WCC Final vs. Gonzaga

With a 64-46 victory over the No. 3 seed San Diego Toreros, the No. 2 seed Cougar women’s basketball team (25-6) advanced to the title game of the 2012 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championship.

Watch Preview Press Conference

BYU will play Gonzaga (26-4), the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The two top teams in the WCC will battle on Mon., Mar. 5 at noon PST. The game airs live on ESPNU and on BYU Radio.

The winner receives an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

2011-12 Team Summary
- Shooting from field: (.437, 814-1862)
- Shooting from 3-point line: (.346, 210-607)
- Shooting from free-throw line: (.733, 374-510)
- Average points per game: 71.4
- Average rebounds per game: 40.8
- Average assists per game: 19.3
- Average steals per game: 9.3
- Average blocks per game: 6.0
- Average turnovers per game: 15.7

2011-12 Player Summary
-Leading scorer: Senior Kristen Riley - averages 11.6 points
-Leading rebounder: Riley - averages 8.0 boards per game
-Assist & Steals leader: Senior Haley Steed - 223 and 70 respectively.
-Top blocker: Jennifer Hamson - 73 total
-Best field goal percentage: Hamson - (.566, 98-173)
-Best free throw percentage: Kim Parker - (.836, 51-61)
-Best 3-pt field goal percentage: Stephanie Vermunt - (.469, 45-96)

Record Breaking Players
- Haley Steed has recorded 545 assists as of 03/03/12, which places her in second place all-time. She needs 68 to tie for first place with Valerie Cravens who dished out a career 613. With the 11 assists she dished out in the home game vs. Santa Clara she set the all-time season record for total assists with 207 and as of 03/03/12, her season total is at 222.
- Steed has 218 steals to date for eighth place all-time and needs 11 to tie for seventh place with Karina Zapata’s career high 229.
- Steed has made 185 3-pointers as of 03/03/12, putting her in fourth place overall. She needs 19 to tie for third place with Cougar standout Kari Gallup.
- Kristen Riley has 85 blocks as of 03/03/12, placing her in fifth place all-time. She needs 40 to tie for fourth place with the 125 recorded by All-American Jill Adams.                                            
- Riley has grabbed 725 rebounds as of 02/26/12, which puts her in sixth place all-time. She needs to grab 33 to tie with Lisa Rathbun for fifth place overall with 758.
- Riley has a total of 1,027 points as of 03/03/12, becoming BYU's 22nd player to reach 1,000 points in her career. With the 1,027 total points she ranks 20th all-time. She needs 11 to tie with Kim Talbot’s 1,038 points for 19th place in the prestigious 1,000 points club.
- Riley has played in a total of 127 games as of 3/03/12, which puts her tied in second place with Erin Thorn’s 127 total career games played. She needs to play in three more to tie for the top spot at 130 games currently held by Jennie Keele.
- As of 03/03/12, 6-7 sophomore center Jennifer Hamson has tallied 118 blocks for a fifth-place rank overall. She needs seven to tie for fourth place all-time with the 125 recorded by Jill Adams.

2011-12 Season Honors
Kristen Riley - WCC Player of the Year, All-Conference Team
Lexi Eaton - WCC Co-Newcomer of the Year, All- Freshman Team
Haley Steed - WCC All-Conference Team
Jennifer Hamson- Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll by CollegeSports360.com on 2/15/12.
Jennifer Hamson- Madness West Coast Women’s Basketball Player of the Week by College Sports Madness on 2/13/12.
Jennifer Hamson - WCC All Academic Team
Kim Parker - WCC All Academic Team
Kim Parker- WCC Player of the Week, 2/13/12
Kim Parker- WCC Player of the Week, 12/5/11
Kristen Riley- WCC Player of the Month for January 2/8/12
Kristen Riley- WCC Player of the Week 1/30/12

MONDAY’S  OPPONENT
GONZAGA
During the regular WCC season these two team’s split the series with each winning on its home court.

First meeting:BYU 70, Gonzaga 40 - 2/9/12 in Provo
Of Note
• Kristen Riley picked up her seventh double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• Dani Peterson grabbed 10 rebounds, which tied for second most on the season.
• Scorers - Parker (16), for game highs, Hamson (14) off the bench, Riley (11).
• Haley Steed dished out a game-best 10 assists.

Second meeting:Gonzaga 77,  BYU 60 - 2/25/12 in Spokane
Of Note
• Haley Steed picked up her 12th double-figure game in points with a team-best 17 points. The points included five 3-pointers, which were season bests in that category. The total points also marked the 40th overall double digit contest in her career. She also had a game-high eight assists.
• Scorers - Steed (17), Eaton (13), Riley (11).
• Kristen Riley led the team effort on the glass grabbing a team-best nine rebounds. She also had a game-high three blocks.

What’s Next
The winner of the 2012 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championship receives an automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Tournament.