By Leigh Dethman
Last season, senior forward Jennifer Leitner didn”t play against the Longhorns, and the Cougars lost 90-74 in Texas.
Friday, Nov. 22, she made up for missing out.
Leitner scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lift the Cougars to a 79-63 upset win over No. 11 Texas in the Marriott Center.
“It was very satisfying,” Leitner said. “I didn”t get to play in the game down in Texas last year. I felt like I let the team down. But I think I helped them out today.”
Coach Jeff Judkins said Leitner played a great game for the Cougars.
“Jen Leitner had one of her best games,” Judkins said. “She”s the wild card for you – she can bring the ball up, she can guard a big, she can pass it and she can shoot it.”
Texas coach Jody Conradt said Leitner is a key component to BYU”s squad.
“Last year when we played BYU, they didn”t have Leitner,” Conradt said. “They weren”t the same team as they were tonight.”
The first half was physical, with both teams in foul trouble. Texas” top-returning scorer, junior forward Stacey Stephens, was limited to three minutes in the first half. The Cougars jumped to a 10-point lead with nine minutes left in the half.
Texas chipped away, rattling off six unanswered points to close within three points with two minutes before the half. BYU headed to the locker room with a 34-32 lead.
Thorn and Leitner led BYU with seven points apiece.
Texas junior guard Jamie Carey led the Longhorns with 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the three-point line. Texas shot 9-for-20 from the free-throw line in the first half.
Judkins started the second half by going with a small lineup, starting sophomore guard Kali Taylor instead of senior center Lisa Hansen. This move shifted forced the Texas post-players to have to guard Leitner.
“Jen got the ball where she needed to where she could drive it. Their bigs had a hard time guarding her on the drive,” Judkins said. “That is why I started with the small lineup. I wanted to have their bigs have to guard her.”
The Cougars picked up the defense in the second half, holding Texas to 28.6 percent shooting during the game.
“Everything was clicking, our defense was awesome in the second half,” Thorn said. “We were boxing out, getting rebounds. We were just letting the offense come to us.”
With eighteen minutes in the game, the Cougars went on a 21-4 run to take control of the game. The 1,251 fans in the arena motivated the Cougars throughout the run.
“Those guys were loud tonight,” Judkins said. “When we made a run in the second half, they were really into it. I know they (the team) really respond to it.”
With such a commanding lead, Judkins was able to give every player on the team minutes.
“Tonight was a really good team effort,” Judkins said. “Lots of players on our team stepped it up when they had to.”
Four out of five Cougar starters scored in double figures. Thorn led all scorers with 19 points and six rebounds in addition to Leitner”s 18 points and team-high seven rebounds.
Sophomore forward Danielle Cheesman had 13 points and Hansen notched 11 points and four rebounds.
Carey, a transfer from Stanford, led the Longhorns with 17 points. Freshman guard Nina Norman scored 12 points, and sophomore forward Heather Schreiber added 11 points and seven rebounds. The Longhorns had 21 turnovers during the game.
The Cougars controlled the game from start to finish, shooting 43.1 percent from the field and outscoring Texas 30-20 in the paint.
“BYU dictated tempo, which is something that we wanted to do ourselves,” Conradt said. “I found us playing at their tempo instead of us dictating. I knew we could fall into a trap easily.”
Judkins said he is happy the Cougars beat such a well-coached team.
“I was really happy. Texas is a very well-coached team, very physical and very smart,” Judkins said. “It is a really big win for this program.”
The Cougars play two home games next week, hosting Boise State on Nov. 27 and Weber State on Nov. 30.
