BYU is at Saint Mary's Saturday

BYU at Saint Mary's Game Notes

After a 72-58 road win at Portland, BYU women’s basketball  (6-6, 1-0 WCC) continues West Coast Conference on the road.

The Cougars travel to Moraga, Calif., to take on Saint Mary’s (7-5, 0-1 WCC) on Sat. Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. PST. Fans can follow the action online with a web video stream at TheW.tv. Live stats are also available at byucougars.com/schedule/w-basketball/.

ABOUT BYU

BYU is on a two-game winning streak. The team is averaging 68.7 points and pulls down 40.2 rebounds a game. The Cougars are shooting 41.9 percent from the field, 29.9 percent from the 3-point line and 67.6 percent from the charity stripe.

At  least two players for BYU have scored in double figures in all contests except at Cal. Four players have scored in double digits in three games, most recently in the road win at Portland. The Cougars have outrebounded seven of their opponents, most recently at Portland. BYU also has had more blocks in seven games, most recently at Portland. With the 72 points scored against the Pilots on Thursday night, the Cougars have scored at least 70 points in seven games played.

In the upcoming WCC 2017-18 regular season battle, BYU was picked to finish in third place behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

ABOUT SAINT MARY’S

Saint Mary’s has compiled a 7-5, 0-1 record on the year. SMC opened league play with a 69-57 road loss at LMU.

The Gaels are averaging 72.4 points and pull down 39.6 rebounds per game. Saint Mary's is shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 31.6 from 3-point range and 64.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Paul Thomas is in his 12th season with Saint Mary’s where he has complied a 222-141 record.

The Gaels were selected to finish second in the 2017-18 WCC race.

SMC and BYU played three common opponents during nonconference action. The Gaels lost to Cal and Utah while defeating Eastern Washington.

SERIES HISTORY

Saint Mary’s leads the overall series 8-7. When playing in Moraga, the Cougars have a 1-5 record. Coach Judkins is 7-8 against the Gaels. The last time that BYU won at McKeon Pavilion was on Feb. 6, 2016.

D

uring last year’s WCC race, the two league foes split the series with each team winning on its home court. In Provo, the Cougars got the five-point, 70-65 and at McKeon Pavilion, the Gaels picked up the six-point, 64-58 win.

The two met a third time last season in the semifinals of the WCC Championships. In that game, Saint Mary’s picked up the 59-49 win to advance to the title game vs. Gonzaga.

UP NEXT

BYU returns home for two league games next week. The Cougars host San Francisco on Thurs., Jan. 4 and Pacific on Sat. Jan. 6. Both games will air live on BYUtv.