By Sara Trump
The flight home for the BYU women”s basketball team was all smiles, as they came away victors 79-72 against New Mexico Saturday, Feb. 3.
“This is probably the biggest game of the year for our program,” coach Trent Shippen said. “Coming into The Pit, we knew we would have to play well.”
Playing in front of 11, 067 fans at The Pit, the Cougars came out strong, clicking on all ends, defensively and offensively.
Jordan Adams, who averages 15.9 points a game, was held to zero points in the first half, and just nine for the game.
The Cougars had a hot hand from the field, especially from the three-point line, where they made 12 of their 23 shots for 52 percent.
It was an all-around team effort, as four Cougars came away in double figures, led by All-American, Erin Thorn — who played only eight minutes in the game on Thursday, Feb. 1, because of a knee injury — and led all scorers with 31 points.
“Thorn had her best conference game of the year,” Shippen said. “She had a big steal at the end, was big on rebounds and did a good job on her man defensively.”
After leading 45-40 at the half, the Cougars opened the second half strong, building up a 10-point lead.
That lead would dwindle, however, as the Lobos went on a 7-0 run mid-way through the second half to cut the lead to two.
But the Cougars wouldn”t let up and answered the run, to keep the Lobos at a distance.
“We kept our composure and bounced right back,” Shippen said. “Different girls stepped up for us and bench play was huge for us.”
With two of their starters, Chanell Rose and Lisa Osguthorpe, in foul trouble, other girls were able to step up and pick up the slack.
The Lobos cut the lead to just one point with under a minute to play, but Thorn wouldn”t let the game get away as she nailed two free throws and made a late steal leading to a lay-up to make it 77-72 and seal the victory.
Stacy Jensen had 14 points, and Caroline Beus added a double double with 11 point and 11 boards.
“Beus was huge for us; she played a tremendous basketball game,” Shippen said.
Another bright spot for the Cougars was true freshman, Julie Whetten, who came off the bench to score 13 points, as she had a homecoming in returning to her home state.
The victory puts the Cougars (12-8, 4-3) in a tie with New Mexico for third in the conference, with five of their last seven games in the friendly confines of the Marriot Center starting with UNLV on Thurday, Feb. 8.
