BYU Cougars || 24-11 9-9; 9th || Big 12 Conference
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
A win on Thursday would mark the first time winning three or more postseason games in the same season since advancing to the regional final of the 2010 WNIT. With a victory, the Cougars would secure their 25th win of the season, making Lee Cummard the winningest first-year head coach in program history, passing Jeff Judkins (24-9; 2002-03). It would also mark the eighth 25+ win season in program history and first since the 2021-22 campaign.
MOMENTOUS WIN OVER MIZZOU
BYU played one of its best games of the season in the 93-75 win over the SEC’s Missouri Tigers on Monday. Despite not practicing on Sunday due to religious observance, the home team was hot out of the gate, outscoring Mizzou 28-7 in the opening quarter behind 60 percent shooting and four made threes. BYU held a 21-point lead at halftime, the third time leading by 20+ at the break this season, and pushed it to a game-high advantage of 34 over the Tigers in the 3rd quarter before calling off the dogs early in the fourth.
The 93 points scored by BYU are the most scored against a Power-4 team since 2001, when the Cougars beat Washington State 94-67 at the Marriott Center. Their 14 made triples are also the most made by BYU since Dec. 10, 2020, when 13 were made against Montana State.
With 29 points, Delaney Gibb became the 34th member of BYU’s 1,000-point club, doing so in just 57 career games, the third fastest in program history to do so. Olivia Hamlin scored a career-high 23 points in the win over Missouri, combining with Gibb for 52 of the Cougars’ 93 points (55.9%). Brinley Cannon dished a career-high six assists to go along with 10 points and five boards, while Kambree Barber notched her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards.
POSTSEASON BREAKDOWN
The Cougars hold a 19-26 all-time record in postseason tournaments and a 1-4 mark in the third round. BYU is looking for its 20th postseason win on Thursday when Stanford visits Provo. The Cougars are 1-1 all-time in the postseason against ACC teams, knocking off NC State in 2014 to reach the Sweet 16 and falling to Louisville in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
POSTSEASON PERFECTION ON THE BOARDS
The Cougars have won the battle of the boards in four of their five games since the end of the regular season. When out-rebounding its opponent, BYU is 19-4 on the season and has won seven consecutive games when doing so.
Over the last five games, the Cougars have five players averaging at least 4.8 rebounds per game, with Delaney Gibb leading the way with 6.6 per game. The others: Lara Rohkohl (6.0), Kambree Barber (5.8), Olivia Hamlin (4.8) and Bolanle Yussuf (4.8). The five account for 28 of BYU’s 41.8 rebounds per game over the five-game stretch.
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
With three games left in the regular season and on a two-game skid, it seemed like the clock may have struck midnight on BYU’s magical season. Not so fast! The Cougars have won 7-of-8, including wins at Utah, at Arizona State and over Colorado to close the regular season, wins over Houston and Utah in the Big 12 Tournament and two wins in the WBIT over Alabama A&M and Missouri. Their only loss came to No. 10 TCU in the Big 12 Quarterfinals.
Over the last eight games, BYU is averaging 73 points per game and holding opponents to 62.5, shooting 43 percent from the field and 34 percent from behind the arc. The Cougars are also outrebounding opponents by 4.9 per game with 40 rebounds per contest.
THE GIBB EFFECT
Delaney Gibb earned All-Big 12 First Team honors and a spot on the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Midseason Top-10 list after leading the Cougars in scoring, assists and steals per game this season. BYU’s floor general has scored in double figures in 26 of the 27 games she has appeared in, leading her team to a 24-11 record. With 29 points against Missouri, Gibb became the 34th member of BYU Women’s Hoops’ 1,000-point club, doing so in just 57 games, the third-fastest in program history.
Over her last eight games, the sophomore has averaged 22.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.9 steals and nearly a block per game, helping BYU to a 7-1 record with the only defeat coming to No. 10 TCU. During that stretch, Gibb has finished in double figures in all eight games with performances of 37 against Utah, 24 against ASU, 26 against Colorado and 29 against Mizzou.
Her 37-point performance at Utah, along with four-straight 20+ point games, earned Gibb a Big 12 Starting Five nod in back-to-back weeks (Feb. 23 & March 2). She also became just the third Cougar to score 35+ points in a game in the last decade, joining WCC Players of the Year Shaylee Gonzales and Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee. She followed that up with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals, along with a 13-for-14 clip from the charity stripe in the win over ASU. Then on senior day, Gibb poured in 26 points, 7 assists, 6 boards, a steal, a block and 19 fourth-quarter points in the comeback win over Colorado.
With her stellar season, Gibb has moved into a tie for 6th on the all-time BYU scoring list at 17.67 points per game with 2-time WCC Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales. She also moved into 2nd for 3-PT field goals per game (2.47), 5th for career assists per game (4.35), 7th in minutes per game (33:05), 12th for 3-PT field goals made (141) and 13th for 3-PT FG% (.363).
