Back in the friendly confines of the Marriott Center, the BYU women's basketball team (20-7, 11-3) used a 33 to zero scoring run in the second half to beat the San Diego State Aztecs (12-13, 5-9) 65 to 41 Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars scored at will during the opening minutes of the game but struggled defensively allowing SDSU to take a one point lead, eight to seven, in the first five minutes of the game. The Aztecs continued to take advantage of BYU's defensive struggles and jumped to a four-point lead when Cougar Melinda Johnsen was foule and converted on a three-point play to cut the Aztec lead back down to one, 14 to 13. Over the next five minutes of the game, San Diego State scored five unanswered points and led BYU 17 to 12 with 11:31 left in the first half.
The Cougars' continued to struggle offensively and did not score until 7:30 remaining in the first half when Ashley Chessman made two free throws bringing the score to 16 to 21. With the score 27 to 20 in favor of San Diego State, BYU went on a four-point run to cut the lead down to three, 27 to 24 with 3:40 left in the first half. The Aztecs answered the run with a four point run of their own and led BYU 31 to 27 with 1:30 left before halftime.
BYU's defense held the Aztecs scoreless for the remainder of the half while Dani Wright and Shawnee Slade scored three points and cut the San Diego State lead to one, 31 to 30 going into halftime. The Cougars shot just 32 percent from the field in the first half, while the Aztecs shot 54 percent with Mallary Gillespie leading the way for the Cougars with 11 points in the opening half.
BYU took their first lead of the game on the opening possession of the second half when Mallary Gillespie hit a three-pointer to take a two point lead, 33 to 31 with 19:08 left in the game. The Cougars continued to score while not allowing a San Diego State basket and led by 10, 41 to 31 with 16 minutes to go.
In addition to dominating the Aztecs offensively in the second half, the BYU defense was equally impressive holding SDSU scoreless for the first 13:59 of the second half. The scoring drought was broken by the Aztecs' Shanna Demus who scored a lay-up with 6:41 remaining in the game. Before Demus' lay-up, the last San Diego State basket was scored with 2:18 left in the first half. All in all, the Cougars held the Aztecs scoreless for 18:39 minutes.
The Cougars continued to hold a large lead over the Aztecs for the rest of the game and won the game 65 to 41. After scoring 31 first half points, BYU held San Diego State to just 10 second half points.
Mallary Gillespie led the Cougars with 17 points while Lauren Riley grabbed 10 points and scored 11 points.
The Cougars next face Utah in the final home game of the year in the Marriott Center Wednesday night February 28 at 8:00 p.m. That game is set to air live on CSTV.
Admission is free for everyone 18 and under.
Official Basketball Box Score
SDSU AZTECS vs BYU COUGARS
02-24-07 02:05 pm at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: SDSU AZTECS 12-13;5-9
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 DEMUS, Shanna....... f 6-11 1-2 2-2 1 2 3 1 15 2 3 0 1 34
25 CLAY, Shannon....... f 6-14 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 4 12 0 3 1 0 25
32 JOHNSON, Desiree.... c 0-4 0-0 2-2 0 5 5 3 2 2 1 0 0 20
01 LIPFORD, Tamika..... g 1-7 0-3 0-0 3 1 4 2 2 3 3 0 0 26
03 DAVIS, Quenese...... g 1-10 0-5 0-0 1 5 6 2 2 6 6 0 2 29
04 SPINARDI, Kim....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
11 EVELAND, Kate....... 1-5 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 26
12 WILLIAMSON, Chelsea. 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3
15 HOISINGTON, Lauren.. 3-9 0-0 0-1 2 6 8 3 6 0 1 0 0 31
23 DIXON, Lasandra..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3
30 JACKSON, Erin....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 5 2 7
Totals.............. 18-64 1-15 4-5 17 27 44 17 41 14 18 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-33 42.4% 2nd Half: 4-31 12.9% Game: 28.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 0-10 0.0% Game: 6.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 80.0% 0
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 20-7;11-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f 3-8 0-2 2-3 0 1 1 2 8 8 2 2 3 33
52 RILEY, Lauren....... f 5-8 0-0 1-6 4 6 10 2 11 0 0 2 0 19
45 WRIGHT, Dani........ c 5-9 0-1 5-9 5 2 7 2 15 1 2 3 0 27
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 0 4 1 1 1 2 27
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g 6-11 3-6 2-2 1 5 6 1 17 4 4 0 0 34
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley.... 1-5 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 17
13 JUDKINS, Jaime...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
22 FADDIS, Brittany.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
31 AINA, Rachel........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... 3-13 0-1 0-1 4 4 8 0 6 1 0 2 2 24
54 KING, Cassie........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 4 4 1 0 2 1 0 1 12
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 24-61 3-12 14-25 17 30 47 10 65 17 12 10 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-31 32.3% 2nd Half: 14-30 46.7% Game: 39.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-18 44.4% 2nd Half: 6-7 85.7% Game: 56.0% 4
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Officials: JACK JONES, ROBERT STRONG, CONNIE PARDUE
Technical fouls: SDSU AZTECS-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 745
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
SDSU AZTECS................... 31 10 - 41
BYU COUGARS................... 30 35 - 65
OFFICIAL FINAL