BYU takes on Rutgers in NCAA First Round

SAN ANTONIO — No. 11 seed BYU women’s basketball takes on No. 6 seed Rutgers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday, March 22, at 11 a.m. CDT at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU and radio broadcasts will be available on BYU Radio 107.9 FM, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars App.

BYU vs. Rutgers Game Notes

Rutgers Game Notes

NCAA Tournament Digital Program

ABOUT NO. 11 BYU (18-5, 13-3)

The Cougars are 6-13 all-time in NCAA Tournament games, including 6-9 under head coach Jeff Judkins. BYU’s most recent tournament appearance was in 2019, when the team earned a No. 7 seed and beat No. 10 Auburn in the first round before losing to No. 2 Stanford
This is BYU’s 14th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth time earning a No. 11 seed.
The Cougars earned an at-large bid to this season’s tournament after finishing second in the regular season standings and advancing to the West Coast Conference Tournament title game
2020-21 WCC Co-Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales finished the season as the WCC’s second-leading scorer and leads the team in points (17.9 ppg), assists (3.7 apg) and steals (2.4 spg)
Following Gonzales, fellow 2020-21 All-WCC First Team members Paisley Johnson Harding (14.0 ppg) and Lauren Gustin (11.5 ppg) round out BYU’s top-three scorers
Gustin ranks fifth in the nation in rebounds per game (12.8 rpg) and has racked up 14 double-doubles on the season, good for 13th in the country. She was named AP All-America Honorable Mention on Wednesday
Sara Hamson, a 2020-21 All-WCC Honorable Mention, is averaging a league best 2.6 blocks per game, good for 17th in the nation
Fellow 2020-21 All-WCC Honorable Mention honoree Tegan Graham is averaging 8.1 points per contest off the bench
BYU head coach Jeff Judkins, the 2020-21 WCC Coach of the Year, has a 429-199 record in 20 seasons at the helm of the program. Judkins played in the NBA from 1978-1983 and was an assistant coach under Rick Majerus at the University of Utah from 1989-1999 before taking over the Cougar program in 2001
As a team, BYU enters the NCAA Tournament ranked 21st in the country in field-goal percentage defense (.355) and 21st in assists per game (16.6 apg)

ABOUT NO. 6 RUTGERS (14-4, 10-3)

Rutgers earned an at-large bid to this year’s tournament after finishing the Big Ten regular season standings in third place, behind No. 7 ranked Maryland and No. 12 Indiana
This is the Scarlet Knights’ 26th NCAA Tournament appearance. Rutgers has reached the Final Four twice and was the national runner-up in 2007
Senior guard Arella Guirantes (20.8 ppg) and freshman guard Diamond Johnson (17.9 ppg) pace the Scarlet Knights in scoring
Guirantes also leads Rutgers in assists (5.3 apg) and blocks (1.9 bpg)
In rebounds, sophomore forward Tyia Singleton leads the team with 6.8 per game
As a team, the Scarlet Knights rank fourth in the nation in steals per game (12.6 spg) and eighth in scoring margin (18.5). Rutgers also ranks 13th in the country in blocks per game (5.5 bpg) and field-goal percentage (.467)
Senior forward Tekia Mack ranks ninth in the nation in steals per game (3.1 spg) while averaging 10.9 points per contest
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer has accumulated a 535-290 record in 25 seasons with the Scarlet Knights. She has a 1,055-425 career record in 49 seasons of coaching and is a Naismith and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee

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