Wire to wire: BYU takes down No. 19 Texas Tech, 73-61
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- BYU’s Marya Hudgins (right) and Arielle Mackey-Williams celebrate a 73-61 upset of No. 19 Texas Tech in the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
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- BYU’s Lara Rohkohl (left) helps shave the head of assistant coach Andrew Curtis after the Cougars upset No. 19 Texas Tech 73-62 at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
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- BYU’s Delaney Gibb (11) drives to the basket against Texas Tech in a Big 12 women’s basketball game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
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- BYU women’s basketball assistant coach Andrew Curtis has his head shaved after the Cougars upset No. 19 Texas Tech 73-62 at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
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- BYU’s Olivia Hamlin races in for a layup against Texas Tech in a Big 12 women’s basketball game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
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- BYU’s Lara Rohkohl takes a shot against Texas Tech in a Big 12 women’s basketball game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
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- BYU women’s basketball coach Lee Cummard runs through the locker room as his team celebrates a 73-61 upset of No. 19 Texas Tech at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
BYU celebrated its stunning 73-61 upset of No. 19 Texas Tech at the Marriott Center by thanking fans, mugging for cameras and dousing head coach Lee Cummard with water as he entered the locker room.
Oh, and shaving the head of assistant coach Andrew Curtis.
Some victories just demand something special.
The Cougars led for all but about a minute of Wednesday’s upset, taking everything the Lady Raiders could throw at them and enjoying an 18- point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
“I thought we matched them or exceeded everything that they were doing, blow for blow,” Cummard said. “I’m just really proud of the group and glad to see their hard work paying off.”
BYU’s leading scorer Delaney Gibb drew most of Texas Tech’s defensive attention, which opened up the floor for her teammates. Freshman Olivia Hamlin was electric on offense, scoring 11 first-quarter points and leading the Cougars with 20.
“She was on it from the jump,” Cummard said. “She was talking with one of the coaches this week and they told her, ‘Play so well Coach (Cummard) can’t take you out of the game.’ Tonight it was hard to keep her off the court. She’s a huge asset every game but tonight she just brought it, played with force and made plays for the group.”
Gibb still scored 18 and also dished out six assists, with center Lara Rohkohl adding 13 points and eight rebounds.
“I think this kind of just reminds us that we can compete, and we can compete at the highest level,” Gibb said. “So I think going into our next conference games, we’re going to be hungry to do the same thing every single night.”
It was actually a fluke that Hamlin got into the game so early. Starting guard Sydney Benally tweaked her ankle on the Cougars first offensive possession and had to leave the game. Hamlin checked in and immediately dropped in a 3-pointer, then scored on a layup for 9-5 BYU lead. In the final minute of the quarter, Hamlin stole the ball and sailed in for fast break baskets on consecutive possessions. The Cougars led 25-16 after one and Benally came back into the game to sink three 3-pointers in the second period, keeping BYU in front 40-34 at halftime.
Texas Tech, which won its first 19 games this season before losing to Kansas State on Saturday, stayed within four points for most of the third quarter but a 3-point play from Marya Hudgins pushed BYU to an eight-point advantage, 56-48, entering the fourth.
The Cougars opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run, with two baskets from Hamlin, two assists from Gibb and a 3-point play from Brinley Cannon for a 65-48 lead with 5:39 remaining. BYU put the game away moments later with Hamlin scoring on an offensive rebound and Gibb draining a 3-pointer for a 70-52 advantage with 4:12 to play.
“I just thought we minimized some of the lapses that we’ve had in some of our losses,” Cummard said. “It shows the growth and what we’re doing, but overall, the connectivity on the defensive end was really, really good as a group. It was special on the offensive end, too, but it was really tight on that (the defensive) end.”
The Cougars had won just two of their past 17 games against Top 25 opponents, with the most recent victory coming last season against No. 20 Oklahoma State. This season, three of BYU’s four losses had come against ranked opponents.
It was obviously time for a breakthrough.
“My message to them was ‘You can’t beat a Top 20 team at home (by playing) passive, right?'” Cummard said. “Even when we got the lead in that fourth quarter media time out, I was like, ‘Hey, we’re foot on the gas. We’re putting it to them. We’re going to take this thing.’ I felt like at least for tonight, regardless of who they had, our five were more connected and tighter as a group. We were the better five on the court.”
As for the post-game celebration, Curtis promised the players they could shave his head if they won, and a promise is a promise.
“It was some fun and extra motivation to pull out a win tonight,” Gibb said.
Snudda Collins topped Texas Tech (19-2 overall, 6-2 Big 12) with 17 points but leading scorer Bailey Maupin (15.5 points per game) managed just 11 on 4 of 14 from the field.
The Cougars had significant advantaged in points in the paint (36-20), points off turnovers (24-15) and fast-break points (14-6).
BYU (15-4, 4-3) will play another ranked team, No. 22 West Virginia, on Saturday in the Marriott Center. The Mountaineers (16-4, 6-2) throttled Arizona State 53-43 on Wednesday.
