BYU basketball: Rested Cougars set to take on Aztecs

LAS VEGAS — BYU coach Jeff Judkins was thrilled when his team earned a little extra rest by garnering the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

By working their way from a projected sixth place finish and all the way up into second, the Cougar women's basketball team automatically settled itself into the semifinals, waiting all week long for the rest of the women to finish playing before they found out who their opponent at 3:30 p.m. Friday in that semifinal matchup would be.

Wednesday night told that tale, as the Cougars discovered they'd be playing the third-seeded San Diego State Aztecs after SDSU defeated Wyoming in the quarterfinals. "They're a very good team, picked to win the league. They've had their ups and downs in conference, but I think they might have the best player in the league in Jene Morris," said Judkins after learning who his opponent was.

A senior, Morris averages 16.3 points per game and is always a danger to whichever team she's playing.

"We split with them and played very well at our place. Both of us push the ball and play pressure man-to-man defense. I think it's a good matchup with them," said Judkins, who also noted that each of the top six teams in the league is a solid team, as he believes was proven in the earlier rounds of the tournament with all of the close games.

"So many teams were bunched up, we knew it would be tough like this," added Judkins, whose team will have to play the winner of the TCU vs. Utah game if they're able to win the rubber match with the Aztecs.

"We're excited for the tournament. We think we can come out and do well. Our goal is to win the tournament, and I think we can do it," said Judkins.

And just a little more confidence might have oozed the Cougars' way when the Utes defeated New Mexico on Wednesday night, as the Lobos were the only team in the MWC that BYU hadn't managed to defeat at least once this season.

"Two big home wins last week was big. I think we're playing our best basketball right now, which is huge," said BYU guard Haley Hall, who has been playing stronger and stronger as the season has worn on.

The Cougars will also have to watch out for San Diego State guard Quenese Davis (12.4 ppg) and 6-foot-4 center Paris Johnson (12.5 ppg) as those two round out the three players scoring in double figures for the Aztecs.