BYU Cougars || 20-10, 9-9 || Big 12 Conference
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
BYU finished Big 12 play 9-9, the best record and conference winning percentage since 2022-23, when BYU was a member of the WCC. The Cougars also won 20 games for the 22nd time in program history and the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. With their 20th win, Lee Cummard became just the third coach to lead BYU to a 20-win season in their first season at the helm.
With a win, the Cougars would earn their first win in the Big 12 Tournament since entering the league in 2023. They would also earn a date with the No. 8-seed Utah Utes on Thursday, March 5, in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.
ALL-BIG 12 BACKCOURT DUO
Delaney Gibb and Olivia Hamlin each received conference recognitions on Wednesday. Gibb was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Hamlin was named Honorable Mention All-Big and to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
DON'T BURST OUR BUBBLE YET...
With three games left in the regular season and on a two-game skid, the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament at-large hopes were dwindling. Not so fast! BYU finished the season with three-straight wins against bubble teams to put them squarely in the mix for an at-large bid.
The Cougars case? BYU is tied for the most quad two wins in the country (8) and has played five of the 14 teams ranked immediately ahead of them in the latest ESPN bracketology. BYU has a 7-1 head-to-head record against Utah (2-0), Arizona State (2-0), Iowa State (1-0), Virginia Tech (1-0; without Delaney Gibb), and Colorado (1-1). BYU also finished the season on a three-game winning streak, with wins at Utah, at Arizona State and against Colorado. The Cougars also took down the No. 19 Texas Tech for just their second loss of the season.
70...IT'S THE MAGIC NUMBER
When the Cougars eclipse 70 points on offense, the Cougars are 15-3 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 21 of 30 opponents under the 70-point threshold and is 19-2 in such games, with their only losses to No. 18 Baylor and at Oklahoma State. BYU’s only win when allowing 70+ points came at Utah (86-74). The Cougs have kept nine of their foes under 60 points this season, and are 23-2 over the past three seasons when doing so.
IT'S DELANEY'S WORLD, AND WE'RE JUST LIVING IN IT
Delaney Gibb has scored 20 or more points in four consecutive games, leading to All-Big 12 First Team honors and a spot on the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Midseason Top-10 list. In her last four outings, Gibb is averaging 26.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.3 blocks and 3.0 made triples per game in 37.3 minutes of play. It also includes her 37-point outing at Utah in which she knocked down 5-of-8 attempts from deep in the 86-74 win over the Utes. The sophomore also contributed five assists, five rebounds, two steals, two blocks and scored 18 fourth-quarter points in the career day in Salt Lake City.
Her 37-point performance, 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 other-worldly four-game stretch, Gibb has moved into 7th on the all-time BYU scoring list at 17.62 points per game, passing 11-year WNBA veteran Erin Thorn (16.23). She also moved into 2nd for 3-PT field goals per game (2.39), 5th for career assists per game (4.29), 7th in minutes per game (33:02), 14th for 3-PT FG% (.355) and 15th 3-PT field goals made (124), passing two-time WCC Player of the Year, Shaylee Gonzales (114).
YOUNG GUNS, BIG BUCKETS
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 71.6 percent of all BYU scoring. In Big 12 play, underclassmen have combined for 52.7 of BYU’s 67.3 points per game (78.3%). During BYU’s 3-game winning streak, the underclassmen scored 196 of the 227 Cougar points on Wednesday (86.3%).
GERMAN ENGINEERED EXCELLENCE
Lara Rohkohl averages 9.6 points on 71.6 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals per contest in BYU wins this season. Rohkohl shoots 64.1 percent from the field on the season, which is the fourth-highest single-season percentage in BYU history (p. 35) and ranks in the 98th percentile nationally for the 2025-26 season. In the win over Arizona State, Rohkohl went for 11 points on 5-of-7 from the floor and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. She also added two blocks and a steal. BYU is 11-0 when she scores 10+ points and 13-3 when she leads BYU in blocks.
