BYU hosts Northern Colorado in final nonconference game

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball (7-3) closes out its nonconference schedule with one more game at home this week. The Cougars host Northern Colorado (5-3) Friday, Dec. 21 in a 12 p.m. start. The game will have a live video stream on TheW.tv.

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars have recorded wins over UC Riverside, Eastern Washington, Utah State, TCU, California Baptist, Utah Valley and Colorado State.
• After playing in 10 games, BYU is putting up 66.2 points per game while shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from the 3-point line and 69.8 percent when shooting from the free throw line. The team grabs 40.7 rebounds and has pulled down more boards in six contests to date.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales, this week’s WCC Player of the Week, leads the team in scoring with a 17.5 average. Sophomore Paisley Johnson follows with 12.7 points a contest. Junior Brenna Chase rounds out the double-figure scoring with 12 points a game. She also leads the way in assists (4.3) and steals (2.7). Johnson tops the leaderboard in rebounding with a 6.1 average.
• Sophomore center Sara Hamson leads in blocks with 1.8 per contest.
• At least two players have scored in double-digit points in eight of the 10 games played
• BYU was picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll while junior Brenna Chase and sophomore Sara Hamson were named to the WCC preseason team.
• Northern Colorado is the third team the Cougars have played from the Big Sky Conference. They also played Eastern Washington and Southern Utah.

ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO

• Northern Colorado (UNC) comes to Provo with a 5-3 record that includes wins over Denver, Colorado State, San Francisco, SMU and Chattanooga. It has a 2-3 record when playing on the road.
• Last year the Bears competed in the first round of the NCAA tournament after compiling a 26-7 record and winning the Big Sky Conference title. 
• The Cougars and Bears met last year in Greeley where UNC won 79-74 in overtime.
• Northern Colorado is scoring 63.0 points and pulls down 39.6 boards per game. The team shoots 40.0 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from behind the arc and 58.5 at the charity stripe.
• Senior Savannah Smith leads the way in scoring for the Bears averaging 15.7 points. Senior Ali Meyer grabs a team-best 11.0 rebounds a contest.
• UNC was selected to finish third in the Big Sky Media Preseason Poll.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

After their last nonconference game on Friday, the Cougars get set to compete for a WCC conference title. BYU opens up league play at Santa Clara on Dec. 29 and San Francisco on Dec. 31.