Big 12 Women’s Basketball Preview: BYU faces big challenge during league play
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- BYU’s Olivia Hamlin goes in for a layup against Idaho State in a women’s college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.
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- BYU’s Marya Hudgins handles the ball in a women’s college basketball game against Idaho State at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.
Coaches are never satisfied.
When BYU women’s basketball coach Lee Cummard was asked what his team is doing well and what they still needed to work on heading into Big 12 play, he began, “Defensively, I think we’re further along that we are offensively …” then hesitated.
“I take that all back,” he said. “I’m not comfortable with anything. We’ve got to improve on a lot.”
Cummard’s first non-conference run as the Cougars’ head coach has been terrific: His team has posted an 11-1 record with the only loss to Vanderbilt at the Paradise Jam. The Commodores are 9-0 and currently ranked No. 13 in the AP poll.
BYU has done this largely without last year’s Big 12 Freshman of the Year Delaney Gibb, who sat out the past eight games due to a stress fracture. With Gibb sidelined, others have emerged. True freshman guard Olivia Hamlin is averaging 13.6 points per game, hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to beat Washington State and turned in back-to-back 20-point games to end the non-conference. Junior guard Marya Hudgins (11.3 points per game) has increased her scoring average by nearly seven points from last season. Freshman guard Sydney Benally (8.4 points, 5.6 assists per game) and freshman post Bola Yussuf (6.2 points, 6.3 rebounds per game) have gotten valuable minutes as well during the non-conference schedule.
“Everybody has kind of picked their spots to impact the game,” Cummard said. “Nobody has really played outside of character as far as what their game is. Last year, Delaney was our leading scorer in 20 of 30 games. In the non-conference, it was seven or eight out of 11. This year, it’s been significantly different. On a given night it can be somebody else or multiple people.”
Gibb is expected to return to the lineup for Saturday’s opener at UCF. Sophomore forward Kambree Barber, who missed the first nine games of the season with an injury, has worked her way back onto the court over the past three contests.
There are three Big 12 teams in this week’s AP Top 25 (No. 9 TCU, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 15 Baylor) but the rest of the league is a bit unknown after the first dozen or so games. The Horned Frogs (12-0), the Cyclones (12-0), Arizona State (13-0) and Texas Tech (13-0) are all undefeated and five other programs have at least ten wins.
BYU was picked to finish 10th (out of 16 teams) in the Big 12 preseason poll.
“It (the league) is strong,” Cummard said. “I’ve probably watched everybody two or three times on different occasions. There are a couple of teams metrically that are sneaking up near the top preseason wise that no one picked to be there. It’s a strong league and we’ve got our work cut out for us. I don’t think anybody knows what the league is yet, but we’ll find out pretty quickly.”
Senior post Laura Rohkohl, a transfer from College of Charleston, has the most experience on the roster but will be making her first foray into Big 12 play.
“The preseason, those games are important but everything counts now,” she said. “The other players we’ll play now are bigger and stronger. These other teams will bring everything and we have to bring everything every game. We can’t take a rep off.”
Scouting Report
UCF finished the non-conference schedule 8-3 with close losses to Charlotte (66-64), Wake Forest (65-60) and Stetson (70-67). The Knights ended on a good note with wins against Delaware State (75-46) and Morgan State (78-56). High-scoring guard Kaitlin Peterson (21.4 points per game) graduated but Miami transfer guard Leah Harmon has taken over, leading UCF with 16.9 points per game and 43% from the 3-point line.
BYU is 2-1 all-time against the Knights but the one loss was pretty painful: An 81-69 defeat in the first round of last year’s Big 12 Tournament.
“UCF is playing with a lot of confidence,” Cummard said. “They are similar to past years but they’re doing a better job of playing together, which is scary because they are so athletic. There are a lot of worse places to be right before Christmas than Orlando. I’d rather play at home to start but it’s a good challenge. We’ve been on the road and we’ve played true road games.
“We haven’t won our first league game in the Big 12 (in BYU’s first two seasons in the league) so this is a chance for us to show some growth.”
BYU plays the Knights at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday at noon MT and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
