IRVING, Texas — BYU women’s basketball guard Sydney Benally was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week and a member of the Big 12 Starting Five, the Conference announced on Monday afternoon.
“Sydney [Benally] has been asked to do a lot for our team in the first eight games, and she has handled it with maturity well beyond her years," head coach Lee Cummard said. "Her play this week was phenomenal, and her performance against Virginia Tech is a small glimpse of her potential and she is only getting better."
With 2025 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Delaney Gibb, missing the last four games due to injury, the Cougars needed others to step up in her absence. Freshman Sydney Benally did just that, recording a career-high 18 points in BYU’s win over the ACC’s Virginia Tech Hokies at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Thanksgiving Day.
Benally led the Cougars with 18 points, with 15 coming in the second half to overcome a four-point halftime deficit and take down the Hokies 64-60 to push BYU to 7-0 on the season. The freshman connected on 2-of-5 offerings from behind the arc and tallied a game-high seven assists, two steals and two rebounds.
Benally followed that up with 11 points, including three made triples against the No. 17 Vanderbilt. Benally was one of three Cougars to finish in double-figures with 11 and added three assists and a rebound.
After averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and a steal per game in two games this week, Benally was named to the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Island Division All-Tournament Team.
The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native leads all Big 12 freshmen and ranks fourth in the conference with 6.1 assists per game. She also leads conference freshmen with 17 steals on the year, good for sixth in the conference. Benally averages 1.5 made threes per contest, which ranks fourth among Big 12 freshmen.
Benally and the Cougars return to the floor for a Wednesday matinee against the Washington State Cougars. The Dec. 3 game will tip at 2 p.m. MT and be played at Delta Center, the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.