By ELIZABETH PALMER
elizabeth@du2.byu.edu
The road warrior that is BYU's women's basketball team will play its sixth of eight consecutive games away from the Marriott Center when it takes on Boise State University in Idaho Saturday.
Six of the seven regular-season games BYU has played this season -- and all four of its losses -- have come on the road.
A win in Idaho would even the Cougars record at 4-4 on the season, but getting that win won't be easy.
Boise State brings a 5-2 record into play and is coming off a 63-56 win at home over Idaho State. The Broncos, who were picked to win their division in the Big West conference, return three starters from last season's team, which finished with a 19-11 record.
BYU head coach Trent Shippen said Boise State has a good pressure defense, which could mean trouble for a Cougar team that has had a problem with turnovers this season.
Shippen said his team will need to mix things up to counteract the Broncos' pressure defense.
'We'll have the inside players handle the ball more than the guards, have more motion, more backdoor plays to take care of the pressure,' he said.
But the Cougars will have to do that without freshman forward Jennifer Leitner and junior guard Jorja Cox, both of whom are out with knee problems.
BYU heads to Boise this weekend coming off a rough week in which it lost two games in California, the first by 48 points to the University of California at Santa Barbara.
But Shippen said the Cougars' second game, a 76-64 loss to Santa Clara, could easily have ended the other way around.
'We should have been able to beat Santa Clara last weekend,' he said. 'We have to do a lot of talking and working more on defensive things.'
Still, Shippen called the drubbing at the hands of Santa Barbara a good wake up call for his team.
'It's good for us, as long as we don't lose our confidence,' he said. 'It prepares us for our WAC schedule.'
BYU will begin in-conference play Jan. 9 when it hosts Utah in the Marriott Center. The Cougars are hoping to be in top form for that portion of their schedule, something Shippen said his team has yet to achieve this season.
'I don't think we've reached our potential,' he said. 'We're far, far away on that right now ... but the girls are hanging together, trying to improve and wanting to improve.'