NOT SO SLOW OUT OF THE BLOCKS LATELY
BYU has been plagued by slow starts since the beginning of Big 12 play. The Cougars have trailed after the first quarter in 11-of-18 Big 12 games. When trailing after the first in Big 12 games, BYU is 4-7. When leading after the opening frame, the Cougs are 5-2.
The Cougars have also trailed at the half in 10 Big 12 games with a 3-7 record. However, BYU has overcome three halftime deficits in Big 12 play in games against Arizona State, both at home and on the road, and against Utah at home. The Cougars climbed out of a six-point hole against Arizona State on Jan. 3, outscoring ASU 17-8 in the third quarter, followed by 26-20 in the fourth to hand the Sun Devils their first loss of the season.
BYU then erased a 10-point halftime lead against Utah, shooting 55.6 percent after halftime to outscore the Utes 52-30 and win 77-65. Last week, BYU trailed at ASU by one after the first and by 13 at halftime before flipping the script in the second half. The Cougars bested the Sun Devils 28-11 in the third quarter to take a six-point lead into the fourth. BYU then held on for a 66-61 win with a 20-19 fourth quarter.
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 Houston, BYU will have made at least one triple in 825-straight games. The streak began on March 2, 2000, in an 86-69 win over Air Force. Chattanooga holds the longest active streak of 835 consecutive games with a triple.
NAVAJO DIME DROPPER
Sydney Benally is one of the best freshmen in the country at getting her teammates in positions to score, as she assists on 26.7 percent of all made baskets when she is on the floor, which ranks in the 93rd percentile nationally. Benally is second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally among freshmen with 120 assists. Her 4.14 dimes per game also ranks second in the conference and eighth nationally. BYU is 16-6 when Benally records at least three assists, and is 11-1 when the freshman drops at least five dimes.
Benally is also a mainstay in the BYU freshman record book as she sits second in total assists (125) and assists per game (4.17), fourth in games started (30), fifth in 3-point attempts (159), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39:1), seventh in minutes played (877:50), eighth in made 3-pointers (40), 3-point field goals per game (1.38) and minutes per game (849:13)and 11th in steals (44) and steals per game (1.47).
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.
LIV'N IN FAST FORWARD
Hamlin is one of the top players in the country at playing in transition. The freshman scores 4.6 points per game, and 36.2 percent of her points come from transition buckets, which both rank in the 99th percentile nationally. The freshman has scored 11 or more points and made at least two triples in each of her last five 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 53 and steals per game with 1.77. Her 53 steals and her 1.77 steals per game are each the 6th-highest mark in BYU freshman history behind two-time conference Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales, 13-year WNBA veteran Erin Thorn and current Oklahoma State guard Amari Whiting.
Olivia 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 BYU freshman record book as she sits 6th in steals (53) and stl/gm, (1.77), 7th in total points (378), made FG (143), made 3FG (44) and 3-PT FG/gm (1.47), 8th in minutes played (849:13) ninth in PTS/gm (12.60) and 10th in minutes per game (28:18).
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 |
63.1 |
59.0 |
76.0 |
| Scoring Margin |
+12.6 |
|
-17.0 |
|
| Field Goal % |
.442 |
.363 |
.347 |
.438 |
| 3-PT FG % |
.345 |
.280 |
.287 |
.328 |
| 3-PT/Game |
8.6 |
5.8 |
6.9 |
6.9 |
| Free Throw % |
.753 |
.758 |
.694 |
.811 |
| Rebounds/Gm |
40.3 |
34.0 |
34.9 |
39.9 |
| Rebounding Margin |
+6.3 |
|
-5.0 |
|
| Assists/Gm |
15.2 |
11.4 |
11.0 |
17.3 |
| Turnovers/Gm |
16.2 |
16.0 |
19.1 |
16.6 |
| Steals/Gm |
10.1 |
7.6 |
9.3 |
9.0 |
| Blocks/Gm |
5.0 |
3.7 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
