After a slow start, the BYU women's basketball team came back in the second half to beat Southern Utah Friday night.

Senior Shawnee Slade led the Cougars to a 70-64 victory with a season-high 18 points, 13 of them in the second half.

TheThunderbirds scored the first points of the game and ended the first half with a four point lead.

In the first minutes of the second half, BYU led the game for the first time. Slade scored eight on a 10-0 BYU run and the Cougars led 41-35 with a bit more of 16 minutes to play.

"We just decided it was all about pride," Slade said. "We put it all out on the floor in the second half."

BYU's 18-point lead with 9:50 to play in the second half was reduced to five by the Thunderbirds twice in the final minutes, but Foreman and Nielson helped seal BYU's third victory with success at the free throw line.

BYU got help off the bench from sophomore Coriann Wood, who finished with 10 points. Wood shot 4-for-11 from the field and was 2-for-6 from the 3-point line. Freshman Kristen Riley contributed nine points, a season high.

BYU coach Jeff Judkins said his team did not come mentally ready to play.

"We made more mistakes in the first half than we had made in our first four games combined," Judkins said. "But we did a better job of being aggressive and rebounding in the second half."

Judkins said his team still has to learn how to keep its intensity for the entire game.

"We played about 18 minutes tonight," he said. "We have to do better and play a complete 40 minutes."

SUU assistant coach Corry Nielsen said BYU has a strong team overall.

"They have two athletic wings that can score very well," Nielsen said. "Their inside game is as good as we have faced this year and they have good players off the beach."

Next up, BYU will travel to Hawaii for the Seasider Tournament. The opening game is Friday against Wright State.



Copyright Brigham Young University 1 Dec 2008