BYU women return to the Marriott Center, host CSU Saturday

PROVO, Utah— For the first time in nearly a month, BYU (6-3) women’s basketball is back home for its next two games. The Cougars host former Mountain West Conference foe Colorado State (4-4) Saturday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. The BYU and CSU matchup will be carried live on BYUtv and online at byutv.org.

BYU vs. CSU Game Notes

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars close out their nonconference schedule at home with two games after a six-game road swing that saw the team record wins over Utah State, TCU, California Baptist and Utah Valley.
• After playing in nine games, BYU is putting up 67.9 points per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the field, 30.1 percent from the 3-point line and 71.2 percent when shooting from the free-throw line.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales leads the team in scoring with a 16.2 average. Junior Brenna Chase is next with 13.3 points and team bests in assists (4.6) and steals (2.8). Sophomore Paisley Johnson rounds out the double-digit scoring with 13.1 points.
• Junior forward Shalae Salmon tops the leaderboard in the rebounds category, pulling down 6.2 boards a game; sophomore center Sara Hamson has the best blocks average at 1.7 per contest.
• At least two players have scored in double-digit points in eight of the nine games played; in five games the Cougars grabbed more rebounds and assists than their opponents.
• BYU was picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll while junior Brenna Chase and sophomore Sara Hamson were named to the WCC preseason team.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE

• Colorado State University comes to Provo with a 4-4 record and wins over Eastern New Mexico, Cornell, North Florida and Northern Arizona. Two of their losses are on the road at Colorado and Gonzaga.
• CSU finished last season with a 21-12, 11-7 record, tied for fourth place in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and advanced to the second round of the postseason WNIT.
• The Cougars and Rams met last year in Ft. Collins where CSU picked up a two-point, 56-54 home win.
• The Rams score 52.4 points and pull down 37.4 rebounds and they shoot 36.7 percent from the field, 25.5 percent from behind the arc and 75.0 percent from the free throw line.
• Sophomore Lore Devos tops the leaderboard in scoring for CSU with 16.4 points a game and a team-best 1.1 steals. Teammate Mollie Mounsey follows with 10.1 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds a contest. Grace Colaivalu is the team’s assist leader with a  4.3 average.
• CSU was selected to finish sixth out of 11 teams in the 2018-19 MWC preseason poll.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

The Cougars close out their nonconference portion of the 2018-19 schedule hosting Northern Colorado on Friday, Dec. 21. WCC action begins on Dec. 29.