For the third time in eight years, BYU Basketball will get the guaranteed NCAA seed, the only question now is which seed, and how long they can avoid playing a one seed.
Beating Gonzaga once is impressive. Beating them twice is amazing. Beating them a third time is a season to always remembered for the Women’s Basketball program.
The trio of guards Brenna Chase, Shaylee Gonzales and Paisley Johnson combined for a whopping 64 points on 11 for 22 on three pointers. Sara Hamson also again proved to be a brick wall around the point pulling down eight rebounds and blocking four shots. She was a big reason that Gonzaga shot only 34% including only two points in the paint in the final three quarters of the game.
The game was close until the second quarter when the Cougars outscored the Bulldogs 23-7. The rest of the game was somewhat equal with each team going on short runs, but the deficit was never close enough to really put the game into doubt for the Cougars.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they were without a few starters including star Laura Stockton. Head Coach Lisa Fortier also left the game in the middle of the second half for a “family emergency”.
The win secures a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2015-2016 season. Although the Cougars should be grateful just to be in the tournament, the Cougars should hope to get the seven seed. It is highly unlikely that they will get worse than the nine seed, so the seven seed it the biggest hope for the them.
The main reason for wanting to avoid the one seeds is the competition. As an eight or nine seed, the Cougars would have to play a one seed in the second round. Given that the one seeds will likely be Baylor, UConn, Notre Dame, and Mississippi State that is not good news. If you know anything about Women’s Basketball, you know that those four teams are on their own level as far as talent goes, rarely losing to anyone outside of other teams in the top four.
By getting the seven seed the Cougars would be on the opposite end of the bracket and avoid having to play the one seeds until the elite eight, which would be more than a great accomplishment to make it to that point. The likely two seeds that the Cougars would have to face in the second round are comparable in talent to Gonzaga.
Either way, we are just excited to have the team in the Big Dance!