BYU basketball: Women ready for Arkansas St.

PROVO — Riding a six-game winning streak, the BYU women's basketball team hosts Arkansas State tonight at 7 at the Marriott Center.

Though BYU (8-2) is the second-youngest team in the nation, with 14 underclassmen, it is off to its best start since going 8-1 at the beginning of the 2005-06 season.

The Red Wolves, who are coming off a 71-44 victory over Alcorn State, are making their first visit to Provo. They are led by guard Veronica Smith, who averages a team-high 9.9 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. Guard Ebonie Jefferson is scoring 9.6 points and guard Shania Hurst averages 8.6.

Arkansas State returned all five starters from last year's squad that posted a 20-12 mark and finished second in the Sun Belt Conference under coach Brian Boyer.

The Cougars are led by forward Shawnee Slade, who averages a team- high 12.6 points, followed by Mindy Nielson (11.7 ppg), Coriann Wood (9.4 ppg), Cassie King (8.3 ppg) and Jazmine Foreman (7.3).

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