BYU women face Santa Barbara on road

The BYU women's basketball team opens its 2007-08 season on the road, facing a seasoned UC Santa Barbara squad returning all five starters from last season.

Tipoff at the Thunderdome is tonight at 8 p.m. MST.

The two-time defending Mountain West Conference regular-season champion Cougars start nonconference play with a pair of away games — tonight's is followed by Tuesday night's contest at Arkansas State.

BYU returns for a three-game homestand — including the Nov. 17 home opener against Fresno State — before returning to the road to visit perennial powerhouse and second-ranked Connecticut.

The Cougars will look to their three returning starters — 5-foot-10 senior guard Mallary Gillespie-Carling, 6-3 senior center Lauren Riley-Varley and 5-11 junior swingman Shawnee Slade — in jumpstarting the new season.

To compensate for the scoring and inside presence of graduated MWC co-player of the year Dani Wright, BYU head coach Jeff Judkins will look to his top threesome to increase their 2006-07 game averages by at least three points each this year.

Last year, Gillespie-Carling averaged 13.7 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, followed by Slade's 7.8 and 4.6 averages and Riley-Varley's 7.3 and 6.6 marks.

Battling for the No. 4 spot are Cassie King and Ashley Cheesman, who both return to give BYU size and experience inside. King serves as a 6-foot-3 bookend if Judkins wants to go big, while the 6-0 Cheesman is mobile and quick if the coach opts for a smaller lineup.

Haley Hall's second knee injury in as many seasons means BYU's point-guard duties will be handled by freshman Jazmine Foreman and returning reserve Jaime Judkins.

In addition to Foreman, the rest of the Cougars ought to wear "Hello, my name is ..." nametags, since the majority of the new-look roster will be making their BYU debuts.

The two redshirts are Utah transfer Sarah Red, a junior swingman, and Lauren Nichols, an athletic freshman forward.

Foreman is one of a half-dozen first-year freshmen who could make key contributions. Others include Utah 5A MVP and 6-2 forward Megan Marks from Bingham High, 6-2 forward Keilani Moeaki from Chicago, combo guard Mindy Neilson from Denver, and the 5-5 Foreman, 6-0 forward Stephanie Buhler and 6-1 forward Coriann Wood, all from the Pacific Northwest.

Judkins may opt to redshirt one or more of the half-dozen newcomers.

UCSB will be led by senior guards Jessica Wilson and Chisa Ononiwu, who both averaged in double-figure scoring last year.

The Gauchos lead the Cougars 4-2 in the overall series. BYU won the last meeting, a 72-39 romp at the Marriott Center in November 2005.

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E-mail: taylor@desnews.com