Albuquerque, New Mexico (March 1, 2011) - With a 65-49 road victory over New Mexico, the BYU women's basketball team secured the 2011 Mountain West Conference regular season title after shooting 11 three-pointers in a lights-out shooting game, Tuesday.
"All season long these girls have taken what the defense gives them," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "Today, they gave us three's. We gave a ton of effort and I am so proud of how everyone played."
Senior Coriann Fraughton recorded a career-high 22 points to cement the regular season title for the Cougars and also finished with nine rebounds.
Six different BYU players recorded 3-point shots against the Lobos with Fraughton's four leading the way to tie her career-high. Stephanie Vermunt and Kristen Riley tallied two apiece with Mindy Bonham, Jazmine Foreman and Haley Hall adding one themselves. The Lobos made just three 3-pointers in the game.
New Mexico started the game with a 13-7 lead before the Cougars went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 13 and pressure a timeout from the Lobos.
Back from the timeout, BYU continued on a 9-1 run from there before eventually taking a 31-21 lead at the half. Of the 31 points, 21 had come from Cougar 3-pointers.
Returning to the court after halftime BYU took off on offense by recording five more 3-pointers, shooting 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and shooting a combined 42.9 percent from the field compared to New Mexico's 30.8 percent.
The Lobos attempted to keep the game close in the second half but never got within nine points of the Cougar total. A short run midway through the second was halted quickly with a Bonham 3-pointer before BYU again took control.
A fitting ending of Fraughton adding her fourth, and final, 3-pointer with just 10 seconds to go secured the game for her team.
The Cougars play their final game of the regular season this Saturday, March 4, in Wyoming at 2 p.m. before getting ready for the Mountain West Conference tournament that will be held March 8-12 in Las Vegas.
Postgame Notes
-The Cougars went into the locker room with a 10-point advantage, 31-21. They improved to 20-1 on the year when leading at the half.
-With the 65-49 victory at New Mexico, the BYU women’s team clinch the 2011 MWC Regular Season title. It marks the third regular season crown under head coach Jeff Judkins.
Player
-Coriann Fraughton tallied 22 points marking her 22nd season, 48th career and 11th MWC game putting up double figures in points. The points were team and game highs, and were the most she’s scored in MWC games to date.
-Mindy Bonham scored 11 points marking her 19th season, 59th, career and 10th league game where she’s recorded double digits in points.
-Haley Hall dished out a team high five assists.
-Jazmine Foreman had four steals for team and game highs.