Remarkable Efficiency: BYU rolls past Alabama A&M 72-47 in the first round of the WBIT Tournament
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- BYU’s Sydney Benally drives toward the basket during her stellar outing versus Alabama A&M on Thursday. March 19, 2026
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- BYU’s Delaney Gibb penetrates toward the basket to score two of her 11 points in BYU’s 72-47 win over Alabama A&M on Thursday. March 19, 2026
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- BYU coach Lee Cummard coached his team to a big postseason win over Alabama A&M on Thursday. March 19, 2026
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- BYU’s Olivia Hamlin had ten points and eight rebounds in playing a key role off the bench for BYU during its 72-47 win over Alabama A&M. March 19, 2026
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- BYU’s Lara Rohkohl attempts a lay-up during her team’s 72-47 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday. March 19, 2026
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- BYU’s Bolanie Yussuf had a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench during the Cougar’s 72-47 win over Alabama A&M. March 19, 2026
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- BYU’s Brinley Canon lays it in for two of her five points scored during a 72-47 win over Alabama A&M. March 19, 2026
The BYU women’s basketball team proved the model of efficiency during its 72-47 win over Alabama A&M in the first round of the WBIT Tournament on Thursday.
And, as has often been the case this season, it was freshman guard Sydney Benally conducting just about all of it.
Benally finished Thursday’s game with five assists and zero turnovers while going 7-11 from the field and 4-5 from 3-point range for a team-high 18 points scored. Her five assists recorded vaulted her past Shaylee Gonzalez’s record of handing out 134 assists as a freshman, testifying to the effectiveness she’s set forth throughout the season.
“She’s got a great vision for the game, great IQ, great feel and she’s been that way since she’s arrived on campus,” said BYU coach Lee Cummard. “And it’s no slouch who she just passed. Shaylee Gonzalez is a great player and had great vision.”
Benally, who is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, now has 139 assists on the season while averaging 7.7 points being tasked as BYU’s starting point guard throughout the season.
For the game BYU shot 47 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range with four players finishing with double-digit scoring. Those players were the aforementioned Benally, along with Lara Rohkohl, who scored 13 and Delaney Gibb and Olivia Hamlin, who scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
But perhaps the best stat was the rebounding where the Cougars pulled down 49 boards compared to just 32 by the Bulldogs.
“We talked about it before the game. We wanted to win the rebounding battle and also keep them to low offensive rebounding,” Rohkohl said. “And I think everyone was boxing out and jumping for it. I think that’s helped us win the game and also got us going because if they don’t get a second chance that helps us.”
Playing big in cleaning up the glass was Bolanie Yussuf, who grabbed a game-high 10 boards coming off the bench while both Gibb and Hamlin added eight a piece.
The win came just a few days after the Cougars received news that they wouldn’t be invited to the NCAA Tournament despite their strong resume in finishing the regular season with a 23-12 overall record and 9-9 mark in always competitive Big 12 Conference play.
“My biggest worry coming into today’s game was the having played for two weeks and the, ‘hey are we going to compete whether it’s the NCAA tournament or the WBIT or the WNIT or if it’s just the first regular season game of the season,'” Cummard said. “But we have a group that you can see really likes to compete and play for each other. And I was grateful for that.”
BYU set the pace early and forged a 20-13 lead after the first quarter. From there it outscored the Bulldogs in every subsequent quarter, build a 39-23 lead at the half, and then coasted to a relatively easy win.
“I just wanted to get into a game so we can get to a flow,” Cummard said. “We haven’t played in two weeks either, so that kind of was a concern that I had. But we came out from the beginning and Sydney was a huge part of that and got it going, but I thought our team was fairly locked in from the jump and just kept it going.”
As for Benally, she demurred when asked to comment on her exemplary play for not only on Thursday, but for the entire season.
“It feels great, but it’s a stat that I wouldn’t be able to achieve without my teammates. So big thanks to them,” she said.
With the win BYU advances out of the first round and will move on to take on Missouri on Monday at the Marriott Center.
