BYU roundup: Cougar women’s basketball wins at Arizona State
An all-around performance earned BYU a 77-67 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday night.
“I am super proud of my women tonight,” said BYU head coach Amber Whiting. “They have been going through it, so to see them close this one out was really good for me to see their grit, their toughness, their fight and their character. They come back every single day to try and get better and I was happy to see the ball bounce their way tonight.”
The Cougars assisted on 25-of-30 made field goals in the win over Arizona State, their second-highest percentage of made field goals assisted this season. BYU’s 25 assists mark the most assists in a game since Feb. 24, 2022. Six BYU players finished with three or more assists, led by Amari Whiting and Emma Calvert with five apiece.
Kambree Barber, making her first-career start, led BYU with a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double in the Cougars’ first win since Jan. 8. The freshman also recorded three assists, two blocks and a steal against the Sun Devils.
Calvert was the leading scorer for the Cougars with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, going 1-for-2 from behind the arc and 5-for-7 from the charity stripe. The senior also dished a career-high five assists along with four boards and two blocks.
Kemery Congdon has been on a heater over the last four games, averaging 14.5 points on 47.7 percent shooting. On the night, the Cougar’s fifth-year senior captain scored 16 points on 6-of-11 from the floor and 4-for-6 from deep. She was one of six BYU players to record three or more assists while also grabbing two rebounds and a steal.
BYU returns to the friendly confines of the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 5 for a date with the UCF Knights. The game is set for a 7 p.m. tip and will be streamed on ESPN+. Jason Shepherd will have the live radio call on BYU Radio, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio App.
Cougar track athletes shine at different meets
Carmen Alder, Rebekah Erikson and Paje Rasmussen each earned BYU women’s track Top-10 program marks on Saturday.
Alder clocked 4:29.49 in the mile at the Harvard Invitational to move up to No. 2 all-time in the BYU record books. The senior from Southern Pines, North Carolina won the event and broke her previous personal best by nearly four seconds just a day after running 4:40.41 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Erikson won the pole vault at the Roman Ruiz Speed and Power Invite with a lifetime personal best of 4.39-meters/14-4.75. The senior and outdoor school record-holder improved upon her indoor No. 3 all-time mark in the event.
“Today was a great day,” said Erikson. “I’ve been wanting to get on longer poles for three years now. It is really rewarding that I got a PR my first time jumping on them. I’m excited to jump bigger bars the rest of my senior season.”
Rasmussen placed second in the 60m semifinals in Logan with a personal-best of 7.53. A couple of hours later, the sophomore placed second again and improved upon her mark with a 7.49 showing, good for No. 5 all-time in the Cougars’ record book.
On the men’s side, Tyler Mathews, Joey Nokes and Logan Hubler each earned BYU Top-10 program marks on Saturday.
“The Boston track always provides a great opportunity to run fast and today did not disappoint,” said director of track and field Ed Eyestone. “Highlights of the day would be Tyler Mathews’ inspiring run to win the fast heat of the 800-meter in a No. 2 all time mark for BYU, and Joey Nokes posting the No. 2 all time mark in the 5000-meter. It was fun to see Landon Heemeyer win his heat in the 5000-meter as a true freshman, and of course Casey Clinger had a solid day in the 5000m and another personal best for Carter Cutting in the mile. From here, we just need to rest up and get healthy as we prepare for Seattle in two weeks. We still have some work to do in preparation for the Big 12 Championships, but today put us in a good place going forward.”
Mathews clocked 1:47.27 in the 800-meter at the Boston University meet to move up to No. 2 all-time in the BYU record books. The true freshman took first overall in his collegiate debut of the event. An hour later, Mathews stood atop the podium again with his first place finish of the 500m with a 1:02.75 finishing time.
“It was a great start to my 800-meter racing here at BYU,” said Mathews. “I felt smooth, and I still ran a huge personal best. Coach Eyestone and Coach Waite obviously know what they’re doing because I have gotten so much more fit during my time here. I’m super grateful for the chance to race at places like Boston University and I think it will only get better from here.”
Nokes clocked 13:20.76 over the 5000m distance to move to No. 2 in program records. The native of Riverton, Utah’s most recent outing was earlier this season at the same track where he clocked 13:29.61. Nokes was a member of the 2024 NCAA National Cross Country Championship winning roster.
“I’m super pumped to finally cash in a big personal best and a strong bid to indoor nationals,” said Nokes. “I’m also proud of my teammates who competed well in their heats and repped the Y as always.”
Back in Utah, Hubler advanced to match the No. 6 program record in the 60m hurdles with a 7.88 finishing time in the preliminary round. It marks back-to-back weeks with personal bests in the event. Hubler previously ran 7.89 in New York City at the Dr. Sander Scorcher a week prior.
The Cougars will compete Feb. 14-15 at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Washington and the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
BYU swim and dive goes 1-2 at Air Force
BYU men’s and women’s dive teams finished first and second, respectively, as the Air Force Diving Invitational came to a close at Cadet Natatorium on Saturday. The Cougar men came in first, while the women were second behind Missouri.
“The whole team performed great and our consistency was at a higher level than we’ve seen all year,” said BYU head dive coach Tyce Routson. “We look forward to carrying this momentum forward into our dual meet at Utah and on to Big 12 Championships.”
BYU swim and dive combines for the program’s final regular season meet in the annual rivalry meet with Utah Feb. 7-8 at Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City.
Cougar women’s tennis wins twice, men’s tennis splits matches
The BYU women’s tennis team defeated Eastern Washington and Idaho on the road this weekend, with a 7-0 sweep against the Eagles.
“It’s never easy playing on the road back to back weekends, and we’re grateful to come out of this one with two wins,” said head coach Holly Hasler. “The energy and effort today was huge. I was proud of these ladies for bouncing back after such a tough loss yesterday.”
The Cougar men’s tennis team had its first road matchups of the season this weekend. The Cougars faced Portland State on Friday and Oregon on Saturday.
“Obviously, we wanted to come away with two wins this weekend,” said head coach Zack Warren. “We got the first one yesterday but couldn’t collect on the second one today. Oregon played the slower conditions better than we did today. We’ll need to adjust better the next time we are in a similar situation.”
BYU women’s tennis will return to Provo for a two-match stretch starting next Saturday, Feb. 2., While Cougar men’s tennis heads back on the road as they go on a road trip to the New York area. Their first match will be against Binghamton University on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. MST.