ADELAIDE, Australia – BYU alumni Kaylee Smiler Mo'o and Tegan Graham were selected to compete with the New Zealand 2degrees Tall Ferns in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown, May 7-11.
"I know it means so much to them to represent New Zealand and suit up for their country," said BYU head coach Lee Cummard. "They always displayed great New Zealand pride during their time at BYU. As someone who coached them, it makes me extremely proud to see them receive this great opportunity, and I’m very grateful to have played a small part in their basketball journey."
The former Cougars will play in three games in five days as the Tall Ferns take on the Australian Opals in a three-game series. The first two games will be played in Adelaide and Sunshine Coast, Australia, with the final game being played in Hamilton, New Zealand. This will be the Tall Ferns' first game on home soil in five years.
Smiler Mo'o played for BYU from 2018-24, in which time she helped the Cougars to a conference tournament title in 2019, a regular season conference championship in 2022 and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. The product of Hamilton, New Zealand, averaged over 7.2 points in her last two seasons at BYU while shooting 46.9 and 46.2 percent from downtown.
The BYU fan-favorite sits second in program history for 3-point field goal percentage (.430), seventh in total games played (136), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.50:1), 12th in blocks (76), and 14th in made threes (128).
Graham suited up for the Cougars for two seasons from 2020-22 and lifted BYU to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and the 2022 WCC Regular Season Title. The Wellington, New Zealand native earned consecutive All-WCC honorable mention nods (2021 & 2022) after leading the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.468), and ranking third nationally in the category (2020-21).
In just two seasons, Graham etched her name in the record book with 116 3-point field goals, good for 17th on the all-time list. Her 41.4 percent from three was also the third highest mark in program history, while her 2.11 threes per game rank second all-time. Graham also ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.21:1), 11th in assists per game (3.58) and 20th in minutes per game (27:15).
The Tall Ferns fell 88-70 in game one on May 7th. The next game will tip on May 8th at 5:55 a.m. MT with the game broadcast live on Sky Sport. The final game will begin on May 11 at 10 p.m. MT.