PROVO, Utah — With a 6-4 record, BYU women’s basketball closes out its nonconference portion of the 2016-17 schedule hosting No. 9 Washington (11-1) Thursday, Dec. 22, at 2 p.m. MST. The matchup will be carried live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. The game vs. the Huskies is just the third contest the Cougar women have played at home this year.
BYU AT A GLANCE
Junior guard Cassie Broadhead is one of three players averaging double digits for the Cougars with her team-best 15.7 points. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher follows with 13.5 points. Senior forward Kalani Purcell is next, recording 11.3 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per contest.
As a team, BYU is scoring 63.4 points per game while shooting 40.3 percent from the field, 28.8 percent from behind the 3-point line and 66.5 percent from the charity stripe. The Cougars pull down 36.4 rebounds a game.
In this year’s West Coast Conference preseason poll chosen by the coaches, BYU, the defending regular-season conference champion, was selected to finish second in the league race behind Gonzaga. Purcell and Pulsipher were named to the Preseason All-Conference team.
• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), 16th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 C. Broadhead 15.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 8.8 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #32 K. Purcell, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20 C. Broadhead, 1.2 bpg
WASHINGTON AT A GLANCE
The University of Washington, ranked No. 9 nationally, comes to Provo with an 11-1 record and is riding an eight-game win streak. Their lone loss was at No. 2 Notre Dame. Washington returns nine letterwinners who were in the Final Four of last year’s NCAA tournament.
Four players are recording double digits in points for the Huskies with Kelsey Plum’s 30.3 points per game and 5.4 rebounds leading the way. She’s followed in scoring with a double-double average from Chantel Osahor, 13.7 points and 14.2 rebounds. Aarion McDonald and Natalie Romeo round out the scoring output for Washington with 12.4 and 10.7 points, respectively.
The Huskies are averaging 90.7 points per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 79.9 percent from the free-throw line.
• Head coach: Mike Neighbors (Arkansas, ‘93), Fourth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 K. Plum, 30.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #00 C. Osahor, 14.2 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 K. Plum, 5.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #10 K. Plum, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #34 D. Strother, 1.5 bpg
SERIES HISTORY
The series between these two teams is tied at 5-5. BYU has a 3-1 advantage when playing the Huskies in Provo. The last time the two played was on Nov. 20, 2010 in Provo. In that contest, BYU picked up the 80-55 victory.
COMING UP
With the home game vs. Washington, the Cougar women conclude their nonconference portion of the 2016-17 schedule. The defending West Coast Conference regular season champions, BYU, open up the WCC race on the road at Santa Clara on December 29, at 7 p.m. PST. That game can be seen on the Internet on the W.tv.
The Cougars return to the Marriott Center to host LMU and St. Mary’s on Dec. 31 and Jan. 5, respectively.