BYU to face Gonzaga in WCC Tournament championship game

LAS VEGAS — No. 2 seed BYU women’s basketball will take on No. 1 seed and No. 16-ranked Gonzaga on Tuesday, March 9, at 1 p.m. PST in the 2021 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game. The Cougars and Bulldogs split the regular season series, with Gonzaga winning 63-56 in Spokane and BYU winning 61-56 in Provo.

The matchup will be broadcast live on ESPNU and audio broadcasts will be available on BYU Radio 107.9 FM, the BYU Cougars App and on BYUCougars.com/LiveRadio.

No. 2 BYU vs. No. 1 Gonzaga Game Notes

2021 UCU WCC Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket

ABOUT NO. 2 BYU (18-4, 14-3)

The Cougars dominated No. 3 seed San Francisco 85-55 in the WCC semifinals Monday to advance to the WCC Tournament title game for the second time in three years
The last time BYU reached the WCC Tournament championship game was in 2019, when the Cougars defeated Gonzaga 82-68
BYU is making its sixth WCC Tournament title game appearance since joining the conference in 2011. The Cougars are 3-2 in the WCC Tournament championship game
2020-21 WCC Co-Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales is the WCC’s second-leading scorer and is averaging team bests in points (18.1 ppg), assists (3.9 apg) and steals (2.4 spg)
Following Gonzales, fellow 2020-21 All-WCC First Team members Paisley Johnson Harding (14.1 ppg) and Lauren Gustin (11.7 ppg) are also averaging double figures in scoring
Gustin ranks second in the nation in rebounds per game (12.8 rpg) and has tallied 14 double-doubles on the season, good for 11th in the country
Sara Hamson, a 2020-21 All-WCC Honorable Mention, is averaging a league-best 2.5 blocks per game
Fellow 2020-21 All-WCC Honorable Mention Tegan Graham is averaging 8.1 points per game off the bench
Head coach Jeff Judkins is the 2020-21 WCC Coach of the Year
As a team, BYU entered the 2021 WCC Tournament ranked 16th in the nation in assists per game (16.9 apg) and 26th in field-goal percentage defense (.362)

ABOUT NO. 1 GONZAGA (22-3, 16-1)

The Bulldogs defeated Santa Clara 72-62 in the WCC semifinals to advance to their 15th WCC Tournament championship game and their fourth in the last five seasons
Gonzaga collected five All-WCC honors this season, tying BYU for the most in the league. Senior forward Jenn Wirth was named Co-Player of the Year along with Gonzales, while Wirth and senior guard Jill Townsend were named to the All-WCC First Team
Junior forward Melody Kempton was named WCC Sixth Woman of the Year, while Kempton, sophomore guard Kayleigh Truong and senior forward LeeAnne Wirth were named All-WCC Honorable Mentions
Townsend and Wirth pace Gonzaga with 13.8 and 13.1 point-per-game averages, respectively
Wirth leads the Bulldogs in rebounds (5.4 rpg), Townsend leads the team in steals (1.2 spg) while Truong is Gonzaga’s assist leader (4.2 apg)
As a team, the Bulldogs are averaging 72.6 points per contest while allowing just 55.4
Gonzaga finished the regular season leading the league in assists (17.8 apg), rebounds (39.9 rpg), field-goal percentage (.474), three-point field-goal percentage (.367) and scoring margin (17.5)

SERIES HISTORY

Gonzaga leads the all-time series over BYU, 18-13
The Cougars are 3-2 against the Bulldogs in the WCC Tournament, including 2-1 in the title game
The two teams split the regular season series, with BYU most recently defeating Gonzaga 61-56 in Provo on Feb. 18

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