1 / 5

22-23wBKB WCC vs San Francisco 0601 22-23wBKB WCC vs San Francisco West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. BYU: 66 USF: 56 March 4, 2023 Photography by Nate Edwards/BYU © BYU PHOTO 2020 All Rights Reserved photo@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Courtesy BYU Photo

2 / 5

22-23wBKB WCC vs San Francisco 0280 22-23wBKB WCC vs San Francisco West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. BYU: 66 USF: 56 March 4, 2023 Photography by Nate Edwards/BYU © BYU PHOTO 2020 All Rights Reserved photo@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Courtesy BYU Photo

3 / 5

BYU's Kaylee Smiler (11) makes a play during a West Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinal game against San Francisco at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

4 / 5

22-23wBKB WCC vs San Francisco 0296 22-23wBKB WCC vs San Francisco West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. BYU: 66 USF: 56 March 4, 2023 Photography by Nate Edwards/BYU © BYU PHOTO 2020 All Rights Reserved photo@byu.edu (801)422-7322

Courtesy BYU Photo

5 / 5

BYU's Arielle Mackey-Williams (5) shoots a 3-pointer against San Francisco in the West Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

How did the BYU women’s basketball team manage to survive its West Coast Conference quarterfinal game against San Francisco?

The No. 5 seed Cougars turned the ball over 25 times, leading to a 26-15 advantage for the No. 4 Dons in points off turnovers. BYU had its top three scorers — Emma Calvert (17 points), Nani Falatea (15) and Arielle Mackey-Williams (14) — foul out in the final five minutes. All-WCC performer Lauren Gustin suffered through a 2 for 14 shooting performance (while grabbing a career-high and tournament record 27 rebounds) and the officiating was … well, just plain awful.

“That’s crazy,” BYU coach Amber Whiting said. “That’s like three strikes against us.”

Probably more than three.

The Cougars overcame all of those problems and pulled off a 66-56 win against San Francisco on Saturday. BYU dominated the fourth quarter and made 12 of 23 (52%) from the 3-point line, standing strong against a frantic pace and is moving on to the WCC semifinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

Perhaps the biggest shot came from Mackey-Williams just moments after Falatea fouled out. With the shot clock winding down, Mackey-Williams calmly drilled a 3-pointer for a 57-47 BYU lead with 3:24 to go.

“I was calling ‘power’ for someone to come and set a screen so Ari could get open,” Whiting said. “But she waved it off, like, ‘No, I got this.’ I was loving it. I was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ That’s the kind of confidence we’ve tried to instill in our girls the past couple of weeks since the last San Francisco game. I love that she had the confidence to step up and shoot that.”

Mackey-Williams said: “I looked up at the clock and saw time ticking down so I shot it. I didn’t think about it. I just knew I had to step up for my teammates, who played awesome.”

Kaylee Smiler, who made both 3-pointers she attempted for six points, got tons of post-game love from her coach and her teammates for her lock down defense on the Dons’ Ioanna Krimili. The WCC’s second-leading scorer (17.3 points per game) managed just five points on 2 of 11 from the field. Smiler held Krimili scoreless until the game’s final two minutes.

“I had one job this game, which was not to not let her catch the ball and to just defend,” Smiler said. “Everybody has their roles. I don’t need to be the scorer or the MVP. I know what my team needs and so you want me to stop 21 (Krimili)? I’ll stop 21.”

BYU made four 3-pointers in the first quarter and led 18-12. But in the second quarter, foul trouble and turnovers started catching up with the Cougars. BYU went the final 7:25 of the second period without a field goal and turned the ball over 11 times in the half, which led to 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers by San Francisco. The Dons led 27-26 at the break. A 3-pointer by Loren Christie gave San Francisco a 43-39 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Falatea got things started with a 3-pointer and the Cougars outscored USF 13-0 to open the quarter, surging to a 52-43 lead on a Calvert triple with 4:40 to play. Things got a bit hectic as first Calvert, then Falatea then Mackey-Williams fouled out, but BYU held its composure and made enough free throws and defensive stops to win the game.

“I do have to say, I tell the girls if they want to play an individual sport, go play golf or tennis,” Whiting said. “Basketball is a team sport and today everybody stepped up. Lauren did struggle. It was not her night. But we had three other people in double digits. We also relied heavily on the defensive end and the girls came to play tonight.”

Scouting Report

BYU (16-15) will take on No. 1 seed Gonzaga in Monday’s semifinal at 1 p.m. MT. The 15th-ranked Bulldogs won both games with the Cougars during the regular season: 67-58 in Spokane and 58-51 in Provo.

Gonzaga has also claimed the past two WCC Tournament titles, beating BYU both times.

“We all just need to lock in on our defensive game plan,” Mackey-Williams said. “If we’re sharing the ball, making good decisions and have less turnovers, we have a really good chance if we play together.”

The other semifinal features No. 2 seed Portland (21-8) vs. No. 6 seed Pacific (15-16). The Tigers upset No. 3 seed San Diego 71-57 in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.

Women’s College Basketball

West Coast Conference Tournament

Semifinals

No. 5 BYU (16-15) vs. No. 1 Gonzaga (27-3)

Monday, 1 p.m. MT

Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

TV: BYUtv

Streaming: byutv.org and WCC Network

Live Stats: byucougars.com

The Word: Gonzaga leads the overall series with BYU 22-15. … The Bulldogs won both meetings this season. … The two teams have met seven times in the WCC Tournament with Gonzaga holding a 4-3 edge. … The Bulldogs won the only other semifinal meeting in 2013 (62-43). … The last Cougar victory vs. Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament was the 2019 title game (82-68).

Newsletter