ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – If the BYU women’s basketball team was flying a bit under the radar so far this season, it’s performance at the St. Pete Showcase should get some serious attention.

After knocking off 17th-ranked Florida State on Thanksgiving, the Cougars held on for a 58-57 victory against No. 22 West Virginia on Saturday to win the Showcase and remain unbeaten at 7-0.

The Cougars, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, used a late 7-0 run that included a Paisley Harding three-pointer with under three minutes to play to get back in front. With 12.7 seconds to go and the game tied at 56, Shaylee Gonzales drove to the basket and drew a foul. Gonzales sank both free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining for a 58-56 lead. A foul on the other end put West Virginia’s Kari Niblack on the line with 0.4 seconds to go. Niblack made the first but missed the second and BYU survived for the win.

Gonzales, who was named the St. Pete Showcase MVP, finished with 20 points (16 in the second half), six rebounds and two assist, going 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. She had 24 points and five steals in the Cougars’ win over No. 17 Florida State on Thursday.

Harding added 13 points and three steals while Tegan Graham posted 11 points.

The Cougars were without head coach Jeff Judkins, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week. Assistant coach Lee Cummard went 3-0 as an interim head coach last week, getting victories against Utah State, Florida State and West Virginia.

BYU shot 47.7% from the field and 38.9% from the 3-point line. The Mountaineers managed 40.1% overall and just 28.6% from behind the arc. West Virginia outrebounded the Cougars 34 to 26 but BYU countered with efficiency from the free-throw line, making 9 of 11 to the Mountaineers 9 on 15 chances.

Graham hit back-to-back threes early in the first quarter to give BYU a 9-6 lead with just under eight minutes left but the Cougars suffered from a near seven-minute scoreless drought before Maria Albiero scored a layup to end a 13-0 West Virginia run. The Cougars trailed 21-11 at the end of the first.

Trailing 34-26, freshman Emma Calvert knocked down a three to make it 34-29 with 1:45 to go until the break. BYU went into halftime down 37-29. Graham led all scorers with 11 points, including three treys.

Gonzales hit back-to-back threes to trim West Virginia’s edge down to 39-35 with 7:39 left in the third quarter. Harding added back-to-back twos and BYU tied things up just over a minute later.

Harding scored off an inbounds play to retake the lead 43-42 with 2:50 to go in the third. Gustin added another jumper on the next possession to go up 45-42.

West Virginia got hot in the third quarter, connecting on three field goals in a row, including two triples and retook the lead at 52-47 with under six minutes remaining in the game.

BYU battled back with a 7-0 run, including a Harding three to go back in front 54-52 with 2:33 to go and set up the game’s final frantic moments.

BYU earned six votes in last week’s AP Top 25 poll but with two wins against ranked opponents will likely crack the rankings on Monday.

Next up, BYU plays in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah in an in-state rivalry game on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.

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