By Elizabeth Kelly
BYU?s women?s basketball team, coming off its best record ever, is confident it will be strong again next season despite losing its best player.
The Cougars went 26-6 this season and won the Mountain West Conference regular season title for the first time since 1992-93, after being picked to finish sixth in the conference at the beginning of the year.
Although the Cougars won the title, they still lost the season series to Utah, including an embarrassing blowout to the Utes in the MWC championship game.
BYU coach Jeff Judkins was pleased with winning the regular-season title, but he thinks his team recognizes that winning the conference championship and the resulting higher seed in the NCAA tournament could have meant a much longer tourney run.
“Getting the conference title was one of our goals and I am really proud of my girls,? he said. ?But it would have been good to win the tournament. We would have had a higher seed, and the girls realize the importance of that and will take that into next year.?
BYU was ranked in the top 25 for most of the season, peaking as high as No. 16 in the national polls.
At No. 7, the Cougars earned the highest NCAA Tournament seed in BYU women?s basketball history. The team also won its third NCAA tournament first-round game, defeating Iowa 67-62 on Mar. 18, 2006. Even though the Cougars lost in the second round to the No. 2-seeded Oklahoma Sooners, coach Judkins said he thinks the game was a learning experience.
?Going to the second round and playing Oklahoma is an experience that will help us in years to come and will motivate us in the future,? he said.
The Cougars beat two nationally ranked teams and broke their string of three straight losses to Utah at the Huntsman Center, defeating the Utes 61-60 on Jan. 7. BYU only lost once on the road this season, proving themselves worthy of the title ?road warriors.?
?We set the standard for this program, and I think we will continue to do well,? BYU center Lauren Riley said. ?This whole year we were the underdogs, but next year we will have the expectations to fill that we didn?t this year.?
BYU is losing three seniors: Ambrosia Anderson, Nancy Seljaas and Laura Stratton. Junior center Dani Kubik is sad to see them leave, and thinks Anderson, the team?s leading scorer, will be a big loss. Anderson averaged 18 points and seven rebounds per game. However, Kubik thinks there are BYU players who will step up next year and help fill the void.
?I think Shawnee [Slade] will be amazing next year. She is very talented, and I think she will stand out,? she said. ?Mallary [Gillespie] will be a scorer, and Ashley [Cheesman] and Mary [Abell] are really good offensive threats.?
The Cougars have four starters returning next year, and two recruits have committed to play for the Cougars: Laura Nichols, a 6-1 athlete from California, and Clearfield point guard Hailey Hall.
BYU also has sophomores Mary Martha Abell returning from an ACL tear and Ashley Cheesman, who sat out this season after transferring from San Diego State to comply with NCAA rules. With its deep bench, returning starters and new legs, Judkins feels they have many options in the upcoming season.
?We have an opportunity to go many ways next year and we have a lot of opportunities for a lot of people,? he said. ?Nobody has a starting position. It?s all up for grabs.?
Even though many were surprised to see how well BYU did this season, the Cougars were not, and they are excited to improve upon their achievements next year.
?We need to come back as strong as we did this year and do just as good, if not better next year,? guard Mallary Gillespie said. ?We set our standards high and now our expectations are even higher.?
