Cougars rumble past Rams to open tourney

DENVER — For the entire season — no, make that the past four seasons — BYU women's head basketball coach Jeff Judkins has preached to, pleaded with and all but demanded forward Ambrosia Anderson to "let the game come to you" rather than have her coast and hoist self-described "hope shots."

After doing the latter for the entire first half of BYU's Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinal Wednesday against Colorado State, Anderson let the game come to her, finishing with a game-high 20 points and team-best nine rebounds in the Cougars' 65-45 victory over the Rams.

Ranked No. 19 nationally, top tournament seed BYU (24-4) moves into Friday's 1:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 4 seed TCU, which won Wednesday's late quarterfinal over No. 5 Wyoming, 63-55.

Complementing Anderson — sharing MWC player-of-the-year honors this week with Utah's Kim Smith — was center Dani Kubik with 10 points, six rebounds and a strong inside presence.

"It's nice to have two players like these two young ladies who can come in," said Judkins, "and both of them are playing so well right now with the inside-outside game "Letting the game come to you" is more than just standing around and waiting for the ball or an opening. Instead, as Judkins and Anderson explain, it is being active and creating opportunities.

"Move smartly," Anderson said, "the ball will always find you."

Added Judkins: "It takes mental effort on her part, it takes trust on her part."

And when done effectively, it comes with a payoff — like against the Rams.

"Ambrosia is a terrific player, and I really respect Coach Judkins' way with her — it's almost an NBA style of coaching that he has with her," said CSU coach Jen Warden.

"Ambrosia wouldn't be nearly as effective if she clearly had to understand what's right and what's wrong for 40 minutes. She just plays the game. It comes to her. She feels it. And there's so much momentum that comes out of her play, I think, because of that."

The Cougars enjoyed a meager 29-26 halftime lead, as the Rams shot 52.9 percent for the half — and 73 percent through the first 12-plus minutes en route to a 21-20 lead. But back-to-back baskets by Jennie Keele and a 3-pointer by Melinda Johnsen helped BYU resume control despite the combined 4-of-14 first-half shooting from Anderson and Kubik.