BYU women's basketball fights through adversity and looks forward to Big 12 play
BYU women’s basketball finished the 2022-23 season with a record of 16-17 — going 9-9 in WCC play — and ended the season with a loss against Rice in the first round of the women's NIT tournament. Without the whole story, you’re bound to look over all that the Cougars had to overcome this season.
In the 2021-22 season, Jeff Judkins coached the team to an overall record of 26-4; losing only to Oklahoma and Portland in the regular season. In the postseason, the team made a strong run in the WCC tournament, going all the way to the championship game where the Cougars lost to Gonzaga. This performance earned them the No. 6 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament after spending 16 consecutive weeks in the AP top 25 ranks.
In the 2022 offseason, the program took an unexpected turn as Judkins announced his retirement, two time defending WCC Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales transferred to Texas and four exceptional seniors graduated. With these five key players no longer on the roster, the team lost 71% of its offensive production.
Just one month after Judkins began his retirement, BYU announced that Amber Whiting was hired to take the helm of the program. Whiting played college hoops at BYU and settled in Burley, Idaho, where she coached the Burley High School girl’s basketball team to back-to-back region titles and on to win the 2022 state championship.
Of course, many people had their thoughts on what Whiting’s inaugural year would look like, especially as a first-time college coach, but Whiting had her own vision. “Honestly, not a lot of people believed in us, because we lost 71% of our offense, and there's big shoes to fill. Everybody kept saying it was a rebuild year, and I've never wanted to look at it like that,” Whiting said.
Whiting got to work and began to form a coaching staff, which included Morgan Bailey. Bailey played for BYU from 2010 to 2015 and immediately saw the aptitude of the girls on the roster. “They lost a lot of talent but also there was a lot of untapped potential in the season, and we all saw that as coaches. We knew what we had because we had been around it all year, where no one else did,” Bailey said.
For junior forward Lauren Gustin, the situation that the team was headed into had two sides of the same coin. “I think there was good and bad that came with the expectations. We didn't have a lot of pressure, but also, we wanted to kind of show and prove to others that we were still going to be a good team,” said Gustin.
The team began the season trying to pinpoint their identity. One of the first triumphs of the season was when the Cougars beat a talented Washington State team at the North Shore Showcase. In December, Whiting and the team struggled as they went on a three-game losing streak against Utah, Gonzaga, and Portland. “When adversity hit, our girls just kept going and kept coming to practice. They kept buying into what we were coaching and saying,” Bailey said. Immediately following the three-game losing streak, BYU rose to the challenge and won their next seven games.
The Cougars cultivated an impressive season amidst the adversity and managed to earn a trip to the National Invitation Tournament in the postseason. While they wish that they could have made a longer postseason run, the lessons that were learned and the experience that was gained this season will propel the team forward to amazing heights in the Big 12.
“I can't think of one player that didn't grow this year, and produce way more than what they ever had,” Whiting said. “Every single person that stepped on the court, at some point got better.”
“It really doesn't matter how good one person is, you need five players to win,” sophomore guard Nani Falatea said when asked about one of the biggest takeaways from the season. “There's a lot that goes into winning and it's not just one person. It's never going to be that.”
Looking to the 2023-24 season, the Cougars will be put to the test as they make the jump from the WCC to the Big 12. The current Big 12 conference had six teams selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament in the 2022-23 season, showing BYU just how impressive their new completion is. For Whiting, this is an exciting time. “I believe when you have good competition, you rise. And so, I feel like the team is going to play to that level and get better and better every game.”
“We’re going to be competing against great teams every single night. There's no room for slacking, so I think it’ll be good in the offseason to have that mindset. We’ll be playing in a power five conference this season, and we all have to play like that,” Gustin said.
With only one graduating senior, Gabriela Bosquez, exiting the roster, this BYU team is coming into next year with more experience. The team will also be welcoming seven new freshmen for this first season in the Big 12, and Whiting believes that “each brings a different piece of the puzzle” to the game. This incoming class includes Maria Mata, Ali’a Matavao, Kailey Woolston, Ashala Mosebrry, Jennah Isai, Jana Sallman, and Amari Whiting. Amari was committed to Oregon as ESPN’s No. 33 overall prospect in the recruiting ranks for the 2023 class, but flipped her commitment to BYU when her mom, Coach Whiting, was hired for the head coach position.
“I’m a pretty loyal person and was very set on Oregon,” Amari said. “When my mom got the job, I knew that she would be a great coach. I have played for her almost my whole life, so it wasn’t something that I needed to second guess. I knew how she coached and knew that I would fit right in and be successful under her.”
This season goes to show what can be accomplished through perseverance and teamwork. Eyes on them or not, the BYU women’s basketball team is ready to take on their first season in a power five conference.