When the BYU women’s basketball team learned March 15 that it came up just short of making the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars could have easily looked forward to next season and beyond.
Instead, they embraced the challenge of competing as a No. 1 seed in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament and went on the program’s longest postseason run, building momentum and optimism for the future.
Four-straight wins earned the Cougars a spot in the WBIT championship game, where BYU ultimately fell to a more seasoned Columbia squad, 81-64, on Wednesday night in Wichita, Kansas.
One more victory, and BYU would have needed to make room in the trophy case for a tangible piece of evidence of a national postseason title.
That postseason run, though, along with the Cougars’ Big 12 tournament showing, highlighted what first-year coach Lee Cummard has cooking in Provo and left Cougar Nation with the impression even brighter days are ahead, thanks to a group that found its chemistry and was peaking in March.
It capped off a memorable season where BYU records were set along the way to a 26-12 record, one full of learning and unforgettable moments, as the Cougars exceeded the expectations they faced heading into the season.
“We love our group. We were all-in. Really pleased with the growth of them as people. Really pleased with how we hit some adversity and the group just got closer,” Cummard said Wednesday night after BYU fell in the WBIT championship game.
“I do think it speaks moreso to (what) we’re trying to establish (as our culture), but they’re just great human beings that want to see everybody succeed.”
Building the culture of a winning program
After BYU had gone three seasons without a winning season under previous head coach Amber Whiting, the culture of the program needed a bit of a reset entering the 2025-26 season.
It all started with Cummard, the former BYU basketball wing who excelled for the Cougars in the 2000s and even earned Mountain West Co-Player of the Year honors in 2008.
He built and molded a roster that relied heavily on underclassmen to play pivotal roles on the court, alongside a small group of seniors who helped provide leadership.
“I think this team wouldn’t be who they are without these coaches and how much they love us. I think that’s really what helped us do really good this season is just the love with these coaches and that they had for us and just all the bonds we have.”
— BYU freshman Olivia Hamlin
“It’s super exciting and it’s motivating going into next season, I think,” said sophomore guard Delaney Gibb, a first-team All-Big 12 selection this season. “Coach Cummard has done a great job of inspiring us and holding us to excellence and just caring about us as individuals. You want to pour into a coach when you know that they genuinely have a relationship with you.
“It’s super fun. I just can’t explain enough how fun this group has been, and with the coaching staff, just such great relationships, and it’s so fun to play basketball with a group of people that you care about.”
Freshman Olivia Hamlin, the St. George area native who flipped her commitment from Nebraska to BYU once Cummard was in place as the Cougars’ head coach, credited the coaching staff for its influence in building cohesion on the roster.
“I think this team wouldn’t be who they are without these coaches and how much they love us,” she said. “I think that’s really what helped us do really good this season is just the love with these coaches and that they had for us and just all the bonds we have.”
When Cummard, Gibb and fellow sophomore Brinley Cannon represented BYU at Big 12 media days last October, they laid out expectations for the year. It included finishing in the top half of the Big 12, playing late in the conference tournament and getting back to the NCAAs.
The Cougars lost just once in nonconference play — against a ranked Vanderbilt squad — even as Gibb missed eight games due to injury, before hitting some bumps in Big 12 action.
BYU was 6-9 in conference play before finishing the regular season with three-straight wins, going .500 in the league and earning the No. 9 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
While the Cougars didn’t fully meet those preseason expectations, other notable benchmarks were met — among them the deep WBIT run — and they successfully turned around the trajectory of the program while being more competitive in the Big 12 than their first two seasons in the league.
There were strong leaders at the top of the roster, and the Cougars developed a competitive chemistry as the year wore on.
Gibb, who averaged 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, credited Cannon and senior Hattie Ogden as two individuals who helped provide leadership this season.
“They’ve been huge leaders for our team, and it’s been really helpful for me,” Gibb said before the team’s WBIT semifinal game against Kansas. “I struggled with some injuries this season and that was hard because one of my main goals for this season was to be a bigger leader for this team and someone who’s more vocal. So when you’re injured and you’re on the sideline, that’s kind of a tough situation and it’s a harder dynamic to try and find a leadership role.
“But Brinley and Hattie have been two people that are constantly looking outside of themselves and looking to help everyone else on the team, whether it be on the basketball court or even outside of basketball. They’re just two girls that are amazing human beings and have been just such great leaders for this team.”
Cannon, who was one of three every-game starters for BYU alongside senior Lara Rohkohl and freshman Sydney Benally, put into perspective how Gibb had grown in her second season at BYU.
“She’s the face of this team. Obviously she scores a lot of points, but she also has a really big role of just keeping us connected and tied together because she is such a great player,” Cannon said. “And I think she’s held that role and position with a lot of grace and in a really selfless way.
“I think when you have really good players doing that, then it’s contagious for the rest of the team. So I think that it’s just been a really fun year for us to grow both on and off the court and in that leadership role.”
Finding their stride
The chemistry BYU built started to pay off immensely near the end of the regular season, when the Cougars beat Utah, Arizona State and Colorado to end up with a 9-9 mark in Big 12 play.
BYU carried that momentum over into the postseason, going 9-2 over its final 11 games and ended up with 26 wins, a program record for a first-year head coach.
The Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak to Utah this season — a major milestone considering the Utes had made the NCAAs four-straight years — and beat the Utes three times, including in the second round of the Big 12 tournament.
That was one of two wins BYU had in the conference tournament in Kansas City, the first time the Cougars had won a postseason game since joining the Big 12.
But it wasn’t over.
The Cougars carried that success over into the WBIT, and as a No. 1 seed, they earned the opportunity to play at home for the first three rounds, as they beat Alabama A&M, Missouri and Stanford by an average of 19.3 points to advance to the semifinals.
Gibb said BYU’s stretch of 10 games, prior to losing in the championship game against Columbia, truly represented what the group had become.
“I’m just so grateful to be part of such a culture and such a group of girls that truly just love each other and connect and get along. It’s really fun to play basketball with a group of people that you just really enjoy being around,” Gibb said.
Hamlin, who ended up second on the team by averaging 12.9 points per game, starred in the postseason as well — twice, she tied her career high with 23 points in WBIT action.
“I don’t think you guys really understand how special this group is with the coaching staff and all the girls because we just bond so well,” Hamlin said. “I’m just really thankful to be here with these great people.”
The opportunity to extend BYU’s season — playing an extra five games in the WBIT — was also extremely valuable.
In the semifinals, the Cougars faced a Kansas team they hadn’t beaten since joining the Big 12 and trailed by eight just minutes into the game.
BYU rallied, and, led by its youth, the Cougars won a 70-67 thriller. It was just one example of resiliency that this team showed as the season wore on.
“You can practice all you want, you can’t simulate a game rep. It’s just completely different. Every game had different things that will be so vital for some of these young players going forward,” Cummard said of BYU’s postseason run.
“... There’s just so many good reps in the Big 12 tournament on that stage and then in this tournament on this stage and learning how to get knocked down on your rear end, thinking you’re going to the NCAA Tournament, and having to pick yourself up and show everybody that it still matters, because it does.”
Even though BYU lost in the WBIT championship game, the Cougars’ fight showed up in the fourth quarter, when they went on a 13-0 run sparked largely by a tenacious, turnover-causing defense that led to transition points.
BYU even cut the deficit to nine early in the final minute on the back of another run before the Lions won the game at the free-throw line.
“I think it’s really telling for this group, too, we got down big, and nobody faltered. They just kept playing hard for each other,” Cummard said.
“Whether they’re playing next year or they’re going into the professional world, you get in these moments, you get a chance to go capture something special, you’ve got to go grab it. It’s not going to fall in your lap.”
What the future holds
How the season ended — with a loss in a national postseason championship game — will sting a little, Cummard said, but it was an invaluable learning experience for a program on the rise.
There’s a lot of young talent for BYU to build around going forward, if the Cougars can avoid having a rash of transfers. Gibb, a two-time All-Big 12 honoree, will be a junior next season, and there are two other main rotational players, Cannon and Kambree Barber, who will also be juniors.
Then there’s a freshman class that includes Hamlin, Benally (who set the program single-season record for assists by a freshman with 148) and Bolanle Yussuf.
“I’m a big dreamer, so I have a lot of expectations. I think with this group being so young, it’s super exciting, and it’s super fun to see. Obviously we’re going to really miss our seniors. They were the foundation of our team, and they were the leaders of this group,” Gibb said.
“Obviously there’s going to have to be some gaps being filled just in that aspect. But it’s super exciting to have such a young group of girls because there is so much potential and there’s so much growth that can happen. So going into the postseason and this offseason, it’s super exciting, and it’s motivating because every single girl wants to be their best and wants to improve for the rest of the group.”
“I’m a big dreamer, so I have a lot of expectations. I think with this group being so young, it’s super exciting, and it’s super fun to see. Obviously we’re going to really miss our seniors. They were the foundation of our team, and they were the leaders of this group.”
— BYU guard Delaney Gibb
Playing against established programs like Columbia, Stanford and Missouri — teams the Cougars don’t always get a chance to face — during the postseason also had its advantages for this young group.
“I think this is great for us, especially the young ones, especially me. I think this is a good opportunity to improve and just learn from playing against these really good teams,” Hamlin said.
“And it kind of fuels us, like now we know what it’s going to be like for next season and now we understand these teams are tough and D-1 teams are really good, so I think it fuels us that we can play with them and just build off from that.”
It’s helped elevate expectations for next season, even as the uncertainty of the current era of college sports — with an even more wide open transfer portal — makes it unclear who all will be back.
One player, Marya Hudgins, already announced she is headed to the transfer portal for her final collegiate season. She missed time both of her two years at BYU due to injury.
Others could follow, and the Cougars will say goodbye to three seniors.
On the positive side, there will be transfers coming in and the Cougars are expected to get back Kailey Woolston, who shined as a freshman in 2023-24 before missing the past two seasons while serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This year’s group proved that BYU can thrive under Cummard and that the foundation of its culture is strong at the religious school.
“I think we’ve done a fantastic job. The staff has done a great job. But we’ve got a special locker room,” Cummard said. “If you spent time with these athletes, these players, you’ll know why some of the results happened the way they did. They’re high-character young women that carry themselves, and there’s many instances in what we put on them as far as expectations where they’ve risen to the occasion.
“That’s not just on the basketball court. Some of the things that we are trying to expect from them, how they carry themselves, how they talk and act in public. They’re just a great group. They’re special.”
