No. 2 seed BYU to battle Pepperdine in semifinals at WCC Championships

LAS VEGAS —With a (23-6) record, No. 2 seed BYU women’s basketball has a bye into the semifinals of this year’s WCC Championships. They will play Pepperdine (20-10) Monday, March 11, at 2 p.m. PT at the Orleans Arena.  The game will be carried live on BYUtv and online at byutv.org.

BYU vs. Pepperdine Game Notes

 ABOUT BYU

• No. 2 seed BYU enters the WCC Championships on a six-game win streak after a 69-64 home win over Santa Clara. BYU had an 11-game win streak from Dec. 15 to Jan. 26.
• The Cougars finished the WCC regular season race in second place with a 15-3 record after being picked to finish third.
• The Cougars were receiving votes (7) in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll as of March 4. They entered the AP Poll on Jan. 28 and fell out of the top 25 the week of Feb. 4.
• On the year, BYU has a 17-1 record when leading at the half; is 21-3 when making at least 5 treys; is 14-2 when dishing out more assists; and is 14-1 when it pulls down more rebounds than its opponents.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales, who has scored in double-digits in 27 games, leads the team in scoring and assists with 16.3 and 4.3 averages, respectively. Sophomore Paisley Johnson contributes 14.5 points while junior Brenna Chase puts up 12.4 points a contest. Chase leads in steals (2.3 spg). Sophomore center Sara Hamson leads the team in rebounding (5.8) and blocks (2.7). Senior forward Jasmine Moody ranks second in rebounding, averaging 5.6 boards a game.
• The Cougars are averaging 68.8 points and 38.4 rebounds a game. They are holding opponents to just 62.6 points per contest. BYU is shooting 42.7 percent from the field, 33.7 percent from behind the arc and 70 percent from the free-throw line.
• In this year's series vs. Pepperdine, each team won on its home court. The Cougars won 83-58 on Jan. 3 in Provo with the Waves picking up a 79-65 victory in Malibu on Feb. 2. BYU holds an 18-3 advantage in the all-time series.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE

• Pepperdine advanced to the semifinals of the WCC Championships after an 87-84 win over Pacific. The Waves tied for third place with SMC in the WCC standings with identical12-6 records.
• This will be the third time the two teams have met in the WCC Championships. In the previous matchups, the two played in the quarterfinals with the Cougars recording a 72-59 win in 2016 and a 77-51 victory in 2014.

UP NEXT FOR BYU
A win in the semifinals would send the Cougar women into the championship game of the league tournament. That game will be played on Tuesday, March 12, at 1 p.m. PT. The winner of the championships gets an automatic bid into the 2019 NCAA Championships.