PROVO — It's been a season filled with change for the BYU women's basketball team.
A slew of changes in the starting lineup as well as players adjusting to new roles has created a new look for the Cougars, but it's one with which the team has flourished.
"We've had a really good season," said head coach Jeff Judkins, whose team (23-7, 15-1 MWC) won the Mountain West Conference regular season title and enters this weekend's MWC Tournament in Las Vegas with the No. 1 seed. "We've worked hard throughout the season and the team has gotten better every day."
The Cougars are led by the scoring of seniors Mindy Bonham and Coriann Fraughton, who average 12.5 and 11.5 points per game, respectively. Both are players who saw changes in their roles this year as Bonham became more of an inside scoring presence and focused her efforts on defense, ultimately earning the MWC Defensive Player of the Year award.
Fraughton moved into a starting role this season after coming off the bench a year ago, and has led the team in rebounding, with 7.4 boards a game, as well as creating difficult matchups for opposing teams.
She switched places in the starting lineup with Kristen Riley, a junior who was named the 6th Player of the Year due in part to her 50.5 percent shooting, including hitting 44.4 percent of her 3-point attempts.
"(Haley Hall) has gone through more than any other player I've ever coached," Judkins said of the Clearfield High School graduate who suffered three torn ACLs before being able to finish the past two seasons healthy.
Hall, the Cougars' floor general at point guard, has become more of a shooter in recent seasons as opposed to the slasher she used to be, but her role has been a crucial one for BYU.
"She's our leader, the person players look to," Judkins said. "As a coach, she's been great to have on the floor."
Judkins, who was named the Coach of the Year for the third time, said his team's greatest strength is how selfless his players are.
"It is the closest team I've ever coached," he said, adding that it reminds him of the player unity of the Utah men's team he coached that went to the Final Four. "They don't care who gets the credit, they just care about getting the win."
The perk of entering the MWC tournament with the top seed is the Cougars don't play their first game until Friday, allowing two extra days of rest and waiting while the lower seeds battle through the first two rounds.
"Not starting until Friday can be hard, but we've done this before so we know what it's like," Judkins said. "The negative part is we won't know who we'll play until Wednesday so we can't prepare, but we'll use that time to get ourselves ready."
The Cougars will wait for the winner of the upper bracket, which is made up of No. 4 Colorado State and No. 9 Air Force, who will play in the first game at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, with No. 5 Utah and No. 8 UNLV in the second game. The winners will play each other on Wednesday afternoon to fight for an opportunity to meet the Cougars.
Utah split its regular season matchups with the Rebels, each winning at home. The Utes won the first game convincingly, 71-52, and held a double-digit lead before their shooting turned cold to lose the regular season finale.
Utah is led by forward Michelle Plouffe, who was name the MWC Freshman of the Year.
In the bottom bracket, No. 6 San Diego State and No. 7 New Mexico will face off in Tuesday's night cap. The winner will meet No. 3 Wyoming on Wednesday, and No. 2 TCU will play the winner of that game on Friday.
TCU is the only conference team BYU lost to, at 54-51 defeat in Forth Worth early in January, and Judkins feels they will be a tough team to beat for anybody this weekend.
"Sometimes it's just how the ball bounces in these tournaments," he said. "It's depends on who is shooting well and how teams match up. We're playing well right now, and we want to finish out strong."
MWC women's tourney
In Las Vegas
Today's first round
Colorado State vs. Air Force, 3 p.m.
Utah vs. UNLV, 5:30 p.m.
San Diego State vs. New Mexico, 8 p.m.
Wednesday's second round
Colorado State-Air Force winner vs. Utah-UNLV winner, 5:30 p.m.
Wyoming vs. San Diego State-New Mexico winner, 8 p.m.
Friday's semifinals
BYU vs. Colorado State-Air Force—Utah-UNLV winner, 1 p.m.
TCU vs. Wyoming—San Diego State-New Mexico winner, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday's Championship
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.
Women's awards
Newcomer of the year: Courtney Clements, San Diego State
Freshman of the year: Michelle Plouffe, Utah
Defensive player of the year: Mindy Bonham, BYU
Sixth player of the year: Kristen Riley, BYU
Player of the year: Aubrey Vandiver, Wyoming
Coach of the Year: Jeff Judkins, BYU
All-MWC first team
Aubrey Vandiver, Sr., G, Wyoming - Player of the Year
Mindy Bonham , Sr. G, BYU
Emily Carter, Sr. G, TCU
Helena Sverrisdottir, Sr., G/F, TCU
Hillary Carlson, Sr., F., Wyoming
Second-Team
Coriann Fraughton, Sr., F, 6-1, BYU,
Kim Mestdagh, Jr., G/F, 5-10, Colorado State
Starr Crawford, So., F, 6-0, TCU
Michelle Plouffe, Fr., F, 6-4, Utah
Iwalani Rodrigues, So., G, 5-9, Utah
Third-Team
Haley Hall, Sr., G, 5-4, BYU
Sam Martin, Fr., F, 6-2, Colorado State
Amanda Best, Sr., G, 6-0, New Mexico
Jessika Bradley, Sr., F, 6-3, San Diego State
Paris Johnson, Sr., C, 6-4, San Diego State
Honorable Mention
Jazmine Foreman, Sr., G, 5-5, BYU
Kristen Riley, Jr., C, 6-3, BYU
Jasmine Patterson, Fr., G, 5-7, New Mexico
Courtney Clements, So., G, 6-0, San Diego State
Kelli Thompson, So., G, 6-0, UNLV
Janita Badon, Jr., G, 5-7, Utah
Jade Kennedy, Sr., F, 6-1, Wyoming
Chaundra Sewell, So., F, 6-1, Wyoming
All-Defensive Team
Mindy Bonham, Sr., G, 5-10, BYU
Porche Torrance, Jr., G/F, 6-1, New Mexico
Paris Johnson, Sr., C, 6-4, San Diego State
Starr Crawford, So., F, 6-0, TCU
Janita Badon, Jr., G, 5-7, Utah
e-mail: sthomas@desnews.com