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BYU women's basketball coach Lee Cummard (left) reacts against Missouri in the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald)

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU players celebrate a 70-67 win against Kansas in the semifinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. on Monday, March 30, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Delaney Gibb sails in for a layup against Kansas in the semifinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. on Monday, March 30, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU women’s basketball team made a big run to the finals of the WBIT last season, winning 9 of its last 11 games.

The overall confidence built in that run flows perfectly into two main areas Cougar head coach Lee Cummard is emphasizing in offseason workouts.

“Our focus is a lot of things, but we want to improve our 3-point shooting,” Cummard said. “We’re a better team than we shot last year. We feel like there’s a lot of margin to capture in that area, and then our turnovers are just something that have hurt us, so we’re trying to do a little bit more decision making in our development this spring and summer.”

BYU’s 3-point shooting percentage dropped from .342 in 2024-25 — the last season under Amber Whiting — to .313 last season. Leading scorer Delaney Gibb’s numbers from beyond the arc also fell (.395 to .329) and freshman guards Olivia Hamlin (.303) and Sydney Benally (.252) went through difficult streaks from the 3-point line.

The Cougars’ top 3-point shooter was junior Marya Hudgins (.397), who transferred to West Virginia. The top returning number belongs to junior Brinley Cannon, who was 47 of 131 (.359) from beyond the arc.

Returned missionary Kailey Woolston shot .466 as a freshman (81 of 174) from the 3-point line in 2023-24 and her addition to the lineup could provide a big boost in that area.

As for turnovers, the Cougars had 510 in 2024-25, including 331 (18.4 per game) in Big 12 play, last in the league. Last season, BYU finished with 318 turnovers in Big 12 games (17.7), which was 13th in league play.

“I think there’s a confidence level,” Cummard said. “I think it’s more of an excitement of what we did down the stretch was fun. We want to do that again. There is a confidence in, ‘Hey, I get better, it’s going to be better for the team and we can do some exciting things next year.'”

BYU returns the bulk of its roster this season, losing just one player who started the final game in the WBIT (center Laura Rohkohl, to graduation) and Hudgins, who started 27 games before an injury.

The newcomers include Russian sophomore Liza Astakhova (6-2 transfer from North Carolina) and three freshmen in 5-10 guard Vahayliah Seumanutafa and 6-0 guard Prasayus Notoa (both from Australia) and 6-1 guard Stella Sakalas from Illinois.

“All of our new players are competitors that like to get after it,” Cummard said. “V (Seumanutafa) is a floor general and likes to kind of manage the game. I think that’s a real strength of hers and she wants to be a part of something bigger than herself. Stella is a very proficient scorer. She has range, can post up and drive it. She has some size for a guard, which is is good.

“Prasayus, she’s not (Nikola) Jokic, but she likes that part of the game, the passing and facilitating from a forward standpoint. All three of them are pretty versatile.”

Cummard said he believes that group will adjust well to the unique culture at BYU.

“I went to Brisbane into the homes of Prasayus and V,” he said. “For V, it was Monday night, so we had Family Night together. It was very traditional with an opening song and prayer, then V gave the lesson and we had desert to finish. They are all really good fits.”

‘And then Liza, the transfer from Russia, she’s got a pretty good skill set for her size. She can play on the perimeter if she’s got somebody bigger on her and play inside if she’s got somebody smaller. She also likes the Jokic style of game of facilitating from that high post area. She’s a really good player.”

The Cougars practiced through the spring and at the end of June finished with a retreat. Cummard said the players have some freedom in July and August while the newcomers are enrolled in summer term.

“I like the big picture for this next season,” Cummard said. “We’ve just got to get better. We’ve got to turn it over less and we have to make more shots, percentage wise. Some of that is shot selection, some of it is just improving our skill sets and building on the energy of the end of last season. My philosophy for the summer is mostly for the players to improve.

“At the end of the day, we felt like we left too much to chance with the NCAA tournament. We’ve got to fix that this year and we’ll get our chance. I think our league is going to be stronger in its depth. The teams that we below us in the the standings have all gotten better and the teams above us lost a lot to the portal and graduation.”