Daily Herald | Posted: Saturday, January 3, 2009 11:00 pm
Daily Herald
PORTLAND, Ore. -- In their first game of the new year, the BYU women's basketball team continued its winning ways, cruising to a 65-37 win over Portland for its eighth straight victory.
"I'm very happy with this win, especially for our bench players," said VYU coach Jeff Judkins.
After jumping to a 10-3 lead just 3:22 into the game, the Cougars (10-2) saw the Pilots rally to trail just 10-9. But BYU regained momentum and stretched the lead to 10 at halftime.
g the margin again through the rest of the first half. BYU would fight off each run from Portland, and went into the break with a 10-point advantage, 30-20.
In the second half, a consistent offensive attack helped BYU pull away from the Pilots.
Shawnee Slade led BYU with nine points, as not Cougar played more than 24 minutes. Jazmine Foreman added eight points and Jaime Mudkins seven points. Kristen Riley pulled down seven rebounds and Megan Marks six, as the Cougars outboarded Portland 46-31.
BYU outscored Portland 24-14 in the paint, and the Cougar bench outscored the Pilots' reserves 36-19.
"Our bench players played very well today. They all came in and did their part. They proved they can play with anyone," Judkins said.
The Cougars return home to the Marriott Center to open the 2008-09 Mountain West Conference season when they take on Colorado State at 3 p.m. on Jan. 10. The game will be broadcast live on BYUTV.