Weber State University Athletics
Wildcats Host BYU in Noon Game Wednesday
12/10/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
?Cats win third straight
Weber State won for the third straight time Saturday, beating Colorado State 61-50 at the Dee Events Center. The win improves the Wildcats to 4-3 on the season heading into Wednesday's game with BYU.
Tuomi leads ?Cats to win again
WSU senior Sara Tuomi led the Wildcats in scoring for the third straight game and the fourth time in seven games this season. Saturday she posted a game-high 18 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds in the win. The senior also tied her career-high with four three-pointers on 4-8 shooting from three-point land. Tuomi has scored in double figures all seven games this season. She is also Weber State's leading rebounder at 6.4 per game. On the year she ranks fourth in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.4 points per game and is 12th in rebounding.Turnovers have been telling this season
Weber State committed a season-low nine turnovers in their win over the Rams Saturday, after entering the game averaging 18.8 turnovers per game. This season the turnover stat has been a telling one for the ?Cats. WSU is 4-0 this year when committing less turnovers than their opponents and 0-3 when committing more turnovers than their opponents.
WSU has led in three-point field goal percentage every game
The Wildcats were 8-25 from three-point land in Saturday's win over the Rams. They have knocked down 24 three-pointers in their last three games. WSU ranks third in the league in three-point percentage at 35.6 percent and they rank first in the conference in three-point defense, allowing their opponents to hit just 21.5 percent. This season the ?Cats have out shot their opponents from three-point land in all seven games.
Big Sky rankings
Weber State leads the Big Sky in scoring defense this season, allowing their opponents to score just 56.9 points per game. However WSU ranks eighth in scoring offense at 59.0. WSU is third in rebounding defense at 39.0 per game but they now rank last in the conference in rebounding offense at 34.4. WSU is also first in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense and second in field goal percentage defense.
Individually, Sara Tuomi is fourth in the league in scoring and ranks 12th in rebounding. Sophomore guard Tonya Schnibbe ranks second in the conference in assists, and is fourth in assist/turnover ratio, and is sixth in three-point field goal percentage.
Wildcats host BYU Wednesday
Weber State will play their second straight game against a team from the Mountain West Conference when they host Brigham Young this Wednesday at the Dee Events Center. The game will begin at 12:00 p.m and will be broadcast live on KWCR 88.1 FM and weberstatesports.com with Eric Knighton calling the action. Video of the game is available at bigskytv.org.
Special time for Wednesday's game
Wednesday's game with BYU will begin at 12:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. The game is starting at noon as part of Field Trip Day for local elementary schools who will be attending the game.
Quoting WSU head coach Carla Taylor
"We did some good things last week in our win and we have been making improvements throughout the season. The games against BYU are always challenging and the key for us will be our defense. We have to be solid on the defensive end and be aggressive in the key. We also have to do the things we can control and take care of the ball."
About BYU
The Cougars of BYU come into Wednesday's game with a 4-5 overall record. They are coming off a 72-52 win over Utah Valley Saturday that snapped a three-game losing streak. They previously had lost to No. 2 Connecticut, Sacred Heart, and New Mexico State. BYU is 1-3 on the road this season.
The Cougars are averaging 55.6 points per game this season and shooting 38 percent from the field. They are also shooting just 60 percent from the free throw line and are averaging 20.4 turnovers per game.
This season BYU is led by senior Mallary Gillespie-Carling who earned Mountain West All-Conference Second Team honors last season. This year she is averaging 13.6 points per game. Senior Lauren Varley leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 per game and is also averaging 9.3 points a contest.
Head coach Jeff Judkins
The Cougars are coached by Jeff Judkins who is in his seventh season with the team. He has a career record of 130-65 at BYU and has led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament four times in six seasons. He is also a former assistant coach with the University of Utah and BYU's men's teams. Judkins is 6-0 in his career against Weber State. WSU head coach Carla Taylor is 4-14 in her career against Brigham Young.
All-time seriesBYU leads the all-time series 35-7 over Weber State and the Cougars have won the last ten games and 14 of the last 15 games played between the two schools. The ?Cats have not defeated BYU since December 1994. Last year BYU beat the Wildcats 79-42 in Provo. In games played in Ogden BYU leads 14-5 all-time and has won the last five games play at the Dee Events Center.
Looking ahead
After Wednesday's game WSU will play their next four games on the road. The ?Cats will next play Monday, December 17 at UC Irvine. They will also play at Utah on December 21 and then play in a tournament at UTSA December 29-30 in San Antonio, Texas. The Wildcats won't play at home until January 5, 2008 which will also be the first Big Sky game when they host Northern Colorado.