PROVO -- Playing with the season on the line for the third time in six days, the BYU women’s basketball team fell to the USC Trojans in the third round of the WNIT 50-62 on Wednesday.

"I'm real proud of those girls and proud of their accomplishments this year," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "But you have to give credit to USC. They're a very good team."

"This really was a team I enjoyed coaching and not many coaches can say that. I really enjoyed going to practice every day, added Judkins."

Mindy Bonham, playing in her final collegiate game, tied her season high with 21 points on 9-16 shooting. Bonham also grabbed six boards, dished out two assists and had two steals. The points were team and game highs.

Senior Coriann Fraughton made her way into the BYU history books early in the game, draining two free throws at the 17:47 mark in the game to become the 21st Cougar to reach 1,000 career points. Fraughton finished the game with four points.

Junior Kristen Riley finished the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth-career double-double.

The BYU defense played well to start the game, holding the Trojans to just 2-14 shooting for the first 9:42 of the game but failed to take advantage on the offensive side while allowing USC to build a 20-15 lead with 5:42 remaining.

A fast break from Haley Hall to Kim Parker to Bonham sparked the Cougars at the 2:11 mark, starting a 10-0 BYU run to end the half. Led by Bonham’s 15 first half points the Cougars led 31-25 after the first 20 minutes of play.

USC came flying out of the locker room to start the half, scoring the first 11 points of the period to take a 36-31 lead. The Cougars were unable to overcome the deficit as the Trojans outscored BYU 37-19 in the second half.

The Cougars made just seven of their 30 shots from the field in the final 20 minutes, including 1-11 from three-point range. The Cougars shot 18-58 (31.0%) for the game, going just 5-21 (23.8%) from beyond the arc.

The loss signals the end of the Cougars season, marking the second consecutive year the women have moved to at least the third round of the WNIT.

Postgame Notes

Team

-The BYU bench outscored all its opponents 740-426 this season.

-The 1,033 in attendance for the game marked the fifth 1,000+ attended game this season.

-The three rounds that BYU advanced through in this year’s WNIT are the second most in BYU’s NIT history. Last season, the Cougars advanced to the quarterfinals for the furthest they’ve been all-time.

-Coach Judkins’ 25-8 season marks the fifth 20+ season he has led in his career.

-The Cougars went 23-2 this season when they led the game at the half, 6-7 when their opponent outrebounded them and 14-2 when they played in the Marriott Center.

-Today’s game featured three players with double-figure points for the 12th time on the year.

Player

-At 17:47 in the first half and after a made free throw, senior Coriann Fraughton tallied her 1,000th career point to become the 21st player in BYU women’s basketball history to do so.

-Under head coach Jeff Judkins, this is the first season he’s had two players reach 1,000 points in the same year.

-Mindy Bonham finished the game with 21 points to tie her season high for her 23rd season, 63rd career, time to score in double figures. Bonham’s two steals in the game put her in fifth place for the all-time steals leader in BYU women’s basketball history.

-Haley Hall finished the game with 10 points for her 10th season, 28th career, time to score in double figures.

-Kristen Riley finished the game with 11 points for her 15th season, 27th career, time to score in double figures. She also added 10 rebounds to the count for her fourth-career double-double and second of the season.

Postgame Quotes

BYU head coach Jeff Judkins

"You gotta give credit to USC, they are a very well-balanced team and played like one tonight."

"You can't go five or six minutes without scoring a basket and I think that definitely cost us the game there in the second half."

"I'm real proud of those girls and proud of their accomplishments this year. It was a team I enjoyed coaching. Not many coaches can say that. I really enjoyed going to practice every day."

Senior Mindy Bonham

"They executed better than we did. It came down to defense and execution."

"You are as good as your last game and, unfortunately, we lost. It's been a great experience this year, one that I'll never forget. We were conference champs and that was a goal we had so I was happy we accomplished that. In the locker room we talked about how we really have improved each year that I have been here and I'm looking forward to watching these guys next year."

After a convincing 102-63 victory over Utah State, the Cougar women’s basketball team (25-8) continues its run in the 2011 WNIT. BYU is set to host Pac-10 foe USC on Wed. Mar. 23 at 7 p.m.

The Trojans are in the third round of this year’s postseason WNIT after a 78-59 road win over Nevada.

The game will air live world-wide on BYUtv.

USC GAME PROMOTIONS

The first 500 All-Sport Pass holders get in FREE.

FREE large popcorn with purchase of a large drink for All-Sport Pass holders (1 per Pass)

Ticket prices for the game are as follows:

All reserved seats: $7

General Admission: $6

Students: $5

Courtside: $20

Children 5 and under are free. All-sport passes are not accepted and there are no group rates, coupons or vouchers.

2010-11 STATS SUMMARY

- Shooting from field: (.430, 870-2023)

- Shooting from three-point line: (.334, 233-697)

- Shooting from free-throw line: (.685, 332-485)

- Average points per game: 69.8

- Average rebounds per game: 39.3

- Average assists per game: 19.2

- Average steals per game: 8.4

- Average blocks per game: 4.2

- Average turnovers per game: 14.2

ABOUT BYU

-The Cougars are led in scoring by senior guard Mindy Bonham who averages 12.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Senior forward Coriann Fraughton follows averaging 11.7 points and a team high 7.3 rebounds per contest. She also has the best free throw percentage at .754, 52-69.

-Bonham tops the list in assists with a total of 168.

-Haley Hall has the most steals on the team with 60.

-Freshman center Jennifer Hamson is tops in the field goal percentage category at .570, 90-158. She also has the most blocks on the team with 45.

-The BYU bench has outscored its opponents 727 to 416 as of 3/20/11. The most points scored by the Cougar bench to date are 44 in the win over BYU-Hawaii on 12/3/10. The most bench points from an opponent on the year are 31 recorded by BYU-Hawaii.

-BYU’s reserves are outrebounding their opponents 457 to 310 as of 3/20/11. The most rebounds by the Cougar bench are 28 vs. Utah State on 11/23/10. The most boards by the opponent bench are Utah State with 24.

ABOUT WNIT THIRD ROUND OPPONENT

SOUTHERN CAL (USC)

USC has compiled a 21-12, 10-8 record advancing to the third round of the 2011 WNIT with a home win over UC Santa Barbara (67-54) and a road win at Nevada (78-59). The Trojans tied for fourth place in the Pac-10 with Arizona. The team returns three starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year’s team that went 19-12, 12-6. USC has four players scoring in double figures with Briana Gillbreath, a 6-1 junior forward, tallying 14.7 points and grabbing a team high 7.3 boards per game. Ashley Corral, a 5-9 junior guard is next with 12. 3 points and 3.5 rebounds. Jacki Gemelos is the third player putting up 12.0 points while grabbing 4.5 boards a contest. Teammate Cassie Harberts rounds out the double figure scoring output for the Trojans with her 102 points and 6.0 rebounds. Corral has the assists on the team with 116 while Gillbreath tops the list in steals with 81. Head coach Michael Cooper is in his second season at the helm of the women’s basketball program.

Series History

Overall Series Record: USC leads 4-3

BYU Record in Provo: 1-1

BYU Record in Los Angeles: 1-2

BYU Record in Neutral Sites: 1-1

BYU Record under Jeff Judkins: 3-0

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 1-0

Last Meeting

The last time these two teams played was on Dec. 6, 2008 in the Hukilau Invitational in Laie, Hawaii. In that contest, the Cougars picked up the one-point 65-64 victory.

WHAT’S NEXT

A home win in the third round of the 2011 WNIT would advance the Cougars to the quarterfinals. Those games are place on campus sites Mar. 26-28.