Season home opener brings UC Riverside to Marriott Center Friday

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball opens the 2018-19 regular season with a home game, hosting UC Riverside Friday, Nov. 7, at 5 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and streamed online at byutv.org.

BYU vs. UC Riverside Game Notes

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars are coming off an 83-56 win over Dixie State in an exhibition game played at the Marriott Center Tuesday.
• BYU was selected to finish third in the 2018-19 West Coast Conference race.
• Junior Brenna Chase and sophomore Sara Hamson were named to the Preseason ALL-WCC Team
• The team enters the season with 11 underclassmen and just two returning starters.

KEY COUGAR RETURNERS

• Chase, who was named to the West Coast Conference First Team last year, along with the league’s defensive player of the year, Sara Hamson bring the most experience to the team. Chase enters the year as the leading scorer averaging 13.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds a game.
• Hamson started in 18 of the 26 games she played in, leading the nation and the league in blocked shots per game with a 4.3 average. She also finished her freshman campaign leading the team in rebounds grabbing 7.7 boards a game and placing sixth in the WCC in that category.
• Junior Shalae Salmon played in all games and started in 13 last year. The 6-foot-3 center from Porirua, New Zealand, averaged 4.8 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.
• Jasmine Moody, a 6-foot-2 forward is the lone senior with playing time on the team. She played in the first five games last year before a leg injury sidelined her the remainder of the season. During the 2016-17 campaign, she played in 26 games averaging 10.3 minutes of playing time and contributed 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds to a team that compiled a 20-12 record.
• Sophomores Paisley Johnson and Maria Albiero enter their second season with significant experience. Both played in all games last year. Johnson averaged 5.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while playing nearly 20 minutes a game. Albiero, from Londrina, Brazil, averaged almost nine minutes of playing time contributing 2.2 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.76 assists per contest.

ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE

• UC Riverside comes to Provo after opening the season with a 73-55 road loss at USC.
• The Highlanders played a home exhibition game vs. UC San Diego, defeating the Tritons 66-59.
• Last season, UC Riverside compiled an 11-22, 6-10 record, finishing seventh in the Big West Conference race.
• UC Riverside was selected to finish eighth in this year’s league race by the coaches and media.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

The Cougar women remain at home for two more games. They host Pac-12 foe Cal, Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. BYU then hosts Eastern Washington, Saturday, Nov. 17 in a 1 p.m. tip off. Both games will have a live video stream on TheW.tv.