The BYU Cougars women’s basketball team secured a 72–47 victory over the Alabama A&M Bulldogs in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) at the Marriott Center on March 19. This marks BYU’s first postseason win since the 2021-22 season.
The win is significant for BYU, which narrowly missed selection to the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Lee Cummard said, “I’m really pleased with how we showed up tonight for being right on the fringe of getting into the NCAA Tournament. Not making it in was a hard thing, and it has felt a little bit different the last few days. I thought our team was locked in from the jump and kept it going. That is a really good Alabama A&M team that plays a style that’s been challenging for us at times, but as for some of the keys we wanted to execute, we did a really good job.”
After allowing Alabama A&M to score first, BYU took control and led for the rest of the game. The Cougars held their opponents to just 47 points—the fewest they have allowed since December against UTEP. Sydney Benally led BYU with 18 points and five assists, breaking Shaylee Gonzales’ all-time freshman assist record by reaching 139 assists this season.
Four Cougars scored in double figures: Lara Rohkohl contributed 13 points—all in the first half—along with five rebounds; Delaney Gibb added 11 points and eight rebounds; Olivia Hamlin finished with ten points and eight rebounds as well. Hattie Ogden also made an impact late with two three-pointers.
BYU advances to face Missouri in the second round of the WBIT on Monday at home. The team’s performance highlights its resilience after missing out on an NCAA berth and sets up another opportunity to extend its postseason run.
