Dec. 20, 2003
Stats
Provo, UT--Lindy Whitley led all scorers with 18 points, but the Bengals went over seven minutes of the second half without a basket and Brigham Young University rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to defeat Idaho State University 56-54 in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Marriot Center.
Whitley, a senior from Murray, UT, hit on 6-of-7 shots from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range to score 18 points. She also pulled down five rebounds and dished out three assists while playing all 40 minutes, the first time she has played an entire game in her career at ISU.
The Bengals took their largest lead of the game at 36-26 on a Whitley trey with 15:42 left in the game. ISU still led by eight when Laraine Barron hit a layup with 11:41 left. Ashleigh Chamberlain started the rally with a turn around jumper in the lane. Chamberlain hit her second straight shot to cut the lead to four with 9:23 left. Molly Hays hit one of two free throws to increase the Bengals lead to five. Jen Overdiek hit a three-pointer to cut the ISU lead to two and Chamberlain scored her third basket of the run to tie the game at 44-44.
Merrilee Udy gave the Bengals the lead again with a pair of free throws at the 7:45 mark. Overdiek tied the game up at 46-46 with a layup and followed with another layup to give BYU its first lead since the first half at 48-46. An Annie Anderson free throw cut the lead to one. Julie Sullivan's short jumper gave the Cougars a three-point lead. Molly Hays broke the Bengals streak without a field goal when she hit a layup at the 4:01 mark, making the 50-49. Christa Brossman hit a pair of free throws to give ISU the lead back at 51-50.
Ambrosia Anderson hit a trey with 49 seconds remaining to give BYU a three-point lead, but Whitley responded with a trey with 39 seconds left to tie things at 54. The Bengals got the ball back on a turnover and had a chance to take the lead, but Barron missed a layup with 11 seconds left. Sullivan then drove the length of the floor and hit a turnaround jumper with 1.7 seconds left to give BYU the lead for good. Heidi Gifford's desperation jumper at the buzzer was short.
"It was disappointing because we had control of the game and let it slip away," ISU Head Coach Jon Newlee said.
Hays had her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds. She also led the team with five rebounds. Gifford had 12 points and six rebounds. As a team the Bengals were 7-of-17 from three-point range and 13-of-15 from the free throw line, but hit just 32.7 percent (17-52) of their shots from the field.
Idaho State fell to 5-3 on the season with the loss, while BYU improved to 6-3. The Bengals will travel to California to face UC-Irvine on Monday, December 27 at 8:00 p.m. in the first of two games in California.
