Cougar women open league play vs. Colorado St.

BYU begins its defense of back-to-back Mountain West Conference regular-season women's basketball titles today as the Cougars open league play at Colorado State.

The Cougars (6-6 overall) sport a modest two-game winning streak and are looking for a breakthrough game where their three veteran leaders — guard Mallary Carling, center Lauren Varley and swingman Shawnee Slade — all click in the same game.

Carling is the only BYU player averaging double-figure scoring at 13.4 points per game. Varley contributes 8.5 a game and a team-best 8.2 boards a game, while Slade is scoring at a 7.7-point clip.

They'll be joined by a pair of first-year freshmen in point guard Mindy Nielson and forward Keilani Moeaki to comprise a still-unbeaten starting lineup, used in the back-to-back victories against UCLA and Utah State.

Veteran front-liners Cassie King and Ashley Cheesman and freshman guard Jazmine Foreman will likely be the first Cougars off the bench.

The Cougars played very little through the semester finals and holiday seasons — the UCLA game being Dec. 15 and the USU road game Dec. 29.

CSU (2-12, 0-1 MWC) opened league play Wednesday with a 57-55 loss at UNLV, trailing by 13 points midway through the second half before pulling even with a 13-0 run. The Rams tied the game and eventually took a one-point lead with three minutes to play before falling in the final seconds.

Senior guard Sara Hunter leads CSU, averaging 11.8 points a game, while forward Juanise Cornell is averaging eight-plus points and as many rebounds a game.

BYU is 45-22 overall against Colorado State, including sweeping the two-game regular-season series against the Rams last year.

Following today's game, the Cougars return for a pair of home league contests — Jan. 16 against UNLV and Jan. 19 against Utah.

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On the air

BYU (6-6, 0-0 MWC) at Colorado State

(2-12, 0-1 MWC)

Today, 2 p.m.

Moby Gym, Fort Collins, Colo.

Radio: KQMB 97.6 FM

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E-mail: taylor@desnews.com