Provo • From the sidelines, the BYU women’s team, coaches and managers hung on every shot. On every call from the referee. From the stands, the record Marriott Center crowd of 6,289 was in emotional lock step with the Cougars.
The scene underscored the importance of Saturday afternoon’s game. The No. 20 Cougars, the best team in the West Coast Conference, against Gonzaga, the second best team in the conference.
Both teams with identical conference records, and control of the WCC on the line. The winner of this game would likely take the WCC title.
And although the two teams played evenly for the first quarter, the Cougars once again proved why they are the elite of the elite in the conference.
BYU (23-2, 13-1 WCC) blew out Gonzaga 63-39 in its last home game of the regular season. Four seniors — Maria Albiero, Tegan Graham, Paisley Harding and Sara Hamson — were honored after the game.
The win Saturday put the Cougars alone at the top of the conference with just two games to play — Thursday at Santa Clara and next Saturday at Pacific. Both those games should be wins, at least on paper, despite them being on the road.
Sophomore guard Shaylee Gonzales led the Cougars with 21 points, while Harding added 16 points and seven assists.
BYU held Gonzaga to just 39 points, the lowest output of the season for the Bulldogs.
This story will be updated.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/KwONeXV
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