PROVO -- The BYU women’s basketball team hosted the nation's best on Tuesday, falling to No. 1 Connecticut 96-47 in front of a season-high Marriott Center crowd of 3,109. With the loss the Cougars fall to 2-2 on the season. UConn is the highest ranked team BYU has ever faced at home in the Marriott Center.
“This team’s still got fire,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “We feel this was a good thing for us to get better and realize what we have to aim for, that’s why we scheduled this game. You can really find what your team’s all about by playing a team like this.”
Sophomore Mindy Nielson led all Cougar scorers with 14 points while fellow sophomore Keilani Moeaki also scored in double-figures for BYU with 10 points. Sophomore point guard Jazmine Foreman’s six assists led the Cougars.
As a team the Cougars knocked down 7-of-8 free throws (87 percent), the second best free-throw percentage for BYU this season.
After quickly finding themselves down 5-0 in the opening minute of the game, the Cougars got on the scoreboard after a make by Moeaki. Foreman’s steal a few possessions later resulted in a UConn foul on the opposite end of the floor. On the ensuing play, BYU tied the game at 7-7 on a layup by Nielson.
The Cougar defense held the Huskies scoreless for over two minutes, until a UConn three-pointer with 15:23 remaining in the first half. Trips to the free-throw line for both teams kept the point differential to only three points. The Huskies followed with a 16-4 run to put them up 28-13 with just over six minutes to play in the half.
Back-to-back makes from beyond the arc by Foreman and Nielson closed the Husky lead to 13 points, but consecutive steals by UConn resulted in two fast-break layups. Despite a 20-point lead, the Cougars continued to compete, closing the first half with a three-point buzzer-beater by Nielson. The teams entered the halftime break with the Huskies up 47-29.
“We did some really good things early in the game,” said Judkins. “I thought we competed well in the first half. The one thing about Connecticut that I was impressed with was they played 40 minutes. We couldn’t keep up with their intensity and what they do.”
Nielson scored the first basket of the second half but the Cougars couldn’t keep up as UConn went on a 31-4 run to get up 83-38. Sophomore Megan Marks scored from beneath the basket with 7:36 remaining in the game, and was soon followed by a three-pointer by sophomore Coriann Wood.
The Cougars will resume their schedule after the Thanksgiving holiday, hosting Southern Utah on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score
UCONN Huskies vs Brigham Young
11-25-08 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR BYU PROVO UT
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VISITORS: UCONN Huskies 4-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 MOORE, Maya......... f 7-9 3-4 0-0 3 11 14 2 17 7 1 3 2 24
31 CHARLES, Tina....... c 6-8 0-0 1-1 1 3 4 3 13 0 3 1 0 17
05 DOTY, Caroline...... g 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 5 4 0 0 1 18
20 MONTGOMERY, Renee... g 7-10 5-6 0-0 1 1 2 2 19 2 1 0 0 25
32 GREENE, KALANA...... g 5-9 1-3 0-1 1 2 3 1 11 2 3 0 1 21
02 WILLIAMS, Tahirah... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 2 3 1 0 0 14
03 HAYES, Tiffany...... 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 5 3 1 1 0 23
13 FERNANDES, Jacquie.. 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 8
22 GARDLER, Meghan..... 0-1 0-1 1-2 1 4 5 1 1 1 1 0 0 12
30 DIXON, Lorin........ 3-5 1-1 4-5 1 3 4 2 11 2 2 0 0 16
41 MCLAREN, Kaili...... 4-5 0-0 2-3 1 0 1 1 10 1 1 0 0 13
51 KERNS, Cassie....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 1 1 9
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 38-63 12-23 8-12 13 33 46 16 96 26 17 6 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-35 54.3% 2nd Half: 19-28 67.9% Game: 60.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-15 46.7% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 52.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 6-7 85.7% Game: 66.7% 0
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 2-2
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 1-9 1-2 0-0 2 2 4 0 3 2 1 0 0 24
45 MOEAKI, Keilani..... f 4-8 0-2 2-3 0 1 1 2 10 0 4 0 0 23
54 KING, Cassie........ c 1-3 0-0 1-1 1 2 3 2 3 0 2 1 0 16
03 FOREMAN, Jazmine.... g 2-7 2-3 0-0 1 2 3 2 6 6 3 0 1 28
22 NIELSON, Mindy...... g 6-11 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 2 14 0 4 0 1 29
01 JACKSON, Jenteal.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 9
13 JUDKINS, Jaime...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 9
14 HOSTETTER, Sarah R.. 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 11
21 BUHLER, Stephanie... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 5
23 WOOD, Coriann....... 2-6 1-3 4-4 2 1 3 4 9 0 0 0 0 18
24 PETERSON, Dani...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5
35 RILEY, Kristen...... 0-9 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 18
55 MARKS, Megan........ 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 2 0 0 5
TEAM................ 4 3 7
Totals.............. 17-60 6-19 7-8 11 16 27 20 47 11 20 3 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 7-31 22.6% Game: 28.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 31.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 87.5% 0
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Officials: MELISSA BARLOW, CLARKE STEVENS, LISA JONES
Technical fouls: UCONN Huskies-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 3109
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UCONN Huskies................. 47 49 - 96
Brigham Young................. 29 18 - 47
OFFICIAL FINAL