BYU women’s basketball made its appearance at Big 12 Basketball Media Days at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Tuesday.
Head coach Amber Whiting and three players from the Cougars represented the team in speaking to the media. Those three were sophomore guard, and Whiting’s daughter, Amari Whiting, senior forward Emma Calvert and redshirt-senior guard Kemery Congdon.
Amber Whiting is now on to her third year as the head coach and second year being a coach in the Big 12. She acknowledged how much of a difference this conference has been in comparison to the West Coast Conference, where the Cougars were two seasons ago and what tweaks had to be made.
“Obviously bigger, faster, stronger. Had to get in the weight room,” she said. “I feel like the game is faster after making the jump in conferences.”
Making the change showed in BYU’s conference record from the last season in the WCC to the first season in the Big 12. The 2022-2023 season featured a 9-9 conference record with a 16-17 record overall while last season produced the same overall record but a 6-12 conference record. That was good enough for No. 10 in the conference. Getting that record higher in the win column is a must in order for the Cougars to get the respect they deserve among their conference opponents. They were projected to finish No. 12 in the conference.
Amber Whiting prides herself on being a defense first coach and puts emphasis on keeping it a priority.
“Keeping me up at night is how we are going to stop people,” she said. "I always tell these guys ‘we can score 100 points, but if you give up 101, you still lose.’”
Defensive numbers from last season show that there is room to grow, but signs of being formidable. BYU only forced 12.2 turnovers per game which ranked bottom three in the conference and a lowly No. 336 in all of Division I. It does rank around the middle of the pack when it comes to opponent field goal percentage and opponent points per game however. 65.7 points per game was good enough for sixth in the conference and No. 208 in Division I. Holding opponents to shooting 38.7% from the field ranked sixth in the conference as well and No. 107 in Division I.
Amari Whiting has bought into the “bigger, faster, stronger” philosophy as her offseason was all about the gains unlike last offseason when she was recovering from a torn ACL prior to that season.
“This offseason I felt like I had my body underneath me… and it was like alright let’s make gains. Time to get to work,” she said.
She is fresh off a season starting all 33 games as a freshman and averaging 10.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 39.7% from the field and 31.0% from 3-point range. As great of a season as it was, she knew there is plenty room to grow in a tough conference.
“I just felt like I needed to add a lot to my bag,” she said. “It was eye-opening being in the Big 12 and just how good everyone was.”
Congdon, who transferred from University of California, Berkeley, expressed how happy she was to be back near her family and hometown of Sandy. Another thing that helped BYU win her over was the push to shoot more threes which fits her game as a 32.7% career three-point shooter including a career best 38.1% just two seasons ago.
“Exactly like coach said it, ‘shoot more threes’, so sign me up. I’m there,” Congdon said.
Calvert is looking to build off her shot blocking prowess from last season which was fourth in the Big 12 at 1.3 blocks per game. Adding more dimensions to her game was a priority this past offseason in order to buy into the “bigger, faster, stronger” mindset.
“I think just being a presence inside and outside, so my three point game but also being able to get to the rim from the 3-point line I think is huge,” Calvert said.
Expanding her game has been on-going as she went from attempting 1.9 threes per game in the 2022-2023 season to 2.6 threes per game this past season. While only shooting 25.5% beyond the arc last year, having the ability to make it from long range will only open up the paint touches for her even more.
The Cougars will look to prove they are a “bigger, faster, stronger” team this season starting Oct. 29 when they play their exhibition game in Provo against Westminster.
That’s a wrap on Big 12 Media Day🎬📸 pic.twitter.com/avCrDjoqAi
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) October 23, 2024