BYU’s magical postseason run continues.
The Cougars came back late to defeat Kansas 70-67 in Monday’s WBIT semifinal contest, moving to 4-0 in the tournament and punching their ticket to the title game.
BYU will face No. 4-seeded Columbia on Wednesday in Wichita, Kansas, with the winner claiming the WBIT championship.
3 takeaways
BYU overcame its toughest WBIT challenge yet. The Cougars cruised in each of their three previous postseason victories, leading for a collective 82% of the matchups and winning by an average margin of nearly 20 points.
But BYU fell into an early 8-0 hole Monday against Kansas, being held scoreless for more than four minutes to open the afternoon.
The Cougars trailed at halftime and ended the third quarter down by five points, only to win the final frame by a 24-16 margin largely thanks to crucial separate scoring runs of 8-0 and 9-0.
All of the drama BYU avoided in the WBIT’s first three rounds showed up all at once against Kansas, as the game featured 10 ties and 13 different lead changes.
The battle-tested Cougars proved up for the turbulent task, beating a Big 12 foe they’d lost to by 21 points less than two months ago, and doing so in a true road environment in Kansas’ backyard and 1,000 miles from Provo.
BYU showed plenty of toughness, composure and maturity against the Jayhawks. Such traits will be pivotal in defeating Columbia for the championship.
Olivia Hamlin delivered a career outing when BYU needed it most. The Cougars’ dynamic freshman guard came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points, tying her previous personal best and consistently delivering in the clutch.
Hamlin shot 8 of 12 from the field with four made 3-pointers, scoring 14 of her 23 points after halftime, including seven in the decisive fourth quarter.
On six different occasions, points from Hamlin gave BYU a new lead, with a triple in the third quarter knotting the score as well. When the Cougars needed a bucket, Hamlin always made it happen.
Hamlin’s heroics were especially valuable considering star Delaney Gibb had a bit of an off night, at least by her standards, shooting just 4 of 13 from the field and coughing up seven turnovers.
Sydney Benally scored 15 points, dished out three assists and hit four 3-pointers, Lara Rohkohl posted a near double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds, and Gibb provided 12 points with six assists and seven boards.
In all, BYU shot 43% from the field and 33% from deep in the winning effort.
BYU played solid defense. In their previous matchup this season, the Jayhawks dropped 81 points on the Cougars.
On Monday, however, BYU held Kansas to just 67 points at an average of 0.94 points per possession.
The Jayhawks shot 38% from the field and 25% from 3-point range against the Cougars, who turned 13 Kansas turnovers into 12 new points.
Rohkohl swatted six blocks, Gibb swiped three steals and BYU won the rebound battle by a 37-33 score.