BYU basketball: Women triumph in Big Sky country

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Sophomore Kristen Riley recorded a career-high 12 points in the BYU women's basketball team's 79-54 win over Montana State on the road Friday.

"This was an excellent team effort tonight," said BYU coach Jeff Judkins. "We did good on our rebounding and our outside game."

Riley and teammate Alexis Kaufusi dominated the second half for the Cougars. Riley finished with 12 points, eight of those coming in the second half. Kaufusi finished with 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds.

With one minute left in the game, BYU held a 27-point lead, its largest of the night. The Cougar offense outscored Montana State 41-25 in the second half.

"We did a good job defending their top scorers," Judkins said.

The Cougars held the Bobcats to shooting just 31 percent from the field and 14 percent from behind the arc. This is the lowest points scored this season for Montana state.

The first 10 minutes of the game saw back-and-forth action, with neither team taking the lead very far. A 3-pointer from junior Mindy Nielson put the Cougars on a run and a nine-point lead, the largest of the first half. Nielson finished with 11 points.

The Cougars took 14 shots from behind the arc, with junior Haley Hall leading the squad. Hall nabbed three of her four 3-pointers in the first half to finish with 12 points. Senior Jamie Judkins made two 3-pointers in the second half.

BYU made 36 trips to the free-throw line compared to Montana's 14.

The Cougars next travel to Southern Utah on Tuesday to take on the Thunderbirds at 7 p.m.

LONGWOOD 73, UTAH VALLEY 51: At Farmville, Va., a 14-0 run early in the second half blew a close game open and sent Longwood to a win over Utah Valley.

The Wolverines (2-3) took a 31-30 lead with 18:54 left in the game on a Julie Smith jumper, but the Lancers (1-2) held the Wolverines scoreless over the next six minutes, taking control of the game.

UVU could not recover and Longwood eventually pushed the lead to 23 on the strength of 66.7-percent shooting, outscoring the Wolverines 43-22 in the second half.

The first half was a completely different game with neither team leading by more than three points. The first 20 minutes saw five ties and nine lead changes before the Lancers went into the break with a 30-29 lead.

After hitting 60 percent from the field in the opening half, including 4-of-6 from the 3-point line, Utah Valley shot just 26.9 percent in the second half. Longwood finished the game at 50.9 percent compared to 41.3 percent for the Wolverines.