BYU Cougars || 17-10, 6-9 || Big 12 Conference
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
With a win, the Cougars would complete the season sweep of the Utes for the first time as conference foes since 2011, when both teams were members of the Mountain West Conference. BYU would notch its 18th victory under first-year head coach Lee Cummard, marking the 24th season in program history with 18 or more wins.
HOW HARD CAN YOU GET HIT, AND STILL MOVE FORWARD?
BYU is 6-3 this season in games immediately following a loss. In the six bounce-back wins, Delaney Gibb (16.8) and Olivia Hamlin (16.3) combined for 33.1 points per game. The Cougars have surrendered just 62.5 points to opponents on 36.6 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from deep. BYU has also swiped 9.5 steals per game, forced opponents into 16.5 turnovers per game and turned them into 18.7 points off opponent giveaways. The Cougars have grabbed 13.3 offensive boards per game, which they have converted into 12.3 second-chance points in wins following a loss.
SLOW OUT OF THE BLOCKS
BYU has been plagued by slow starts since the beginning of Big 12 play. The Cougars have trailed after the first quarter in 10-of-15 Big 12 games. When trailing after the first in Big 12 games, BYU is 3-7. The Cougars have trailed at the half in nine Big 12 games with a 2-7 record. BYU came back from a six-point halftime deficit against Arizona State and climbed out of a 10-point hole against Utah, outscoring the Utes 52-30 in the second half for a 77-65 victory.
HOT STREAKS AND COLD SPELLS ON THE ROAD
BYU is 4-4 in road contests this season, matching its road win total from 2024-25. The Cougars are 2-5 in Big 12 games away from home. A win at Utah would give BYU its most road wins in a season since 2022-23 (6-6). The Cougars went 4-1 in their first four road games, averaging 75.8 points on 41.9 percent shooting and 32.5 percent from three, while holding opponents to 62.2 points on a 36.9 percent clip. BYU also averaged 45.4 rebounds, 15.8 assists and 11 steals.
The Cougars are 0-4 in their last four road contests and have averaged just 52.3 (-23.5) points on 30.1 (-11.8%) percent from the floor, giving up 75.3 points on a 43.7 percent clip and 34.1 percent from deep. BYU has averaged just 33.5 boards (-11.9) and 10.3 assists (-5.5). The Cougars two leading scorers, Gibb and Hamlin, have combined for just 19.8 points over the last four road games.
70...IT'S THE MAGIC NUMBER
When the Cougars eclipse 70 points on offense, the Cougars are 13-3 on the season with their only losses coming to No. 17 Vanderbilt, at Arizona and No. 22 West Virginia. Cummard’s squad also prides itself on its ability to defend. BYU has held 19 of 27 opponents under the 70-point threshold and is 17-2 in such games, with their only losses to No. 18 Baylor and at Oklahoma State. BYU has kept nine of its foes under 60 points this season, and the Cougars are 23-2 over the past three seasons when doing so.
LIV'N IN FAST FORWARD
Hamlin is one of the top players in the country at playing in transition. The freshman scores 4.4 points per game, and 35.5 percent of her points come from transition buckets, which both rank in the 99th percentile nationally. The freshman has scored 14 or more points and made at least two triples in each of her last three games, including a career-high 23 points in the win over Iowa State. Hamlin went 9-for-18 from the field and knocked down three offerings from beyond the arc to go along with three rebounds and a steal in the 14-point win.
The Santa Clara, Utah, product leads all Big 12 freshmen in total steals with 50 and steals per game with 1.85. Her 50 steals on the season tie her for 7th in the freshman record book with former Cougar Amari Whiting. Her 1.85 steals per game is the 6th-highest mark in BYU freshman history behind two-time conference Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales and 13-year WNBA veteran Erin Thorn.
Olivia Hamlin was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week on Dec. 15, the second weekly award for BYU this season (Sydney Benally, Dec. 1). The freshman comes off the bench and is BYU’s second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game. The Cougars are 15-4 when Hamlin finishes in double figures. Hamlin also has four 20+ point performances, two in Big 12 play, and BYU is 4-0 in such games, and 9-2 when Hamlin records multiple steals.
PERPETUAL PERIMETER PRECISION
BYU holds the second-longest active and the third-longest all-time streak of games with a made 3-point field goal in NCAA women’s basketball. The Cougars have made at least one triple in each of the previous 820 games. The streak began on March 2, 2000, in an 86-69 win over Air Force. Chattanooga holds the longest active streak of 831 consecutive games.
CUMMARD VS. THE UTES
Cummard was 6-3 as a player against Utah. The two-time AP All-America Honorable Mention averaged 18 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the floor and 50 percent from deep while recording 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals and a block in rivalry games during his junior and senior seasons.
BYU'S BACKCOURT ANCHOR
Delaney Gibb is averaging 16.2 points, 4.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals this season and leads the Cougars in 20+ point games with six such outings.
The Raymond, Alberta, Canada native had the best performance of her career, thus far, in the March 1, 2025, game against the Utes. Gibb scored a career-high 36 points on 13-of-18 shooting, 5-of-7 from downtown and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for her second-career double-double, to go along with five assists, two steals and a block. With BYU trailing 44-40 entering the fourth quarter, Gibb accounted for 19 of the Cougars’ fourth-quarter points by going 5-of-5 from the floor, knocking down three triples and setting two other Cougar thees to force overtime.
Despite her usual offensive prowess, the sophomore has struggled shooting the basketball over the past seven games, excluding the win over Iowa State and the loss to Cincinnati. In the other five games, the sophomore was a combined 13-of-66 (.197) from the floor and just 2-for-34 (.059) from deep in games against Oklahoma State, Utah, Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado.
Gibb snapped out of her slump with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, going 5-for-7 from downtown and tallying four rebounds and three assists in the win over Iowa State on Tuesday. She also had a solid outing against Cincinnati, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and three made triples on four attempts.
BIG 12 WINS VS. BIG 12 LOSSES
| |
BYU's Big 12 Wins |
BYU's Big 12 Losses |
| Stats |
BYU |
Opp. |
BYU |
Opp. |
| Points/Gm |
75.7 |
61.8 |
59.0 |
76.0 |
| Scoring Margin |
+13.8 |
|
-17.0 |
|
| Field Goal % |
.444 |
.363 |
.347 |
.438 |
| 3-PT FG % |
.342 |
.288 |
.287 |
.328 |
| Free Throw % |
.753 |
.720 |
.694 |
.811 |
| Rebounds/ Gm |
42.0 |
33.3 |
34.9 |
39.9 |
| Rebounding Margin |
+8.7 |
|
-5.0 |
|
| Assists/Gm |
16.3 |
10.7 |
11.0 |
17.3 |
| Turnovers/Gm |
17.3 |
17.0 |
19.1 |
16.6 |
| Steals/Gm |
11.0 |
8.0 |
9.3 |
9.0 |
| Blocks/Gm |
4.8 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
Head Coach – Lee Cummard
- Alma Mater: BYU, 2009
- Division I Career Record: 17-10 || 1st Season
