Maximum fun factor: BYU women thrash Missouri in WBIT
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- BYU’s Delaney Gibb goes in for a layup against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- BYU’s Olivia Hamlin handles the ball against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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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.
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- BYU’s Bola Yussuf (left) goes up for a shot against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- BYU’s Lara Rhokohl (13) makes a move against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- BYU’s Miriam Traore (30) goes up for a shot against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- BYU’s Delaney Gibb drives to the basket against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- BYU women’s basketball coach Lee Cummard talks to him team during a time out against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- BYU’s Olivia Hamlin (left) goes in for a layup against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
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- The BYU women’s basketball team huddles before a game against Missouri in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament at the Marriott Center on Monday, March 23, 2026.
Far from the madness of the NCAA Tournament, the BYU women’s basketball team is bringing the fun.
The Cougars shredded Missouri’s defense in a 28-7 first quarter on Monday, absolutely rolling to a 93-75 victory in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament in front of 2,415 fans at the Marriott Center.
BYU was the “Last Team Out” of the NCAA Tournament so the focus has been on making a run in the WBIT, and two dominating wins (the other against Alabama A&M last week) have the Cougars playing their best basketball.
Sophomore Delaney Gibb was fantastic, putting up a line of 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists with freshman Olivia Hamlin going for 23 points and sophomore Kambree Barber posting 12 points and 11 rebounds. And don’t forget sophomore Brinley Cannon, who had 10 points, five rebounds and six assists.
“I thought we shared the ball pretty well,” Hamlin said, “and it was fun.”
Gibb explained, “Olivia has this thing where she just loves to say ‘it was really fun,’ and she just ends it with that.”
Fortunately, Gibb was more descriptive about BYU’s dominating performance.
“I thought that it was maybe the best start that we’ve had all year. I think it started with our intensity on defense. We got great stops and then from there, our transition offense was just really the key to the game. Shout out to everyone who was just nailing threes and getting easy buckets, because that kind of opened up the game.”
The Cougars laid waste to the Tigers early, pushing the tempo and scoring at will in a 25-2 run in the first quarter. Cannon scored eight points and Gibb has seven as BYU went from a 5-3 deficit to a 28-7 lead after one.
“it wasn’t specifically transition, even though that was something we were emphasizing,” Cougar head coach Lee Cummard said. “We just wanted to be really aggressive defensively and let that fuel us offensively, and it really helps when that three ball is going in. I thought the decision making and unselfishness early really kind of led to and carried us through the whole game.”
Sydney Benally scored and Gibb banged in another 3-pointer for a 33-7 lead early in the second and even though Missouri started to find its offense, the Cougars still led by 21, 48-27, at half.
BYU continued to dominate in the second half, leading by 31 points, 66-35, after a 10-0 run capped by a Gibb basket with six minutes to go in the third. The Cougars largest lead was 32 points, 88-56, on a Hamlin triple (BYU’s 14th 3-pointer) with 5:25 to play. Cummard subbed out his starters and Missouri made some shots in garbage time to make the score look a bit more respectable.
“The crowd was great tonight, and right from the jump, the energy was in the building, and it really played into how our team performed,” Cummard said.
BYU also hit a few major milestones. It’s the first time the program has won multiple post-season games since 2014. The victory was Cummard’s 24th of the season, tying him with the legendary Jeff Judkins for most wins in program history by a first-year coach. Gibb’s 29-point performance pushed her to the 1,000-point plateau for her career as well.
As a No. 1 seed, BYU (24-11) will host Stanford (21-13) on Thursday in a quarterfinal game. The Cardinal, which last won a national championship in 2021, defeated Loyola Marymount (80-76) and Quinnipiac (81-69) to advance.
The Cougars intend to keep pushing the “fun” factor as far as they can in the post-season.
“Stanford has the highest NET ranking of anybody in the tournament, so we’re up against a steep thing,” Cummard said. “I will take it one game at a time. You know that’s what we’re gonna say. But this group’s not ready to be done playing, and I can see it in the way they played, the way they’ve practiced and prepared for these games. It’s fun to have them get rewarded for their work.”
Hamblin added: “I know it’s not the NCAA Tournament, but you’re still playing basketball in March. I think it kind of feels us like we’re here to show that we can do this. So I think we’re just staying focused and kind of like building that to prove that we are good.”
