PROVO -- The BYU women's basketball team enjoyed a home-court 72-52 victory over in-state rival Utah Valley Saturday at the Marriott Center. The 20-point spread is the team's largest margin of victory this season.
Junior Shawnee Slade led all scorers with 15 points, and senior Mallary Gillespie-Carling followed with 13. Gillespie-Carling has now scored 10 or more points in seven games this season and in 54 in her career. Freshman Mindy Nielsen recorded career highs with six rebounds, five steals, and five blocks. Freshman Jazmine Foreman also recorded a career-high eight assists.
"I thought we really defended UV well tonight," said BYU Head Coach Jeff Judkins. "All the girls did well. We did a nice job in the zone and getting the shots when we needed them."
The Cougars started out with a bang, dropping three three-pointers in a row in the first three minutes of the game. Slade made the first three-point shot less than one minute into the game and followed up with another just one minute later. Gillespie-Carling finished the three-point streak, making the basket with a behind-the-back assist from Foreman.
"Shawnee [Slade] came out ready to play tonight, and Riley-Varley got some easy baskets early too, which helped her confidence," Judkins said. "We started aggressively, and Utah Valley couldn't recover from our great start."
Not only was BYU active behind the arc, but also was successful underneath the basket. The Cougars scored the first 17 of 22 points in the game.
The Cougars' aggressive and quick defense contributed to holding the Wolverines on the defensive end of the court. Nielson blocked two Utah Valley shots in a row with a little over 13 minute left in the first half, and the Cougars tallied a total of 16 defensive rebounds in the first half.
Continuing their three-point success, the Cougars sunk three more in a row starting with Nielson at 11:55, followed by Gillespie-Carling and Slade. At 8:11 the Wolverines fouled Foreman attempting yet another three-point shot. Foreman was 3-3 at the free throw line.
Utah Valley closed BYU's advantage going on a three-point streak of its own. With eight minutes left, the Wolverines went on to score the next 14 of 16 points, with three of those baskets from behind the three-point line.
Sophomore Jamie Judkins responded with a three-point shot of her own with 1:45 left in the first half for the team's season-high seventh of the first period. The Cougars ended the half with a 35-25 lead over Utah Valley, which is the largest half-time lead the Cougars have had all season.
The Cougars jumped out quick at the start of the second half with two baskets by Riley-Varley, but the Wolverines fought hard to close the gap with the Cougars. Utah Valley pulled within eight points of the Cougars, 43-35, which was the closest they had been since 17:40 of the first half.
That would be the closest Utah Valley would come to BYU. The Cougars gradually pulled away, scoring 9 of 13 points in the remaining four minutes of the game.
"It was a good game for us," said Slade. "We came out with intensity, and we've needed a game like this. We came back fighting every time and didn't give up those last final minutes."
The Cougars will travel Wednesday, Dec. 12, to face Weber State at noon in Ogden's Dee Events Center. They will return home to the Marriott Center to play UCLA on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Ut Valley Wolverines vs Brigham Young Univer
12-8-07 5:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UTAH
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VISITORS: Ut Valley Wolverines 8-2;0-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Julie McMurray...... f 9-16 2-4 0-1 5 0 5 4 20 0 4 0 1 31
22 Jordyn Bowen........ f 0-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 0 0 0 5 1 1 18
10 Robyn Fairbanks..... c 7-17 1-2 7-9 2 6 8 1 22 0 3 0 2 32
01 Sandy Marvin........ g 0-10 0-1 0-0 2 6 8 5 0 1 5 0 2 29
25 Hollie Beaman....... g 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 2 0 3 1 0 0 25
13 Asumi Nakayama...... 0-6 0-3 3-4 1 0 1 3 3 1 4 0 5 25
23 Rebekah Peterson.... 1-4 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 3 1 2 0 2 25
34 Susie Cornejo....... 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 4 3 1 0 0 0 7
42 Blake Reynolds...... 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 8
TEAM................ 4 5 9
Totals.............. 18-62 5-13 11-17 18 21 39 23 52 8 25 1 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-30 26.7% 2nd Half: 10-32 31.3% Game: 29.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 38.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 64.7% 2
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young Univer 4-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f 5-11 3-6 2-4 2 5 7 0 15 1 4 1 3 30
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 1 2 1 1 1 1 20
52 VARLEY, Lauren...... c 4-7 0-0 1-2 5 3 8 4 9 2 1 3 4 22
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g 0-2 0-2 3-3 0 0 0 2 3 8 3 0 0 19
30 CARLING, Mallary.... g 4-17 3-7 2-3 1 2 3 1 13 5 2 0 3 38
00 NICHOLS, Lauren..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 10
10 BECK, Marie......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 JACKSON, Brooke..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
13 JUDKINS, Jaime...... 1-3 1-3 0-0 1 0 1 2 3 2 3 0 0 9
14 RED, Sarah.......... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... 2-6 1-2 4-6 1 5 6 0 9 0 7 5 5 25
23 WOOD, Coriann....... 1-3 0-2 3-4 2 1 3 2 5 1 2 0 1 7
31 ALLETO, Amy......... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0+
34 BELL, Marianne...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
54 KING, Cassie........ 3-5 0-0 2-2 1 5 6 2 8 0 0 1 0 15
55 MARKS, Megan........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 22-58 8-22 20-28 20 30 50 15 72 20 23 12 17 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-26 42.3% 2nd Half: 11-32 34.4% Game: 37.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-12 58.3% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 14-18 77.8% Game: 71.4% 3
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Officials: SCOTTY HERMANN, JOHN HAEFELI, KEN SOWBY
Technical fouls: Ut Valley Wolverines-None. Brigham Young Univer-None.
Attendance: 484
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Ut Valley Wolverines.......... 25 27 - 52
Brigham Young Univer.......... 35 37 - 72
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-UVU 14,BY 26. Points off turnovers-UVU 15,BY 22.
2nd chance points-UVU 9,BY 17. Fast break points-UVU 0,BY 4.
Bench points-UVU 10,BY 30. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-UVU 2nd-00:02, BY 2nd-01:28.
Largest lead-UVU None, BY by 23 2nd-00:26.