ADELAIDE, Australia – BYU alumni Kaylee Smiler Mo’o and Tegan Graham were selected to compete with the New Zealand 2degrees Tall Ferns in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown, May 7-11.

“I know it means so much to them to represent New Zealand and suit up for their country,” BYU head coach Lee Cummard said. “They always displayed great New Zealand pride during their time at BYU. As someone who coached them, it makes me extremely proud to see them receive this great opportunity, and I’m very grateful to have played a small part in their basketball journey.”

The former Cougars will play in three games in five days as the Tall Ferns take on the Australian Opals in a three-game series. The first two games will be played in Adelaide and Sunshine Coast, Australia, with the final game being played in Hamilton, New Zealand. This will be the Tall Ferns’ first game on home soil in five years.

Smiler Mo’o played for BYU from 2018-24, in which time she helped the Cougars to a conference tournament title in 2019, a regular season conference championship in 2022 and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. The product of Hamilton, New Zealand, averaged over 7.2 points in her last two seasons at BYU while shooting 46.9 and 46.2 percent from downtown.

The BYU fan-favorite sits second in program history for 3-point field goal percentage (.430), seventh in total games played (136), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.50:1), 12th in blocks (76), and 14th in made threes (128).

Graham suited up for the Cougars for two seasons from 2020-22 and lifted BYU to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and the 2022 WCC Regular Season Title. The Wellington, New Zealand native earned consecutive All-WCC honorable mention nods (2021 & 2022) after leading the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.468), and ranking third nationally in the category (2020-21).

In just two seasons, Graham etched her name in the record book with 116 3-point field goals, good for 17th on the all-time list. Her 41.4 percent from three was also the third highest mark in program history, while her 2.11 threes per game rank second all-time. Graham also ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.21:1), 11th in assists per game (3.58) and 20th in minutes per game (27:15).

The Tall Ferns fell 88-70 in game one on May 7th. The next game will tip on May 8th at 5:55 a.m. MT with the game broadcast live on Sky Sport. The final game will begin on May 11 at 10 p.m. MT.

BYU softball advances at Big 12 Tournament

OKLAHOMA CITY — Ilove’a Brittingham and Aleia Agbayani both homered as No. 6-seed BYU softball shut out No. 11-seed Houston, 4-0 First Round of the Big 12 Championship at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park on Wednesday night.

Kaysen Korth and Jada Villegas combined to pitch a two-hit shutout as the Cougars (32-16, 13-11 Big 12) advanced in the conference tournament.

BYU out-hit Houston, eight to two in the contest, backed by Brittingham and Agbayani’s home runs. Brittingham hit her 20th of the year in the contest, tying a BYU freshman record for most in a season.

Brittingham and Agbayani both went 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBI for the Cougars. Kaysen Korth picked up her 16th win by pitching five innings of shutout softball and striking out five.

Korth worked around a pair of leadoff walks to open the game, picking up a swinging strikeout before Hailey Morrow and Lindy Milkowski sniffed out a double steal attempt, applying the tag at home to keep Houston off the board.

The Cougars got out of trouble after two more walks in the third, leaving the Houston runners stranded in scoring position after a sacrifice bunt with a line out and fly out.

BYU broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. Miranda Mansfield led off with a bunt single before Ilove’a Brittingham launched a two-run shot to right field, putting the Cougars in front, 2-0.

A walk and single to right put runners on the corners for Houston in the top of the fifth inning, but Korth induced a fly out that Lily Owens corralled at the warning track to retain BYU’s two-run lead.

Houston got a runner to second once more on a walk and sacrifice bunt in the sixth, but Jada Villegas, who came on in relief, got a swinging strikeout and fly out to keep the Cougars’ 2-0 lead.

BYU plated a pair of insurance runs in the home half of the sixth. Brittingham led off with a single into left, moving to second on a Milkowski sacrifice bunt. Aleia Agbayani homered to center a batter later, extending the Cougar advantage to 4-0.

Houston picked up a single in the seventh, but two Villegas strikeouts and and a fly out sealed BYU’s first round victory, 4-0.

The sixth-seeded Cougars will take on No. 3-seed Iowa State in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. CDT on ESPN+.

UVU softball shuts out Abilene Christian at WAC Tournament

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Avery Sapp went 2-for-3 with two RBIs while tossing 4.1 shutout innings and Peyton Hall hit a three-run homer to lead Utah Valley to a WAC Tournament-opening 8-0 win over the Abilene Christian Wildcats in six innings.

The win punches the Wolverines’ ticket to the double elimination portion of the tournament bracket, where they will face the No. 4 seed Seattle U Redhawks later tonight at 8 p.m. MDT/7 p.m. PDT.

Payge Armendariz pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed just one baserunner to close out the game. Armendariz also pitched in on the offensive side, going 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI single. Megan Gibbs went 1-for-3 with an RBI triple.

Sapp worked out of a jam in the first thanks to some stellar defensive work that carried on throughout the game. With one out and runners on the corners, Victoria Vasquez snagged a liner at her shoetops, then fired to first to double off the runner, the first of three double plays for the Wolverines in the game.

Gibbs turned the second double play of the day to end the third, using all of her vertical to snag a liner that was destined for trouble down the right field line, then stepped on the bag to double off another Wildcat runner.

Utah Valley used a two-out, three-run rally in the fourth to take the lead for good, sparked by the two pitchers of the game in Armendariz and Sapp. Armendariz roped a double to left center, then advanced to third on a single by Mya Higareda. Higareda swiped second looking to get into a rundown, but the throw never came. Sapp then lined a single to right center to plate both runners.

After Sapp swiped second and advanced to third on an error, Megan Gibbs ripped a triple to right center for the third run of the inning.

Singles by Amber Rodriguez and Angelique Mann set the table for the fourth Wolverine run in the fifth inning. Armendariz dunked a single to left to drive in Rodriguez.

Armendariz came on in relief in the fifth, and quickly got an inning-ending double play to get the Wolverine bats back up to bat.

Utah Valley rallied for four in the sixth to put the game in run rule territory. Sapp doubled down the line, then advanced to third as Gibbs reached on an error by the second baseman. Bailey Marvin pinch hit and hit a smash to short, but Sapp was able to beat the throw home. ACU made a pitching change and retired the next two batters, but Peyton Hall left the yard for a three-run shot, the first of this year’s WAC Tournament and her fourth of the season.

Utah Valley advances out of the single-elimination play-in round and will now face No. 4 Seattle U with a trip to the WAC Tournament quarterfinals on the line. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. MDT/7 p.m. PDT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.