FORT COLLINS -- The BYU women's basketball team opened conference play Saturday with a 60-39 win at Colorado State, led by freshman Coriann Wood who set career highs with 13 points and three three-point buckets made in a single game.
Senior Lauren Riley-Varley also tied a career high with 14 boards in the game (12 in the second half), and freshman Mindy Nielson recorded a new career high with five assists. The Cougars also improve to 7-2 when leading at the half.
"I was proud of how we handled their defense today," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I was really proud of Coriann Wood and Mindy Nielson tonight. They really stepped up for us, and I was most happy that Wood was not afraid to take shots. That's what we put her in there for."
BYU took a 13-point lead into the locker room at the half, and recorded a season low seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes. The Rams tied the game at 16-16 with just over five minutes left in the period, but the Cougars scored the next 13 points to close out the half and never allowed CSU to get back into the game.
Junior Shawnee Slade also went down with a left ankle injury in the first half, but she returned to play in the second and should be able to play next week as conference play continues.
The 16 points allowed in the first half is the fewest the Cougars have allowed in any half this season, and the 39 total points is also the fewest allowed by the team as well.
"I thought we played a very solid game today," Judkins said. "To hold CSU to only 39 points is a great accomplishment for us. We need the fans to come out against Utah and UNLV next week and support us so we can keep winning these conference games."
BYU will play UNLV at 7 p.m. at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, then host Utah Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young Univer vs Colorado State
01/12/08 2:00 p.m. at Moby Arena, Fort Collins, Colo.
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VISITORS: Brigham Young Univer 7-6, 1-0 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... * 4-12 1-5 2-2 0 2 2 0 11 6 1 2 3 31
30 CARLING, Mallary.... * 3-6 1-3 0-0 2 3 5 1 7 2 5 2 1 32
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... * 1-5 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 3 2 1 1 0 0 19
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... * 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 15
52 VARLEY, Lauren...... * 4-6 0-0 0-1 3 11 14 2 8 0 2 2 1 19
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 13
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley.... 2-3 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 2 6 1 1 0 0 10
13 JUDKINS, Jaime...... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 12
14 RED, Sarah.......... 2-6 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 12
23 WOOD, Coriann....... 5-12 3-8 0-0 0 3 3 2 13 0 0 2 0 17
34 BELL, Marianne...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
54 KING, Cassie........ 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 2 2 0 2 0 1 16
55 MARKS, Megan........ 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 5 6
Totals.............. 24-65 7-30 5-7 11 31 42 16 60 13 16 8 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7% 2nd Half: 12-34 35.3% Game: 36.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-15 26.7% 2nd Half: 3-15 20.0% Game: 23.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 71.4% 0
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HOME TEAM: Colorado State 2-13, 0-2 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 HUNTER, Sara........ * 2-5 1-1 0-0 0 4 4 1 5 1 1 0 0 28
13 MINOR, Britney...... * 3-9 0-0 5-6 2 3 5 0 11 0 2 1 1 26
15 BEEMER, Kandy....... * 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 7
32 REIMINK, Carine..... * 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 3 2 0 4 2 0 15
35 CORNELL, Juanise.... * 2-9 0-0 0-2 1 4 5 2 4 2 2 1 0 31
02 BARBEE,Bonnie....... 0-7 0-6 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 1 14
03 UZOMAH, Amaka....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 2 2 0 3 0 0 11
05 YOUNG, Lauren....... 1-7 1-2 0-0 1 1 2 2 3 0 1 1 0 18
11 QUEEN, Elle......... 0-7 0-0 2-2 5 2 7 0 2 0 2 0 0 18
21 NEAL, Emily......... 1-4 0-1 2-2 0 3 3 2 4 1 4 1 1 18
22 FINLEY, Kelly Rae... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
23 SIMMONS, Zoi........ 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 2 7
TEAM................ 1 5 6
Totals.............. 13-55 3-12 10-14 14 32 46 12 39 6 23 6 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-21 33.3% 2nd Half: 6-34 17.6% Game: 23.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 71.4% 1
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Officials: Laura Rahe, Carla Fujimoto, Les Williams
Technical fouls: Brigham Young Univer-None. Colorado State-None.
Attendance: 1174
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young Univer.......... 29 31 - 60
Colorado State................ 16 23 - 39
ID-577564
Points in the paint-BY 16,CS 14. Points off turnovers-BY 27,CS 13.
2nd chance points-BY 8,CS 5. Fast break points-BY 4,CS 0.
Bench points-BY 31,CS 14. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-00:13, CS 2nd-08:40.
Largest lead-BY by 23 2nd-01:37, CS by 2 1st-19:30.