PROVO -- The BYU women's basketball team outrebounded the Lobos 39-34, but were unable to come up with a victory, as they dropped a heartbreaking three-point, 57-60 decision to New Mexico, Wednesday.
“We fought back three times but just couldn’t make it over the hump,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “We had some good opportunities to score, but we need to get more focused if we are to pull off big wins. We need to gather our thoughts and bounce back.”
Despite the loss, the Cougars (13-5, 4-2) were led by Mindy Bonham with 18 points; a season high in conference play. Alexis Kaufusi tallied her second career double-double as she scored 10 points and 11 rebounds. The 11 boards tie her season and career high.
BYU battled for every possession in the first half shooting 43 percent from the field and cutting a 15-point New Mexico lead to just six points at the end of the half, down 29-35.
Junior guard Bonham had ten points, four rebounds and two assists in the first period. Alexis Kaufusi also helped keep the Cougars energized with six points of her own and seven boards including three offensive snags. BYU scored 10 points in the paint to the Lobos two.
The second half began with a different pace as the Cougars came out and played with a new found ferocity and slowly closed the gap to two points with 8:47 left in the game. After a few possessions with back and forth scoring, New Mexico brought their lead back up to eight, but BYU didn’t give up.
With less than four minutes in the game, BYU took the momentum and forced New Mexico to take a time out. With less than two minutes left, Kristen Riley drove the lane and was fouled sending her to the line to shoot where she made one-of-two.
As the final minute wound down, New Mexico came out of the time out with 47.8 seconds left on the clock and after 30 seconds of fierce Cougar defense, the Lobos took a desperation shot to prevent a shot clock violation leaving 20.7 seconds left in the game for BYU to get another play.
BYU ran its play but the shot was no good. New Mexico’s Amanda Best pulled down the board and was fouled, forcing her to the line. Best made both her shots putting the Lobos ahead by three.
The Cougars play next at Utah on Saturday, and will return to the Marriott Center on Feb. 6 to face UNLV.
Official Basketball Box Score
New Mexico Lobos vs BYU Cougars
01/27/10 7:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO UTAH
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VISITORS: New Mexico Lobos 12-7;4-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 BEST, Amanda........ f 5-10 0-2 5-7 1 2 3 3 15 2 0 0 2 25
52 KIELPINSKI, Jessica. f 4-10 2-2 1-2 7 4 11 4 11 2 0 1 1 34
03 WEISSMANN, Eileen... g 1-4 1-4 4-5 1 5 6 1 7 0 1 0 1 23
10 BEGGIN, Amy......... g 2-12 2-4 2-2 1 3 4 1 8 4 2 0 2 40
20 HALASZ, Sara........ g 3-10 0-0 2-6 2 2 4 0 8 2 2 0 1 34
12 NELSON, Nikki....... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 11
14 ERSKINE, Jourdan.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
22 JACKSON, Georonika.. 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
23 TORRANCE, Porche.... 2-3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 5 2 0 1 1 17
34 KAST, Valerie....... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 6
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 18-54 7-17 17-26 12 22 34 13 60 14 6 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0% 2nd Half: 8-27 29.6% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-13 53.8% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 41.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-12 66.7% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 65.4% 4
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 13-5;4-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
35 RILEY,Kristen....... f 2-4 0-2 4-6 3 4 7 3 8 1 1 0 1 24
45 MOEAKI,Keilani...... f 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 0 12
03 FOREMAN,Jazmine..... g 4-10 1-6 0-0 1 2 3 2 9 3 4 0 0 36
22 BONHAM,Mindy........ g 7-13 2-5 2-2 0 5 5 2 18 3 2 0 1 40
33 HALL, Haley......... g 0-4 0-2 0-0 1 3 4 5 0 3 2 0 2 31
10 KAUFUSI, Alexis..... 4-6 0-0 2-2 4 7 11 2 10 1 2 2 0 28
13 JUDKINS,Jaime....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3
23 WOOD,Coriann........ 2-6 0-2 0-2 0 2 2 2 4 1 0 1 0 11
32 PETERSON,Dani....... 1-5 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 0 15
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 22-51 4-19 9-14 10 29 39 20 57 13 14 4 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 10-23 43.5% Game: 43.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-11 18.2% Game: 21.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 64.3% 2
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Officials: JACK JONES, SCOTTY HERMANN, MICHOL MURRAY
Technical fouls: New Mexico Lobos-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 775
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
New Mexico Lobos.............. 35 25 - 60
BYU Cougars................... 29 28 - 57
OFFICIAL FINAL
Points in the paint-NM 10,BY 20. Points off turnovers-NM 10,BY 6.
2nd chance points-NM 7,BY 10. Fast break points-NM 4,BY 2.
Bench points-NM 11,BY 19. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-NM 2nd-03:58, BY 2nd-02:51.
Largest lead-NM by 15 1st-06:06, BY None.