScoring Margin3rd67.5 off/58.3 deff, +9.3
pFree Throw %4th.748, 104-139
pField Goal %1st.439, 275-627
p 3-PT Field Goal %1st.414, 89-215
pRebounding Offense 3rd35.4
pRebounding Defense1st32.0
pRebounding Margin2nd+3.4
pBlocked Shots2nd3.18
pAssists1st17.64
pSteals3rd8.82
pTurnover Margin4th+1.64
pAssist/Turnover Ratio2nd17.6 avg, 16.9 avg, 1.04 ratio
pOffensive Rebounds4th11.09
pDefensive Rebounds3rd24.27
INDIVIDUAL
CategoryPlaceAvg/G
pScoring: Erin Thorn1st18.5
pScoring: D. Cheesman10th11.7
pRebounding: D. Cheesman8thT5.8
pAssists: Erin Thorn1st6.64
pAssists: Kestlee Nelson5th3.36
pSteals: Erin Thorn2nd2.45
pAssist/Turnover Ratio: E. Thorn3rd73 A, 6.6 avg; 34T, 3.1 avg; 2.15 ratio
pAssist/Turnover Ratio: K. Nelson1st37 A, 3.4 avg; 8T, 0.7 avg; 4.62 ratio
pField Goal %: Erin Thorn7th.456 (72-158)
pField Goal %: D. Cheesman5th.470 (54-115)
pFree Throw%: Erin Thorn4th.885 (23-26)
p3-PT FG%: Erin Thorn5th.414 (36-87)
p3-PT FG%: Kestlee Nelson1st.524 (11-21)
p3-PT FG Made: Erin Thorn1st3.27 (36)
p3-PT FG Made: Kestlee Nelson11thT1.00 (11)
pBlocked Shots: Erin Thorn5thT 0.91 (10)
pOffensive Reb: D. Cheesman9thT2.09 (23)
pOffensive Reb: A. Chamberlain13thT1.67 (15)
pDefensive Reb: D. Cheesman13th3.73 (41)
The Judkins file
Overall Record:40-17, 17-8
Current Record: 16-8, 7-4
Jeff Judkins, begins his second season at the helm of the Cougar women's program. Judkins, a longtime University of Utah coach and player has a proven record of success dating back to his high school days at Highland HS in Salt Lake City.
An all-state selection in basketball, football and baseball, Judkins went on to play for Utah from 1974-78. While playing for the Utes, he helped the team win one conference championship and two berths in the NCAA Tournament. He was a second-team academic All-American and three-time first-team District VII academic selection. Judkins earned three first-team All-WAC honors and was a member of the 1977 United States World Games team that captured the gold medal.
He played five years in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons and the Utah Jazz. He was a second-round pick by the Celtics in 1978, the same year the Celtics selected Larry Bird with the sixth pick overall.
After his NBA career, he returned to the U of U in 1989, and remained with the men's program for 10 years. Judkins, a Salt Lake City native, graduated from Utah in 1978 with a degree in health and physical education. He is a member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and the Crimson Club Hall of Fame.
He and his wife Mary Kay, are the parents of five children: Jessica (21), Jordan (20), Jenna (17), Jaime (14), Jaxson (11).
Up Next for byu
The final regular season MWC schedule for the Cougars is on the road with games at Air Force on Mar. 6 and at New Mexico on Mar. 8. BYU is the defending MWC tournament champions and will head to Las Vegas for this year's league tournament on March 12.
2002-03 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - NUMERICAL ROSTER
No. Name Pos.Ht.Cl.Exp. Hometown/School
01 Nancy SeljaasG/F6-0Fr.HSBountiful, UT/Bountiful HS
03Maria ChiaraG5-8Jr2VHamilton, New Zealand Casper JC
04Kestlee NelsonG5-8Jr2VSandy, UT/Alta HS/UVSC
05Amy LewisG5-6Sr3VJefferson City, MT/No. Idaho College
10Marianne Miller*G5-6JrHSMiddleton, ID/Middleton HS
11Erin ThornG5-10Sr3VOrem, UT/Mountain View HS
12Angie GattenG5-6Jr2VJefferson City, MT/No.Idaho College
13Laura Stratton*G5-6SoHSMissoula, MT/Sentinel HS/BYU Idaho
15Jen OverdiekG5-10FrHSSyracuse, UT/Clearfield HS
20Brittany LarsonF6-0Sr3VChicago, IL/New Trier HS
25Kali TaylorG5-11So1VLyman, UT/Wayne HS
30Melissa Brown *G5-8SoHSUniversity Place, WA/Curtis HS
32Kristen KozlowskiF6-2So1VCenterville, UT/Boise State
33Ambrosia AndersonF6-2FrHSColorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS
40Ashleigh Chamberlain C6-4Jr2VKanab, UT/UVSC
42Angie Wallace#F6-0FrHSCleburne, TX/Cleburne HS
45Lisa HansenC6-5Sr3VBakersfield, CA /Centennial/UCSB
51Danielle CheesmanF6-2So1VOrem, UT/Mountain View HS
* 2002-03 WalkOn/# 2002-03 Redshirt
HEAD COACH: Jeff Judkins (2nd Year)
ASSISTANT COACHES: Alli Bills, Jonas Chatterton, Stacy Jensen
ATHLETIC TRAINER: Carolyn Billings
NICKNAME: Cougars
COLORS: Blue, White and Tan