BYU Basketball: Player Highlight – Sara Hamson
By Adam Gibby
The 6’7” sophomore isn’t just tall, she is dominating the WCC and leading BYU Basketball to the NCAA Tournament.
Nine blocks. That is how many blocks that TJ Haws has all season for BYU Basketball. Nine is also more than the amount of blocks that Luke Worthington, Nick Emery, Jashire Hardnett, Kolby Lee, McKay Cannon and Dalton Nixon have combined this season.
Nine blocks is also how many blocks Sara Hamson had in one game against Santa Clara last week.
On the season, Hamson has ten games where she has recorded four or more blocks, and that is with only starting seven games this season.
She is more than a shot blocker though. In the final six game winning streak, Hamson averaged 8.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals and yes 4 blocks per game. She has also drastically improved her free throw shooting as well. Before the winning streak Hamson was not getting to the free throw line, and when she did she was shooting 12.5%. Since then, she has gotten to the line much more often and has shot 78.9%.
Perhaps the most underappreciated part of her game though is what she does to opposing offenses. Santa Clara came into the game averaging around 24 3PT attempts per game. With Hamson in the game though, that number went up to 37 attempts while only shooting 26 two point attempts, with again nine of those being blocked.
With the WCC Tournament underway and the Cougars playing on Monday, the Cougars can just about lock a NCAA at-large bit OR win the WCC all together on Tuesday, likely against Gonzaga, a team they already beat twice.
If Sara Hamson and the Cougars are able to force teams to shoot from outside, there is a real chance that this team could pull off some upsets and find themselves deep in the tournament.
So while the trio of guards Shaylee Gonzales, Paisley Johnson and Brenna Chase are getting all the praise with their steals, fast breaks and three point shooting success, it’s time to give some credit to the tallest girl in the arena.
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If you missed last week’s player spotlight check it out here!