By Sara Trump
The game was in the refrigerator far before the bench was cleared with two minutes to go – as the BYU women”s basketball team defeated San Diego State 76-53 Saturday night.
The Cougars (14-8, 6-3), were defending an earlier two-point loss to SDSU, and took no mercy on the Aztecs with stifling defense and almost perfect execution on offense.
“We played another great game,” coach Trent Shippen said. “We”re getting better at our execution and confidence.”
After blowing a big lead in Thursday”s game against UNLV, the Cougars were not about to let up this time.
“We talked about that before the game,” Shippen said. “We knew we just had to keep playing tough, finish off teams and not let them breathe.”
After a slow start for both teams, the Cougars picked up energy and went on a 15-4 run to take a 31-14 lead, never to look back.
Even though the Aztecs were missing lay-ups like it was a bad disease, the Cougar defense was not too shabby as they held the Aztecs to 29 percent shooting for the game.
“Our rebounds and defense were key points to the game,” Shippen said. “Holding them to 24 percent shooting in the second half is the biggest thing that sticks out to me.”
The offense was also clicking for the Cougars as they had three players in double figures, led by freshman forward, Heather Cheesman who had 15 points.
Guard Erin Thorn had another good game with 13 points, and forward Lisa Osguthorpe added a double double with 12 points and ten boards.
By the time the bench was cleared, the Cougars were simply let go and showed their excitement for the big win.
“It was the best thing I had ever seen,” Osguthorpe said. “They were awesome – rebounding, blocking shots and people scoring, it was awesome.”
The Aztecs were held scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half, and leading scorer, Tanisha Knight was held to only two points for the game.
The Cougars confidence is over flowing, and they knew they should and would win this game from the start.
“We knew we played bad down there,” Osguthorpe said. “We kind of wanted to prove to our team, ourselves and everyone that we could we could beat them.”
Overall, this win capped off a good week for the Cougars as they were able to avenge earlier loses to both UNLV and SDSU.
“It”s fun to see them play hard and good defense,” Shippen said. “This is really pleasing as a coach.”
The Cougars now head on the road to face Colorado State and Wyoming, both of whom they have already beaten this year.
