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PROVO -- Giving playing time to all 13 Cougars, the BYU women’s basketball team began the 2010-11 season with a 85-58 exhibition win over Fort Lewis College, Thursday in the Marriott Center.

"I thought it was a good start and we did a great job executing right at the beginning," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "Our press did a great job keeping the ball in our possession. I really like the way Haley played tonight by breaking the press and forcing turnovers down on defense. Hopefully now we'll be able to work on a few things and just get better from here. I'm happy about our future."

Three Cougars were in double-digits, led by true freshman Jennifer Hamson with 16, senior Mindy Bonham with 13 and freshman Stephanie Vermunt with 11. Unselfish play by Bonham brought her five assists, also adding two steals. Seniors Jazmine Foreman and Haley Hall both added two assists in the victory.

The Cougars started out with a 16-2 run in the first half with Hall, Bonham and Coriann Fraughton all adding four points each to the run. Coming off the bench to contribute significant points, Vermunt, Hamson and Kim Parker exuded solid play to gradually take the lead to 36-7 at the 5:52 mark.

"I think we started out really strong," Fraughton said. "The first five starters always bring enthusiasm and pressure to the game, and it's so great to have depth on our bench. We need to work, though, on our fouling and giving up so many turnovers."

Subbing in at the 10:48 mark, Hamson began the first game of her collegiate career 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe in the first half. Bonham led the Cougars with nine points in the first half while Hamson tallied eight.

The Skyhawks gave the Cougars a scare to end the first half, posting 15 points to BYU’s eight in the last five minutes. Cutting the 29-point lead to 22, the teams went into the locker rooms with the Cougars leading 44-22.

Fort Lewis started off the scoring in the second half with five quick points and later three-straight threes to bring the score to 51-33. Battling back, the Cougars maintained the 30-point lead for the remainder of the game, finishing off the Skyhawks 85-58. Two-of-two free throws from Hamson gave the Cougars their last points with one minute remaining.

The Cougars will challenge Mesa State College Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center for the last exhibition game before facing off at No. 5 Duke Nov. 13 to begin the pre-season. Tuesday's exhibition contest is free.

Post-game notes

-Since joining the Mountain West Conference in 1999, the Cougars have won all of their opening exhibition games.

-All eligible players on the 2010 roster tallied minutes in the victory over Fort Lewis.

-The freshman, including redshirt freshman, combined for a total of 43 points in the victory. The rest of the classes made up the other 42 points.

-Freshman Jennifer Hamson led the BYU roster with 16 points. Also in double-digits for the night were Stephanie Vermunt and Mindy Bonham.

Provo, Utah (Nov. 2, 2010) – In preparation for the 2010-11 season, the Cougar women’s basketball team is slated to play two home exhibition games.

Thurs. Nov. 4 the squad hosts Ft. Lewis College at 6 p.m. On Tues. Nov. 9, they battle Mesa State in a 7 p.m. tip. Both games are free of charge.

The Cougars open up the season at No. 6 Duke on Nov. 13. The team’s home opener is on Nov. 20 against the University of Washington.

BYU enters the 2010-11 with four returning starters, including the team’s leading scorer Mindy Bonham (11.1), leading rebounder Kristen Riley (5.7), and the top assist (4.1) and steals (2.3) leader in Haley Hall.

The Cougars 23-10 overall record during the 2009-10 campaign was the fourth 20-plus season for coach Judkins and ranks third best during his nine-year tenure.

With an 11-5 MWC record, the team finished in second place in the league race after being picked to finish sixth. During conference play, the team went 7-1 at home. Overall, the Cougars ended the year 11-2 when playing in the Marriott Center.

During league action, BYU had a successful campaign sweeping the series against Air Force, CSU, UNLV, and instate rival Utah.

As the automatic qualifier from the MWC to the 2010 postseason WNIT, the team had an impressive showing advancing to the quarterfinal round (Elite Eight). After a 62-58 home victory over Pepperdine, BYU embanked on a six-day, three game schedule where they grabbed victory over ASU, and league foe Wyoming before falling to eventual champion California.

The BYU bench played an integral part in the team’s success during the 2009-10 campaign. In points, the reserves scored a total of 533 points to opponents 388. In the rebound category, bench players grabbed a total of 517 boards compared with 370 for the opponents.

Adding to the Cougar success last year was a very productive offense. The team scored at least 70 points in 13 games, compiling a 12-1 record with eight of those contests being played during the MWC race. And, in all games except three, at least two BYU players put up double figure points.

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