BYU women battle Utah in Deseret First Duel Saturday in Salt Lake City

PROVO, Utah— Playing its sixth-straight road game, BYU (6-2) women’s basketball travels north to Salt Lake City for a game against in-state rival Utah (7-0).

The Cougars and Utes play in the Deseret First Duel matchup, Saturday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. MST. from the Huntsman Center. The game will be carried on the Pac-12 Network.

BYU at Utah Game Notes

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars have had at least two players score in double figures in all but one game, at UVU, where just one player put up double-digit points; in four games they had four players finish with double digits
• BYU is putting up 68.0 points per game while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, 30.1 percent from the 3-point line and 71.0 percent when shooting from the free throw line.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales leads the team in scoring with a 16.9 average. Junior Brenna Chase is next with 12.9 points with teammate Paisley Johnson contributing 12.6 points.
• Junior forward Shalae Salmon tops the leaderboard in the rebounds category pulling down 6.8 boards a game. Chase tops the stat sheet in two categories. In assists, she averages 4.8 per contest and in steals, she gets 2.9 per game.
• BYU was selected to finish third in the West Coast Conference preseason poll. Brenna Chase and the reigning defensive player of the year, Sara Hamson, made the WCC preseason team.
• The Cougars have played two common opponents so far this year. Both beat Eastern Washington and UVU.

ABOUT UTAH

• The University of Utah has compiled a 7-0 record to date, playing just two road games - at Nevada and at Eastern Washington.
• Utah returns five letterwinners and three starters from last year’s team that went 18-14, 8-10.
• The Utes score 81.6 points, pull down 41.0 rebounds, shoot 48.5 percent from the field, 37.4 percent from behind the arc and 82.3 percent from the free throw line.
• Similar to the Cougars, Utah has three players that are chipping in double digits in points. Senior Megan Huff leads the way with nearly 20 points, 19.6 a game. Another senior,  Daneesha Provo follows with 14.0 points. Freshman Dre'Una Edwards rounds out the scoring with 11.9 points. Huff also tops the list in rebounds with a 9.5 average and she ties for the most blocks on the team with 1.7 a contest. Provo and Edwards are tied for the most steals with 17 each.
• Utah was selected to finish eighth in the 2018-19 Pac-12 preseason poll. The Utes finished in eighth place last season and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

For the first time in nearly a month, BYU women’s basketball is back home in the comfort of the Marriott Center. The Cougars host Colorado State on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. MST. The game will be carried live on BYUtv and online at byutv.org.