BYU Cougars || 6-0, 0-0 || Big 12 Conference
WHAT'S AT STAKE || With a win, the Cougars would move to 7-0 on the season, the fourth-best start in program history. Currently at 6-0, only three teams in program history have opened the season with a better record: 2013-14 (9-0), 2005-06 (8-0) and 2021-22 (8-0). The Cougars are 3-1 all-time when playing on Thanksgiving Day.
GERMAN ENGINEERED EXCELLENCE || Lara Rohkohl has been an efficient scorer, a staple on defense and a key for BYU in its 7-0 start. The Hanover, Germany native has made an immediate impact, scoring 11.2 points and anchoring the Cougar defense with 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per contest. Rohkohl ranks third in the country and second in the Big 12 with a 72.1 field-goal percentage. She is 21st nationally and fifth in the conference in total blocks (21) and 52nd nationally and third in the Big 12 in rebounds (53). Against Weber State, she led BYU in scoring with 18 points, 13 of them coming in the third quarter alone.
DEFENSIVE DOGS || BYU ranks 13th nationally and second in the Big 12 in blocks with 6.3 per game. Rohkohl (14th; 2.2) ranks 21st in blocks, with Cannon and Yussuf contributing 1.2 and 0.8 blocks per game.
The Cougars sit 31st in the country and third in the Big 12 for steals per game (13.0) and have seven players who average over a steal per game: Benally (2.5), Hamlin (2.2), Gibb (2.0), Rohkohl (2.0), Hudgins (1.8), Cannon (1.8) and Yussuf (1.0). The BYU defense also ranks 25th in the country in opponent field goal percentage, giving up only 32.8 percent shooting, good for 6th in the conference.
The Cougars were the first team to record 60 steals and 30 blocks through the first four games of a season since South Carolina in 2018-19, and the first Big 12 team since Texas in 2010-11.
PLAYING FOR EACH OTHER || Coach Cummard has been emphatic that his team will share the love, make the extra pass and make the right play. Through five games, Cummard’s squad has assisted on 112 assists of 170 made field goals for a 65.9 percent assist rate. The Cougars currently rank 28th nationally with 18.7 assists per game.
Four Cougars are averaging multiple assists per game, with Sydney Benally leading the way at 6.5 apiece. Delaney Gibb, Olivia Hamlin and Ari Mackey-Williams make up the backcourt quartet with 6.0, 2.3 and 2.0 dimes per contest.
PLAY HARD, PLAY RIGHT, PLAY TO WIN || In his first meeting with the team following his hiring, Cummard emphasized that results don’t come without hard work and that he was going to prioritize the team’s inputs this season and let the outcomes take care of themselves. Brinley Cannon spoke on the team’s mantra at Big 12 Media Day by saying, “Coach Lee has brought an emphasis on playing right, playing hard and playing to win. I think we’ve implemented that really well this offseason, and I’m excited to see how we can continue to grow on those gains as the season goes on.”
CLIMBING THE BIG 12 MOUNTAIN || Although the Cougars are focusing on inputs rather than outcomes this season, Cummard and his team have set some lofty goals for the 2025-26 campaign. At Big 12 Media Day, Coach Cummard said, “We haven’t done anything in the league in the first two years. We’ve been in a lot of close games, we’ve upset a few ranked opponents, but we’ve never won a game in the conference tournament. We’ve never finished in the top half of the league. So there are two [goals] right there that we want to strive for daily. We want to be playing late into the conference tournament and go to the NCAA Tournament as a member of the Big 12 Conference.”
Head Coach – Lee Cummard
- Alma Mater: BYU, 2009
- Division I Career Record: 6-0 || 1st Season
- Record at BYU: 6-0 || 1st Season
