ALBUQUERQUE -- Coming off of two tough conference losses, the BYU women's basketball team (9-8, 3-2) entered the famed Pit in Albuquerque Saturday afternoon and beat New Mexico (10-9, 2-4) 41-38 on its home floor for the second year in a row.
Senior guard Mallary Gillespie-Carling recorded the 59th double-figure performance of her career and 12th this season with 14 points in the contest. Junior forward Shawnee Slade contributed 12 points and eight boards, and senior center Lauren Riley-Varley added 12 rebounds. Senior forward Ashley Cheesman also played an important starting defensive role and held UNM's Dionne Marsh, the Lobos' leading scorer, to only 11 total points and none in the second half.
"We're very excited; it's a good win for the team," Cheesman said. "All the coaches told me to do was to stop Marsh. We played her tendencies well, and she couldn't get anything off."
Gillespie-Carling and Shawnee Slade each had eight points and two three-point buckets going into the locker room at the half. The Cougars shot 40 percent from the field and pulled down 21 boards in the first period as well. As a team, they were five for 11 from downtown and did not take a free throw in the first 20 minutes as they took a three-point lead at the half, 25-22.
"This was a gutsy performance by our team, especially playing on their home court," said head coach Jeff Judkins. "This was a defensive game and we made the stops when we needed to. Ashley Cheesman did a great job on Dionne Marsh, and she didn't score a single point in the second half."
The second half was a battle. The game remained with three points with BYU leading most of the half, but the Cougars were able to break open a five-point lead with just under two minutes to play for the largest lead of the half. The Lobos were able to pull back to within three points and had an opportunity to either pull within one or tie the game, but missed a lay-up and BYU brought down the rebound.
UNM missed three three-point shots that would have tied the game, and BYU handed the Lobos their fourth conference loss of the season.
The Cougars recorded 49 rebounds in the game and 10 steals. BYU is now 8-2 when outrebounding its opponents and 9-2 when leading at the half. The 38 total points is the least BYU has allowed in any game all season.
The team will head home to play its next two games at home against Air Force and Wyoming on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m., respectively, in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score
BYU vs New Mexico
1/26/08 2:00 PM at Albuquerque, NM / The Pit
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VISITORS: BYU 9-8,3-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 CHEESMAN, Ashley.... f 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 3 2 2 1 0 1 24
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... f 5-8 2-3 0-0 1 7 8 0 12 0 2 0 1 32
52 VARLEY, Lauren...... c 0-2 0-0 1-2 7 5 12 1 1 1 5 3 1 31
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g 2-11 0-1 2-3 0 5 5 3 6 5 4 0 4 31
30 CARLING, Mallary.... g 5-16 2-8 2-2 1 3 4 1 14 2 3 0 1 40-
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... 2-2 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 6 0 2 0 0 10
14 RED, Sarah.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
23 WOOD, Coriann....... 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 9
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 4 0 0 6 0 2 11
54 KING, Cassie........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 9
TEAM................ 2 7 9 1
Totals.............. 15-49 6-17 5-7 14 35 49 16 41 10 25 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0% 2nd Half: 5-24 20.8% Game: 30.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 71.4% 1
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HOME TEAM: New Mexico 10-9,2-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 MARSH, Dionne....... f 4-7 0-0 3-4 2 0 2 4 11 2 3 0 0 36
52 KIELPINSKI, Jessica. c 2-8 1-4 0-2 2 3 5 0 5 4 0 1 0 23
03 WEISSMANN, Eileen... g 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 4 1 1 0 0 26
10 BEGGIN, Amy......... g 0-12 0-5 4-5 0 2 2 0 4 2 2 0 5 40
41 KIMBLE, Brandi...... g 3-11 1-5 0-0 2 8 10 2 7 2 1 1 4 36
11 SHELTER, Christian.. 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
15 ADAMSON, Amanda..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 7
21 ANSLEY, Kelsey...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
23 TORRANCE, Porche.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
32 BEST, Amanda........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 7
34 KAST, Valerie....... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 4
44 HARTILL, Angela..... 2-6 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 2 5 0 1 0 1 11
TEAM................ 3 3 6 1
Totals.............. 14-58 3-19 7-11 11 19 30 12 38 11 14 2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-28 32.1% 2nd Half: 5-30 16.7% Game: 24.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-7 14.3% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 15.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 63.6% 2,2
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Officials: Robert Strong, Cid Garcia, Ernest Solis
Technical fouls: BYU-None. New Mexico-None.
Attendance: 8975
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU........................... 25 16 - 41
New Mexico.................... 22 16 - 38
Points in the paint-BY 6,NM 14. Points off turnovers-BY 10,NM 17.
2nd chance points-BY 17,NM 5. Fast break points-BY 2,NM 2.
Bench points-BY 6,NM 7. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-10 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-02:06, NM 2nd-06:49.
Largest lead-BY by 7 1st-03:46, NM by 2 2nd-13:34.