Cougar women play host Stanford in Second Round of NCAA Championships

STANFORD, Calif. — With a 73-64 victory over Auburn, BYU women’s basketball (26-6) advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Cougars will play No. 2 seed Stanford (29-4) Monday, Mar. 25, at 8 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion on the Stanford campus. The game will be carried live on ESPN2 and on BYU Radio Sirius XM 143, with an audio stream on byuradio.org. Locally in Utah, the game can be heard on 107.9 FM and on 89.1 FM HD2.

ABOUT BYU

• For the fourth time in program history, BYU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships. The win over Auburn improved the Cougars record in the tournament to 6-12. This year’s invitation is the ninth under head coach Jeff Judkins.
• The Cougars made the tournament as the automatic qualifier by beating No. 12/14 Gonzaga 82-68 in the West Coast Conference Championship. It was BYU’s third WCC tournament title.
• This week the Cougars received 24 votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. 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 19-1 record when leading at the half; is 23-3 when making at least 5 treys; is 16-2 when dishing out more assists; and is 13-1 when it pulls down more rebounds than its opponents.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales, who has scored in double-digits in 30 games, leads the team in scoring and assists with 16.5 and 4.2 averages, respectively. Sophomore Paisley Johnson contributes 14.6 points while junior Brenna Chase puts up 12.9 points a contest. Chase leads in steals (2.2 spg). Sophomore center Sara Hamson leads the team in rebounding (5.9) and blocks (2.9). Senior forward Jasmine Moody places third in rebounding with a 5.2 average. 
• The Cougars enter Monday’s game vs. Stanford on a nine-game win streak. BYU is averaging 69.3 points and 37.9 rebounds a game. It holds opponents to just 62.8 points per contest. The Cougars are shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 34.3 percent from behind the arc and 69.6 percent from the free-throw line.
• The series history is tied at 2-2 between these two teams. BYU is 2-1 when playing at Stanford. The last time the two played in Maples Pavilion was on Nov. 13, 2006, when the foes were competing in the Preseason WNIT. In that matchup, BYU recorded the 55-52 victory.
• During the 2018-19 season, BYU and Stanford played four common opponents. Stanford beat San Francisco, lost to Gonzaga in Spokane, split the Pac-12 series with Cal and lost to Utah in Salt Lake City. BYU swept the series vs. San Francisco and Gonzaga and lost in Provo to Cal and in Salt Lake City to Utah.

ABOUT STANFORD

• Stanford is ranked sixth in the nation and is a No. 2 seed in the Chicago Regional. The Cardinal has compiled a 29-4 record on the year after picking up a 79-54 first round victory over UC Davis on Saturday.
• The Cardinal is making its 32nd consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament where it has an 87-30 all-time record.
• Stanford is averaging 74.9 points and 40.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from 3-point range and 70.8 percent from the free-throw line.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

A win over Stanford would send the Cougars in to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championships with games beginning Saturday, Mar. 30 in Chicago.