BYU Women’s Basketball Clinches WCC Regular Season Championship
Feb 26, 2022, 5:30 PM
BYU Women's Basketball guard Paisley Harding was key to the Cougars winning a 2021-22 WCC Regular Season title. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – BYU Women’s Basketball is the 2021-22 West Coast Conference regular-season champions.
The 19th ranked team in the land closed out the regular season like they did many games this year, in blowout fashion. BYU crushed Pacific 82-52 to put the final touches on a 25-2 season.
The 2021-22 WCC Regular Season Champs, @byuwbb! 👏🎉#BYU #GoCougs #NCAAW pic.twitter.com/iSvT0UWIqE
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 26, 2022
BYU’s top four players in Shaylee Gonzales, Paisley Harding, Lauren Gustin, and Tegan Graham led the way in Stockton, outscoring the Tigers on their own, combining for 55 points. BYU made sure they would lock up the outright title from the opening tip. BYU had a 30-point halftime lead and coasted to a championship coronation in the final 20 minutes.
Gonzales scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists, and had four steals.
Head coach Jeff Judkins feels this was the best conference season of his 21-year career at BYU as they capped off the league slate with a 15-1 record.
Judkins also noted that he was surprised with a nice contingent of BYU fans to support his team. He thanked the BYU fans that attended the game during his postgame comments with the media.
BYU women’s basketball now sets its sights on trying to win the WCC Tournament Championship in Las Vegas. With being the No. 1 seed in the field, BYU won’t play until the WCC Semifinals on Monday, March 7. After that, they’ll need to win two games to clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Coming into Saturday, BYU was projected as a five-seed in ESPN’s Bracketology. If BYU can earn a top-16 seed in the field of 68, they will get the chance to host games at the Marriott Center in the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. On the other hand, a five-seed would mean that BYU would need to go on the road for the opening two rounds. So a lot could potentially be at stake if BYU can secure the WCC Tournament crown.
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.
