Cougars take down UCF for first Big 12 victory

ORLANDO, Fla. — BYU women’s basketball took down the UCF Knights 71-50 at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday to earn its first Big 12 win of the season and the Cougars’ first conference-opening win since 2022.  

“It wasn’t consistently great, but it was overall a good game for us,” head coach Lee Cummard said. “We did a great job rebounding and holding them to one shot for the most part. I thought we had a couple of stretches in the second and third quarters that really opened the game, part of that was our improved shot selection, and then our defense picked up leading to layups in transition.”

The Cougars forced 20 UCF turnovers, leading to 21 points off giveaways. BYU also grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to the Knights’ nine, and converted them into 13 second-chance points. The Cougars outshot UCF 39.1 to 35.8 percent and 41.7 to 12.5 percent from behind the arc. The Knights’ 12.5 percent from three and one made triple are both season bests for the BYU defense this season.

The Big 12 Conference opener at UCF marked the beginning of BYU’s third season as a conference member and also saw the return of 2025 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Delaney Gibb, who missed the final eight games of non-conference play. The Alberta, Canada native made an immediate impact as she led the Cougars with a team-high 12 points on 4-of-10 from the floor and knocking down 2-of-3 offerings from 3-point land. The sophomore also dished two assists, swiped two steals, recorded a block and grabbed a rebound in her first game back. 

Marya Hudgins and Sydney Benally each finished with 11 points, as the other two Cougars who finished in double figures. Hudgins and Benally each went 4-for-11 from the field, with the junior going 1-of-2 from deep while the freshman connected on 2-of-5 from three. Hudgins also notched four rebounds and two assists in the win. Benally finished with three assists and two boards. 

Lara Rohkohl and Bolanle Yussuf locked it down in the middle, combining for 11 points and 17 rebounds, with Rohkohl grabbing a season-high 11 in the win. Kambree Barber also stuffed the stat sheet as she carded five points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, the second-straight game tallying at least one in each statistical category. 

First Quarter
After a free throw opened the scoring for UCF, the Cougars scored six-straight points to take an early lead with a score off the glass by Hudgins and two layups from Hamlin. BYU pushed its lead to 9-3 with two free throws by Hudgins and one from Braeden Gunlock.

The Cougars took a nine-point lead at 14-5 with 3:15 before a 7-0 Knights run cut the lead to two at 14-12 with 58 seconds left in the first. BYU finished with three-consecutive points with a Hamlin layup and a 1-for-2 trip to the line for Rohkohl. 

Second Quarter
Hudgins opened the second quarter with a back-door pass to Benally, who scored off the window to push BYU in front 19-12. The Cougars then missed 10 of their next 11 shots as UCF trimmed the deficit to one at 21-20. Bolanle Yussuf and Brinley Cannon snapped the nearly 3:30 scoring drought with six-straight points to push the advantage to 25-20 with 3:11 left in the half.

The Cougars closed the quarter by making six of their final seven attempts to put together a 10-4 run. Hamlin hit a jumper, which was followed by a 2-for-2 trip to the line for Cannon. After a UCF layup, Hudgins scored in transition before a scoop-and-score from Cannon to lead 33-24 at the break.

Third Quarter
UCF cut the BYU lead to five with back-to-back scores to open the quarter. THe Cougars responded with 12-straight points as part of a 22-6 third quarter. Rohkohl started it off with back-to-back scores in the paint. Gibb followed with a left-corner triple off an assist from Hudgins. 

After a miss, Barber grabbed the offensive board and scored off the window to push the lead 42-28. After a dump in to Rohkohl, the senior kicked to an open Benally on the right wing for three. After the lone UCF bucket during the BYU run, Gibb knocked down two freebies, followed by a driving layup for the sophomore. 

A fastbreak layup for Barber followed by another triple for Benally closed the third with the Cougars up 55-30. 

Fourth Quarter
BYU pushed the lead to 30 at 64-34 with a three from Hudgins, layups from Gibb and Hudgins, a mid-range jumper from Hudgins and a second-chance layup for Rohkohl with 5:22 remaining. UCF would go quietly as the Knights rattled off an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 19 with 1:53 to go in the game. 

With a perfect trip to the charity stripe by Braeden Gunlock, a transition score for Benally and a free throw for Barber, the Cougars put a bow on their 21-point Christmas week victory over the UCF Knights. 

Up Next
The Cougars return to action on Dec. 31 for a matchup with the 9th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs, who will visit the Marriott Center for the Big 12 home opener on New Year's Eve. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast live on BYU Radio 107.9, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio App with Jason Shepherd on the call.