Cougar women take 4-0 WCC record on the road to Pacific and St. Mary’s

PROVO, Utah — With a 12-3 overall and 4-0 league record, BYU women’s basketball is on the road for the third week of West Coast Conference action. The Cougars battle Pacific (9-4, 2-1) Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., PST.  They are at St. Mary’s on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m. PST. Fans can follow the action for both games live with a video stream on TheW.tv. 

BYU at Saint Mary's Game Notes

BYU vs. Pacific Game Notes

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars are off to a perfect 4-0 mark in league play after a 55-44 home victory over LMU on Saturday. Currently, BYU is putting up 66.1 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from the 3-point line and 67.8 percent when shooting from the free throw line. The team grabs 39.9 rebounds and has pulled down more boards in eight contests.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales, who has scored in double-digits in all games, leads in scoring with a 17.1 average. Junior Brenna Chase puts up 13.0 points a contest while sophomore Paisley Johnson contributes 12.8 points. Chase also leads the way in assists (4.4) and steals (2.6).  Gonzales tops the list in rebounding with a 5.4 average. Sophomore center Sara Hamson leads in blocks with 1.7 per contest.
• BYU was picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll while junior Chase and sophomore Hamson were named to the WCC preseason team.
• In last year’s WCC race, BYU and Pacific split the series with each team winning on its home court.

ABOUT PACIFIC

• Pacific has compiled a 9-4, 2-1 record on the year with league victories over St. Mary's and Portland and a loss at Gonzaga
• The Tigers are 5-0 on the year when playing at the Alex C. Spanos Center
• Three players are scoring in double figures for Pacific with 16.6 points from senior guard Ameela Li. She’s followed by Valerie Higgins, a redshirt sophomore guard, who gets 16.5 points a game with Brooklyn McDavid, a sophomore forward that’s contributing 14.7 points a contest. The team's leading rebounder is Higgins who pulls down 8.5 rebounds a contest.
• Pacific is averaging 72.6 points and 38.6 rebounds a game. It shoots 40.8 percent from the field, 30 percent from behind the arc and 76.4 percent from the free-throw line.
• The Tigers were predicted to finish seventh in the 2018-19 WCC Preseason Poll. 

ABOUT ST. MARY’S

• St. Mary’s enters the third week of conference play with an 8-6, 1-2 record. The Gaels host San Diego Thursday, before battling the Cougars on Saturday afternoon.
• In league play, SMC has a win over Portland and losses to Pacific and Gonzaga.
• The Gaels are putting up 74.6 points while grabbing 39.6 percent rebounds per game. They shoot 47.7 percent from the field and 66.2 percent from the charity stripe. From 3-point range, they shoot 38.9 percent.
• Sydney Raggio tops the leaderboard in scoring for St. Mary’s with a team-best 11.9 points. Megan McKay is next with 11.4 points, Emily Codding contributes 10.8 points per game. Sam Simons rounds out the Gaels offensive output with 10.2 points a contest.  Raggio grabs a team-best 8.4 rebounds a game while Jasmine Forcadilla is the team’s assist leader with 4.0 assists per game.
• The Gaels were selected to finish second in this year’s league race. Raggio was named to the 10-member preseason team.
• Last season during the conference race with SMC, BYU won in Provo and lost in Moraga.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

After the road trip to California, the BYU women return home to host two more conference foes. The Cougars host league-leading Gonzaga on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m. MST and Portland on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 2 p.m. MST. Both games are scheduled to air live on BYUtv.