No. 20 BYU Women Crush Gonzaga In Front Of Record Crowd
Feb 19, 2022, 5:50 PM
BYU Women's Basketball guard Paisley Harding waves to the Senior Day crowd against Gonzaga. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – BYU Women’s Basketball got a signature win in front of a large contingent of fans at the Marriott Center. The 20th ranked Cougars took down Gonzaga 63-39 with 6,289 fans in attendance.
Saturday’s turnout was the largest crowd for a BYU Women’s Basketball game.
A packed house 🤍 pic.twitter.com/rhk5ti9pf0
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) February 19, 2022
The entire upper deck was curtained off, creating a big-game atmosphere in the lower bowl to witness a nationally-ranked BYU team claim the No. 1 spot in the West Coast Conference.
BYU takes sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference with the win, handing Gonzaga their only two regular-season league losses this year.
“These are fun games. They’re fun to coach and fun to play,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “I’m proud of these girls, every single one of them. They all had to sacrifice to make this team successful, and what a great example they are for the younger girls on the team.”
Senior Day
It was an emotional day for BYU, who now improves to 22-2 overall on the season, as five seniors were playing their final game at the Marriott Center. That senior class included Paisley Harding, who filled up the stat sheet scoring 16 points, dishing out seven assists, pulling four rebounds, and recording two steals.
The victory sends BYU’s senior class with an undefeated home record this season and winners of their last 30 games on the Marriott Center floor.
BYU stifled Gonzaga the entire game on defense as the Zags shot 25% from the field and 19% from the three-point line. The large crowd also rattled the Zags as they shot 59% from the free-throw line.
Sophomore guard Shaylee Gonzales scored 21 points for BYU on 80% shooting from the field. The Naismith Trophy candidate grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in 38 minutes of action.
The win gives BYU a much-needed Quad One victory to the NCAA Tournament resume. When the original top 16 teams were revealed earlier this month, BYU was not part of that group. This victory over Gonzaga could be a boost that gets them in the conversation to be one of those top-16 seeds. Teams in the Women’s Basketball tournament get to host home games in the opening rounds if they are one of the top 16 seeds.
Next up for BYU Women’s Basketball
But first, BYU has to close out the regular season on the road at Santa Clara on Thursday night, followed by another road tilt with Pacific next Saturday.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