70...THE COUGARS' MAGIC NUMBER
When the Cougars eclipse 70 points on offense, the Cougars are 19-3 on the season with their only losses coming to No. 17 Vanderbilt (without Delaney Gibb), at Arizona and No. 22 West Virginia. Cummard’s squad also prides itself on its ability to defend. BYU has held 25 of 34 opponents under the 70-point threshold and is 22-3 in such games, with their only losses to No. 10 TCU, No. 18 Baylor and at Oklahoma State. BYU’s only wins when allowing 70+ points came at Utah (86-74) and against Missouri (93-75). The Cougs have kept 11 of their foes under 60 points this season, and are 25-2 over the past three seasons when doing so.
Alabama A&M scored just 46 points against the Cougars in the WBIT First Round, the fewest points given up by BYU since holding UCF to 50 points on Dec. 20, in the opening game of Big 12 play.
LUCKY NUMBER 7
Hamlin was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, a member of the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week (Dec. 15 & Feb. 25). Hamlin put her imprint on the freshman record book as she sits third in total points (438), fourth in made FG (167), fifth in and steals (62), sixth in stl/gm, (1.77), made 3FG (47) and minutes played (974:54), seventh in 3-PT FG/gm (1.35) and ninth in PTS/gm (12.51) and minutes per game (28:33).
Hamlin leads the Cougars’ transition attack as the freshman scores 4.5 points per game, and 36.3 percent of her points come from transition buckets, which both rank in the 99th percentile nationally. The freshman has scored 11 or more points in nine of her last 11 games and has made at least one 3-point field goal in 10 of 11 contests. She went for a career-high 23 points in the win over Iowa State and matched it in the WBIT win over Missouri. Hamlin went 8-for-15 from the field and knocked down three triples to go along with a rebound, an assist, a steal and a block.
The Santa Clara, Utah, product leads all Big 12 freshmen in total steals with 62 and steals per game with 1.77. Her 62 steals and 1.79 steals per game are the 5th and 6th highest marks in BYU freshman history. With her next steal, Hamlin will tie two-time WCC Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales and Karina Zapata for third on the all-time freshman steals list.
CARRIED BY UNDERCLASSMEN
BYU’s freshmen have made huge contributions to the Cougars’ offensive success. Olivia Hamlin, Sydney Benally, Bolanle Yussuf and Braeden Gunlock have combined for 38.5 percent of all points scored by BYU this season. With sophomores Delaney Gibb, Brinley Cannon and Kambree Barber added to the mix, the underclassmen account for 73 percent of all BYU scoring. During BYU’s last eight games, the underclassmen scored 60.9 of the 73 Cougar points per game (83.4%). Against Missouri, Gibb, Hamlin, Barber, Cannon, Yussuf, Benally and Traore combined for 88 of BYU’s 93 points (94.6%).
NAVAJO DIME DROPPER
In the win over Alabama A&M, Sydney Benally set the BYU freshman assist record with 139 assists (now at 143), passing two-time WCC Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales (134). Benally has assisted on 26.4 percent of all made baskets while she is on the floor, which ranks in the 93rd percentile nationally, with BYU going 14-1 when she dishes at least five dimes.
Benally is second in the Big 12 and sixth nationally among freshmen with 143 assists. Her 4.09 dimes per game also ranks second in the conference and ninth nationally. BYU is 21-6 when Benally records at least three assists, and is 14-1 when the freshman drops at least five dimes.
Along with passing Gonzales on the all-time freshman assists list, Benally has started the most games by a freshman in BYU history (35), is second in assists per game (4.09), fourth in 3-point attempts (187), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.46:1) and minutes played (1020:19), eighth in made 3-pointers (47), 3-point field goals per game (1.34) and minutes per game (29:09), ninth in steals (49) and 12th in steals per game (1.40).
At Arizona State, the Navajo hero had more than 500 people waiting outside the arena to welcome her to Desert Financial Arena. Despite a rough shooting night, the freshman scored three points, all from the line, dropped four dimes and recorded four timely steals in the win. She then spent nearly 45 minutes taking pictures and signing autographs for every native youth waiting by the bus, again, a crowd of hundreds of fans.
DEUTSCHLAND'S LAST DANCE
Lara Rohkohl, one of BYU’s three seniors, has been a huge part of the Cougars’ success this season as they are 14-0 when the native of Hanover, Germany, scores 10+ points and 15-3 when she leads the team in blocks. Rohkohl averages 9.8 points on 70.9 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.0 steals per contest in BYU wins.
Rohkohl’s season field goal percentage sits at 63.6 percent, which is the third-highest single-season percentage in BYU history (p. 35) and ranks in the 99th percentile nationally. In BYU’s two conference tournament wins, Rohkohl scored 27 points on 9-of-13 from the floor (.692), grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds, dished four assists, recorded two blocks and a steal.
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. With a make against Stanford, the Cougars will have made at least one triple in 830-consecutive games. The streak began on March 2, 2000, in an 86-69 win over Air Force. Chattanooga holds the longest active streak of 838 consecutive games with a triple.
ALL-BIG 12 BACKCOURT
Delaney Gibb and Olivia Hamlin each received conference recognitions ahead of the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament. Gibb was named to the First Team, while Hamlin was named Honorable Mention All-Big and to the All-Freshman Team. Against Missouri, the duo combined for 52 of BYU’s 93 points. For the season, Gibb and Hamlin average 30.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.7 steals per game for the Cougars.
