BYU’s women’s basketball team is preparing to put everything on the line tonight in the game against Gonzaga. Gonzaga is currently the No. 1 team in the conference and BYU will be fighting to regain that position after falling to Pepperdine last week.
“This one’s been marked on our calendar for a while,” senior Haley Steed said. “Right now it’s a big deal because we’re fighting for the conference championship and they’re the team that’s in the way.”
BYU coach Jeff Judkins said the Cougars have been waiting for this game and they are pumped. Winning this game will put the team tied at No. 1.
“Gonzaga is something we’ve been waiting for,” Judkins said. “We’re excited, this will be a great challenge. I know my team will be ready, we’ve got plenty of time to prepare. These young ladies will be ready to play, I guarantee it.”
[pullquote]”Gonzaga is something we’ve been waiting for,” Judkins said. “We’re excited this will be a great challenge. I know my team will be ready, we’ve got plenty of time to prepare. These young ladies will be ready to play, I guarantee it.”[/pullquote]
Both BYU and Gonzaga are aggressive, physical teams. In the game against St. Mary’s BYU forced 29 turnovers and only committed nine. Gonzaga moved up to No. 19 in the AP poll this week.
“We’re a lot more similar than I thought,” Steed said about the comparison between BYU and Gonzaga. “They’re a really balanced team. They run mostly everything through their two bigs. They’re really experienced, they’ve been to the NCAA tournaments, they’re all league players, and so we’re really focusing right now on our defense.”
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The WCC schedule has pushed Gonzaga to be one of the last teams BYU will play late in the season. The first contest will take place in Cougar territory at the Marriott Center, which will give the team home advantage.
“We consider this for the conference championship because for us to win it, we have to win this game,” Steed said. “They’re a game ahead of us right now and so on our home court we can’t afford to lose to them.”
The Cougars have been practicing like this game determines everything. Last week the Cougars proved team work goes a long way as they had 28 assists and 11 players contributing to the score. The team will have to play unified to derail the Bulldogs.
“It’s something they’ve been hearing about for a long time,” Judkins said about the game against Gonzaga. “It’s the first time we’ve played them here, at least since I’ve been coach. It’ll be nice to get them on our home turf.”
