BYU Women’s Basketball Will Host First Round WNIT Game
Mar 13, 2023, 12:50 PM
BYU women's basketball guard Nani Falatea is a leader for the Cougars as they prepare to host Rice in the WNIT. (Nate Edwards/BYU Photo)
(Nate Edwards/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s basketball has at least one more game this season.
After finishing the 2022-23 season with a 16-16 record, BYU received an at-large bid to the WNIT. Along with receiving a bid in the 64-team field, BYU will host a game at the Marriott Center in Provo.
Not done yet 🫡 pic.twitter.com/OHrxOHUz70
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) March 13, 2023
BYU women’s basketball will face Rice in the WNIT
BYU will play host to the Rice Owls from Conference USA. Rice finished the season with a 22-8 record. The Owls won their last five games of the regular season before suffering an early exit in the C-USA Tournament in a loss to UTSA.
BYU suffered a semifinal loss to the WCC’s top-seed Gonzaga in their last outing.
Tip-off for BYU versus Rice will take place at 7 p.m. Ticket information has not yet been released.
The winner of BYU/Rice will face Oregon or North Dakota State in the second round.
#BYU women's basketball will host Rice on Friday in the first round of the #WNIT.
Winner faces Oregon or North Dakota State. pic.twitter.com/owrWptn5tY
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 13, 2023
NCAA record is within reach for Lauren Gustin
BYU can rewrite the NCAA record books if they make a WNIT run. Star forward Lauren Gustin is 32 rebounds away from setting the single-season NCAA record by a player for most rebounds. Gustin currently has 532 rebounds on the year. The record holder was Natalie Butler, who pulled down 563 rebounds in the 2018 season for George Mason.
Gustin is averaging 16.6 rebounds per game this season, along with her nightly average of 16 points.
Round one action in the WNIT will take place March 15-17. Then second-round games will occur March 18-21, with the third round on March 22-24. Quarterfinal action will run March 25-27, semifinals on March 28 & 29, then the conclusion will be a Championship game on Saturday, April 1, on CBS Sports Network.
All games in the WNIT are played at individual schools.
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 Mitch’s coverage of BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
