PROVO -- The BYU women's basketball team lost Thursday night to the New Mexico Lobos 51-64 before 9,583 fans that filled The Pit, the first loss for the Cougars in nine games when leading at halftime.
Both teams struggled from the field early on with the score tied at two after 3:15. For most of the first half the Cougars had a comfortable lead, with 11 points being the largest margin. Senior guard Julie Sullivan led BYU in the first half with 10 points. Lobos senior guard Mandi Moore cut the Cougar lead to just three points as the end of the half neared. Moore led the Lobos at the half with nine points.
"We came out aggressively the first 10 minutes of the first half, and then after that we hit a brick wall and we could never recover," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins.
Early in the second half, Abbie Letz hit a three point shot to give New Mexico the lead for the first time in the game. Despite out-rebounding the Lobos 45-39 in the game, the Cougars never recovered as the Lobo lead grew to as many as 14 points late in the game. New Mexico shot 38 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc in the second half compared to BYU's 23 percent in field goals and 20 percent from three-point range.
"We need to execute better on offense and defense on the road," Judkins said.
Sullivan had a team-high 14 for BYU, followed by senior forward Kristen Kozlowski's 10 points. New Mexico had three players in double figures, led by Lindsey Arndt with 12 points.
BYU falls to 10-6 on the season and 1-2 in the conference, while New Mexico improves to 13-2 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
"We did some good things," said Judkins "but mentally, we broke down."
BYU continues on the road this weekend against another conference opponent Saturday in Colorado Springs, when the Cougars face Air Force (5-9, 0-1) at 2 p.m.
BYU vs New Mexico
01/20/05 7:05 PM MST at The Pit - Albuquerque, NM
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VISITORS: BYU 10-6, 1-2 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 KOZLOWSKI, Kristen.. f 3-15 0-2 4-4 5 3 8 1 10 0 6 0 0 30
51 CHEESMAN, Danielle.. f 2-6 1-1 0-0 3 5 8 4 5 0 2 0 0 22
13 GOOLD, Tiari........ g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 13
14 SULLIVAN, Julie..... g 5-10 1-1 3-6 0 3 3 3 14 1 6 0 0 36
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... g 1-4 0-1 0-0 1 3 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 23
01 SELJAAS, Nancy...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. 3-13 0-7 2-2 2 3 5 1 8 1 0 0 2 28
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. 3-6 1-1 2-2 1 4 5 2 9 5 0 0 2 27
45 KUBIK, Dani......... 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 4 1 1 2 1 0 15
50 ABELL, Mary Martha.. 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
52 RILEY, Lauren....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 18-59 3-13 12-16 18 27 45 19 51 10 16 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-33 36.4% 2nd Half: 6-26 23.1% Game: 30.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 23.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 75.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: New Mexico 13-2, 2-0 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
42 ARNDT, Lindsey...... f 5-11 0-3 2-2 2 8 10 2 12 2 3 1 1 35
24 FRANCIS, Jana....... c 1-4 0-1 2-3 1 2 3 1 4 2 1 0 0 20
05 LETZ, Abbie......... g 1-6 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 2 3 0 2 1 0 17
21 MOORE, Mandi........ g 4-8 1-3 2-2 3 5 8 3 11 4 1 0 1 40
40 BRIODY, Julie....... g 1-4 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 1 2 0 2 12
04 SHETTERS, Jenny..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
13 MONTGOMERY, Katie... 3-8 3-6 0-1 0 3 3 0 9 2 1 1 1 20
14 VOGT, Judy.......... 2-7 2-6 2-2 1 2 3 3 8 1 0 1 2 26
25 OLUDE, Wande........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 3
33 MARSH, Dionne....... 3-10 0-0 6-7 4 0 4 0 12 1 2 2 0 20
41 KIMBLE, Brandi...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 21-59 8-24 14-17 14 25 39 14 64 13 13 6 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-28 32.1% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 35.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 6-15 40.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 82.4% 0
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Officials: Eric Larson, Sue Kennedy, Peter Contreras
Technical fouls: BYU-None. New Mexico-None.
Attendance: 9583
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU........................... 29 22 - 51
New Mexico.................... 26 38 - 64