“I knew that this team had a chance to be one of the best we’ve had at BYU,” head coach Jeff Judkins said. “A lot of players sacrificed to get here and now they have chance to do something special. We have a lot more work to do but I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work they’ve put in this year.”

The win marked BYU’s (25-2, 15-1) second WCC championship and fifth league title under Judkins. The Cougars finished first in the WCC in 2015-16.

BYU will also be No. 1 seed at next week’s WCC Tournament in Las Vegas and play Monday in the semifinals.

Four players scored in double figures, led by Shaylee Gonzales’ 18 points. Paisley Harding scored 14, Tegan Graham made four 3-pointes for 12 points and Lauren Gustin added her 14th double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Gonzales added eight rebounds, four steals and three assists while Graham led the Cougars with five helpers and Maria Albiero added four of her own.

BYU opened the game on an 11-0 run and never really looked back. The Cougars picked up five steals and cashed in throughout the first quarter with quick buckets, finishing the quarter with a Graham three-pointer for a 23-9 lead after the first 10 minutes.

The second quarter started just the same as the first, with an 11-0 BYU run before Pacific broke up the run with a triple. BYU answered back with its own trey from Graham and a jumper by Gonzales to stay in front 39-14 with three minutes left until halftime.

Arielle Mackey-Williams got some first-half action off the bench and knocked down a three-pointer and a transition layup and another runner at the buzzer for seven points and a 50-20 lead at halftime.

BYU continued to run in the second half but the Tigers kept pace after six minutes of play. Gonzales sank two more freebies and Lauren Gustin got loose for an easy layup, making it 65-30 with under four minutes to go until the fourth.

In control, the Cougars got the future of the program plenty of minutes in the fourth quarter with Rose Bubakar, Emma Calvert, Kate Vorwaller, Devry Millett and Mackey-Williams all getting extended minutes.

BYU will await its matchup for the West Coast Conference Tournament next week. The Cougars will be the No. 1 overall seed and play Monday after a double bye to the semifinal matchup.

BYU baseball sweeps Arizona State

After coming from behind to win the first two games of the ASU series, BYU scored early and often on Saturday for a 19-3 win and a series sweep at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

“The thing I loved most about today is that we came ready to play,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “We got great at-bats all game and strung together a lot of hits. On the pitching side, Nate Dahle gave us three strong innings and Ryan Brady came in and did an incredible job for three-plus innings. This team has great chemistry, and they play for each other. It was a great team effort this week.”

The Cougars improve to 5-2 on the season and have won five-straight games, including four in a row this week over Ohio State and Arizona State. BYU has also won the last six games versus ASU dating back to May 2011.

“We accomplished something historic this weekend,” Littlewood said. “We came to Arizona State–a national baseball powerhouse–and swept them on their home field. That’s a pretty-special accomplishment.”

Track concludes indoor season

BYU track and field athletes concluded the final push toward indoor nationals as the team’s February home meet finished at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday.

The BYU men combined to record five first-place finishes on Saturday, highlighted by thrilling finishes in the pole vault and 800m.

Returning First Team All-American Caleb Witsken was headed into Saturday’s meet hovering on the nationals-qualifying bubble with a tie for the 13th-best clearance in the country. Witsken emphatically soared past that mark with a personal-best vault of 5.55m/18-2.5, good for No. 3 all-time at BYU.

According to the most recent USTFCCCA standings, this clears Witsken of South Dakota’s Eerik Haamer for No. 7 nationally and likely punches his ticket to Birmingham.

“Our vault group had a very good weekend,” said BYU Director of Track and Field Ed Eyestone. “Caleb is in a solid position to go and score points at nationals and it was outstanding to see Cailee (Faulkner) set that school record on Friday and put herself in position to compete at nationals as a freshman.”

Gymnastics wins Utah State meet

No. 12 BYU came out on top in a tri-meet against No. 14 Utah State and No. 23 Towson University at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Friday night.

The Cougars scored a 196.575 to earn victories over the Aggies (196.225) and the Tigers (195.600).

“Utah State is a great team and we are looking forward to an unbelievable MRGC championship after these amazing performances,” said head coach Guard Young. “Utah State really pushed us and the girls had a great meet with great performances.”