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BYU's Braeden Gunlock (left) and Bola Yussuf celebrate a 3-pointer in a women's college basketball game against Omaha at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Olivia Hamlin goes up for a shot against Omaha in a women's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Delaney Gibb dribbles the ball against Arizona in a Big 12 women's college basketball game in Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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Although the job may be a bit more stressful than he first imagined, the results have been relatively impressive for Lee Cummard during his first season as head coach of the BYU women’s basketball team.

At least so far, as Cummard was quick to caution during his weekly media session this past week.

Indeed the Cougars took a tough 69-58 loss to No. 18-ranked Baylor a few days after the media session, dropping to a 14-4 overall record and squaring their Big-12 Conference record at 3-3. But consider last season, which saw BYU team finish 4-14 in conference and 13-17 overall, making the improvements made within the team Cummard inherited are readily apparent and impressive.

“It’s a great group,” Cummard said when asked to characterize his team’s success so far this season. “They really like each other and they like competing and playing with and for each other…We haven’t faced some huge adversity yet, so when (that happens) we’ll see where we really are, as a group, but I really like the group…I really like their engagement and how they come to work every day, at least most of the time.”

The group is led by sophomore guard Delaney Gibb, who has reprised her role as the team’s leading scorer after missing several games due to injury. Gibb is joined by players like freshman Olivia Hamlin, who averages 12 points a game, junior Marya Hudgins, who averages 10.1 and freshman Sydney Benally and her 9.1 average scoring output. Then there’s sophomore Brinley Cannon, whom Cummard pointed out as perhaps the player who has bought-in most to the team’s overall culture and regimen.

Notice a theme here?

Yes, BYU presents a relatively young team full of freshmen and sophomores who have been tasked with taking on central roles, with just about all of them responding well while indicating further improvements as the season wears on.

Those improvements will need to come in earnest when taking a glance at what’s ahead for the Cougars, which includes a home game against No. 19 Texas Tech on Wednesday night followed by No. 22 West Virginia coming to the Marriott Center. The task in front of Cummard is such that it’s taken a toll on him as he wades through his first season as the Cougar’s head coach.

“It’s great. It’s super stressful. … It’s always on my mind and I can’t shut it off,” Cummard said with regards to how his own experience has been in his inaugural season as head coach. “I knew it was going to be some level of (stress), but I didn’t know that it would be the level that it is. But that’s okay. It’s part of it, and I love it.”

What Cummard has found is that the job of being a head coach involves literally everything going on within the program, from some of the minute and minor details often taken for granted. For him, he takes none of it for granted and is constantly engaged in thought processes to maximize every facet toward his team’s overall benefit.

“Everything is being evaluated at all times,” Cummard explained. “It can be something as simple as what our pregame meal is to something even bigger, like should we play five guards at the end of the game. … Everything always is going through my brain and we talk about it regularly with the staff and I’m fortunate to have a great group.”

And as mentioned, that group is relatively young yet talented, and perhaps more importantly, engaged in ardently working to turn around the program that has taken it very much on the chin since entering the Big-12 Conference two seasons ago.

“Everybody right now is contributing and I feel like there’s a good sense of impact from most players on this team, even if they’re not playing heavy minutes in the game,” Cummard said. “We have several that live it every day, and most of them do … Most of our girls lead more by example and I’m trying to cultivate more of the verbal leadership.”

Whatever is being done seems to be working well, although there’s still much to be accomplished, and Cummard will be the first to tell you as much, as he continues to learn and develop himself along with his young and exciting group of players.