Las Vegas –
Have you met Emma Calvert ladies and gentlemen. Well the San Francisco Dons met her Saturday afternoon as the No. 5 seed BYU Cougars advancing to the semi-final of the the West Coast Conference knocking off the No. 4 seed San Francisco Dons 66-56.
Calvert tied her career high Saturday afternoon notching 17 points going 6-of-10 from the field. Her 3-pointing was the difference maker hitting five big time 3-pointers tying career highlights
“That’s crazy, that’s 3 strikes against us. I always tell them if they want to be an individual, play golf or tennis, because this is a team sport. Everybody stepped up at the right time, and Lauren did struggle tonight. It wasn’t her night but I had 3 or 4 other people in double digits. We were very heavily on the defensive end, and the girls came to play today.” is how Head Coach Amber Whiting described the team’s win against the Dons.
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In a game where three starters fouled out BYU was able to find a way to punch their ticket to the WCC semi-finals.
The reigning WCC defensive player of the year scored her first field goal with 6:56 left in the 4th quarter. Although Gustin struggled offensively she grabbed 27 rebounds breaking the WCC tournament record.
Gustin also became the 1st player in BYU history and 1st in the 2023 NCAA season to have scored 500 points and recorded 500 rebounds.
With Nani Falatea and Emma Calavert both fouled out, Coach Amber Whiting would turn to guard Ari Mackey-Williams.
Mackey-Williams would score half of BYU’s points to close out the 4th quarter. One of those being a big time 3-pointer with 3:26 left to play.
Before hitting the biggest 3-pointer of the game, Head Coach Amber Whiting called “par,” to set a screen, but Mackey-Williams waved her off, and Coach said: “Okay, let’s go.”
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The sophomore from Ngati Porou, New Zealand hit the clutch 3-pointer with seven seconds on the shot clock that gave BYU the edge it needed to close out the game. She would finish the game 14 points, which included going 4-of-5 from three.
The Cougars will now play No. 1 seed Gonzaga on Monday at 12pm PST. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and the WCC network
Postgame Interview:
