Thursday is a travel day for BYU women’s basketball as they prepare for a NCAA Championship run

PROVO, Utah — After a morning practice, BYU women’s basketball left the comfort of the Marriott Center and traveled to San Jose, California before a short bus ride took the team to Palo Alto.

The Cougar women are making a 13th appearance in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships for the BYU program and the ninth under head coach Jeff Judkins.

BYU will take on Auburn Saturday, Mar. 23, at 1:30 p.m. MDT, at Maples Pavilion on the Stanford campus. The game will be carried live on ESPN2. Fans can also follow the action live on BYU Radio, Sirius XM 143 and locally in Utah on 107.9 FM and on 89.1 FM HD2. The voice of the Cougars Greg Wrubell will call the action with color analysis from former Cougar standout Kristen Kozlowski.

Just one student-athlete on this year’s roster has been to the NCAA Championships. Senior forward Jasmine Moody was a freshman during the 2015-16 season when the Cougars lost to Missouri in the first round.

Two BYU alumni on the current basketball staff have NCAA tournament experience as players.

Assistant head coach Ashley Garfield was a member of the Cougar squad that participated in three NCAA Championships. Garfield was a freshman in 2011-12 when BYU lost to DePaul in the first round. During her junior season in 2013-14, the Cougars advanced to the Sweet 16 after wins over North Carolina State and Nebraska. In the Sweet 16 matchup, BYU battled UConn, eventually losing 70-51 despite being down by one, 30-29 at half time. The first-half score was the closest any team had played the Huskies during the season. UConn went on to win the national championship that year. In her senior year in 2014-15, BYU lost to Louisville in the first round.

Director of Basketball Operations Kim Parker was on two Cougar teams’ that went to the NCAA’s.  She was a sophomore during the 2011-12 season and a senior in 2013-14.