At Gonzaga Saturday for final WCC game

PROVO, Utah—With its first ouright West Coast Conference regular season title, No. 22 BYU women’s basketball (24-4, 16-1) has one more league game this week. With Thursday night’s road win at Portland, BYU has extended its winning streak to 16- straight, the longest streak in program history.

The Cougars finish the year in Spokane with a game against Gonzaga (17-12, 9-8) Saturday, Feb. 27 in a 2 p.m. PT tip. The Cougars and Bulldogs’ game can be heard live on BYU Radio and can also be viewed on the W.tv. 

BYU at a Glance
BYU breaks into the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll this week at No. 22 after being one spot out of the top 25 last week. The Cougars were last in the Coaches Poll in the 2013-14 season when they finished the year ranked 18th after getting votes heading into that year’s WCC tournament. That season BYU advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to UConn, who went on to win the NCAA Championship.

Senior All-American guard Lexi Eaton Rydalch is one of three Cougar players putting up double figures in points with a team-best 24.7 points. She’s BYU’s second all-time leading scorer and the WCC’s all-time leading scorer. Rydalch ranks second on the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.8 boards a game. Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher follows contributing 12.8 points to the Cougars’ offensive threat. All-American Kalani Purcell, a JC transfer from Hutchinson Community College and Hamilton, New Zealand, rounds out the scoring with her 11.6 points, and with a team-best 12.5 rebounds is averaging a double-double. Purcell tops the league in rebounds and in assists while Rydalch leads the way in scoring.

The Cougars are scoring 69.6 points and grabbing 38.2 rebounds while shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 69.0 percent from the free throw line and 37.1 percent from 3-point range. BYU is holding opponents to 60.8 points per game.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 24.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 12.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32, K. Purcell, .89 bpg

GONZAGA at a Glance
Gonzaga enters the final week of WCC regular season with a 17-12, 9-8 record. They have a 6-2 record at home in league play. The Bulldogs lost to San Diego, 58-57 Thursday night.

Jill Barta leads Gonzaga in scoring averaging 13.6 points per game. Shelby Cheslek tops the list in rebounds averaging 8.6 boards per game.  

The Bulldogs are averaging 64.8 points per game, grabbing 40.5 rebounds, while shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 31.7 percent from behind the arc and 69.6 percent from the free throw line. Gonzaga’s defense is holding opponents to 57.7 points a contest.

• Head coach: Lisa Fortier, Second season
• Team’s leading scorer: #13 J. Barta, 13.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #44 S. Cheslek, 8.6 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #05 G. Stirto , 2.8 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #13 J. Barta, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 S. Cheslek, 2.0 bpg

Series History
Gonzaga leads the series 11-8. When playing in the McCarthey Athletic Center, the Cougars have a 2-6 mark. The last time that BYU won in Spokane was on Dec. 2, 2000, when they picked up a 74-57 victory.

In the first meeting between BYU and Gonzaga, the Cougars recorded the 58-54 win in Provo on Jan. 14. Lexi Eaton Rydalch led the way with a game-high 18 points to go along with two assist while going 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Kalani Purcell picked up a double-double from 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Kylie Maeda and Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher dished out team bests in assists with three while Amanda Wayment had a game high in steals with three.

Shelby Cheslek and Kiara Judron led the way for Gonzaga with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Kudron grabbed a team-best eight rebounds while Georgia Stirton dished out a game-high five assists.

Coming Up
BYU heads to Las Vegas for the 2016 WCC Women’s Basketball Championships, beginning Friday, Mar. 5. The Cougars are the defending champions and look to repeat the feat this year.  The winner of the conference championship receives an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.