PROVO -- The Cougars picked up their first Mountain West Conference victory Saturday defeating Air Force 78-59 in the Marriott Center.
Several Cougars came up big for BYU in the win as three players finished with double-digit point totals. Danielle Cheesman once again led the team and all scorers with 15 points. Ashley Chamberlain finished with 12 and Ambrosia Anderson contributed 11 points. Amoy Jackson led the Falcons with 12 points.
Hollie Hansen, getting her first career start, scored a career high five points, including one three-pointer. Melinda Johnsen also got her first start and added four points and five rebounds in the Cougar victory.
"Holly and Melinda gave us a good lift at the start of the game, "said BYU Head Coach Jeff Judkins. "They've been working hard in practice so they deserved the start."
The Cougars went into the locker room with a 35-21 halftime lead after two big runs, the first a 10-0 run to start the game and the second a 9-0 run in the middle of the first half.
The Cougars improved their overall shooting percentage significantly against Air Force, topping their season field goal percentage by ten percent, shooting 48.3 percent (29-60) from the field. BYU also out-rebounded the Falcons 48-41, with a ten-rebound advantage on the defensive glass. BYU's biggest advantage came in the assist column as they racked up 26 to Air Force's 10, showing that the win was truly a team effort.
Air Force had just one more turnover than the Cougars, but BYU was able to capitalize by scoring 21 points off of 13 Air Force turnovers while Air Force only scored 9 points off of 12 BYU turnovers.
With the win the Cougars improve to 11-7 on the season and pick up their first MWC win to move to 1-3. Air Force is now 3-13 overall and 0-3 in the Mountain West. The Cougars will next be in action Saturday at home against Utah. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on BYUTV.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
AIR FORCE FALCONS vs Brigham Young University
01-24-04 4:00 PM at MARRIOTT CENTER, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: AIR FORCE FALCONS 3-13; 0-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 THOMAS, Briana...... f 2-5 0-0 4-5 4 1 5 5 8 1 2 1 3 26
40 NEFF, Shawna........ f 2-11 2-6 4-6 1 2 3 4 10 0 1 1 0 24
04 CASTILLA, Letricia.. g 3-11 0-3 5-9 1 2 3 3 11 1 2 0 1 27
05 TAYLOR, Andrea...... g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
24 JACKSON, Amoy....... g 6-16 0-1 0-1 3 5 8 1 12 3 2 0 1 33
11 GROVE, Gwen......... 0-4 0-1 4-4 2 1 3 0 4 2 1 0 0 15
14 CHILDRESS, Janea.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
21 ROESCH, Jennifer.... 0-2 0-2 2-2 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 0 0 22
22 HUEMAN, Melissa..... 0-2 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
23 HIGGINBOTHAM, Dawn.. 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 4 4 0 6 0 0 1 1 19
25 CWIAKALA, Ashley.... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 12
44 NOVAK, Jacki........ 2-5 0-0 2-4 3 0 3 4 6 0 1 0 0 11
TEAM................ 4 2 6
Totals.............. 17-61 2-15 23-34 20 21 41 21 59 10 13 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-34 .265 2nd Half: 8-27 .296 Game: .279 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 .000 2nd Half: 2-10 .200 Game: .133 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 .750 2nd Half: 20-30 .667 Game: .676 4
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young University 11-7; 1-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. f 4-7 1-2 2-3 1 3 4 1 11 1 0 0 1 21
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f 2-4 0-2 0-0 1 4 5 0 4 2 0 1 0 17
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f 5-7 1-1 4-6 1 4 5 5 15 1 2 0 0 19
14 SULLIVAN, Julie..... g 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 5 1 0 2 19
24 HANSEN, Hollie...... g 2-5 1-3 0-0 1 5 6 0 5 0 2 0 0 15
01 SELJAAS, Nancy...... 2-8 1-4 1-1 1 1 2 1 6 0 0 0 1 14
04 DOOLEY, Kestlee..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 8
10 STRATTON, Laura..... 1-1 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4
12 GATTEN, Angie....... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 8
13 GOOLD, Tiari........ 0-1 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 12
15 OVERDIEK, Jennie.... 3-4 1-2 0-2 1 1 2 3 7 5 0 1 0 15
23 HANSEN, Heather..... 0-3 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 7
25 TAYLOR, Kali........ 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 2 5 2 0 0 0 11
30 BROWN, Melissa...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3
32 KOZLOWSKI, Kristen.. 2-6 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 2 6 0 0 1 0 14
40 CHAMBERLAIN, A...... 5-5 0-0 2-4 3 4 7 4 12 1 3 0 0 12
41 HUFFMAN, Lindsay.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
TEAM................ 5 3 8
Totals.............. 29-60 8-24 12-21 17 31 48 25 78 26 12 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-29 .483 2nd Half: 15-31 .484 Game: .483 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 .333 2nd Half: 5-15 .333 Game: .333 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-9 .444 2nd Half: 8-12 .667 Game: .571 2
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Officials: ROBERT STRONG, DEBBIE ADAMS, CID GARCIA
Technical fouls: AIR FORCE FALCONS-None. Brigham Young
University-BENCH 2.
Attendance: 1002
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
AIR FORCE FALCONS............. 21 38 - 59
Brigham Young University...... 35 43 - 78
OFFICIAL FINAL
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