It’s a brisk March afternoon in Raymond, Alberta, Canada, as 1,000 fans pack inside a high school basketball gym to watch the biggest game of the year.
Grade 10 basketball phenom, Delaney Gibb, has led her Raymond Comets to a 76-75 lead with a minute left in the provincial final. Her opponent is her future teammate, Hattie Ogden, and the Magrath Pandas.
After a missed 3-pointer in the corner from Ogden, the Comets grab the rebound and get the ball to their star player. Gibb takes the ball up the court as the clock ticks under a minute. This is the moment that big time players live for, those clutch situations in a championship game.
Gibb puts the brakes on her drive and steps back on her defender and buries the 3 to give her team a four point advantage.
That clutch three-pointer proved to be the game-clinching shot as Raymond tightened up on defense and held on to win the 2022 Provincial title 80-75.
“It was crazy. I think especially being in Raymond, like in our home gym. It was unreal,” Gibb said. “Magrath's 10 minutes away, so we had the entire town of Raymond and Magrath packed in that gym. The environment was nothing like I'd ever played in before.”
Despite losing to Raymond in the final, Ogden knew that the battles she had against the Comets tested her and helped her grow as a player. Ogden and Gibb faced off against each other six times during the 2021-22 season.
“It always made me better to play against them,” Ogden said.
“We had huge fans coming and watching. We were getting more fans than the boys games half the time,” said Gibb. “I loved it. I think that it grew women's basketball in southern Alberta.”
Where they needed to be
Now, Gibb and Ogden are teammates on the BYU women's basketball team, although they took different paths to get here.
Gibb committed to play for the Cougars last summer despite receiving offers from other power five programs.
“I lived in Provo my freshman year of high school, and so I think it was very familiar to me, and I also knew (BYU) coach (Amber) Whiting,” Gibb said. “I think once I started kind of narrowing down my options, BYU just felt different than the other schools. It felt like home to me, and somewhere that I was going to be able to excel and do really good."
Ogden, on the other hand, signed with the University of Buffalo out of high school and played two seasons with the Bulls.
“I think it was really good for me. It was a big two years of just growth,” said Ogden about her time at Buffalo. “BYU was kind of always the dream.”
Ogden said that she wanted to be closer to her family on the West Coast and thought the move would benefit her future after basketball. Two of her uncles had also played football here at BYU and she wanted to carry on that family legacy. After she had entered the transfer portal, Ogden reached out to assistant coach Lee Cummard about transferring to BYU and her dream had come true.
Bringing the firepower
Gibb is a 5-foot-10 freshman guard from Raymond High School. She brings an explosive playing style that can help power BYU’s offense.
“I definitely like to push in transition and play fast,” Gibb said.
She describes herself as a “two-way guard” that likes to shoot and pass so her teammates can get good shots.
Gibb was named Alberta's Miss Basketball in back-to-back seasons (2022 and 2023) while in high school. She has also played for the Canadian National Team at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
“You get to represent not only your country, but your communities and your family, and just everything on such a bigger stage, and a higher level and everything means so much more,” Gibb said.
“And I think for me, when I made my first national team, it kind of like opened my eyes to all of the possibilities that I had, and so I think it was kind of the first step in me wanting to be great, and me wanting to become the best basketball player that I can be.”
The 6-foot-1 Ogden is now in her third season of college basketball. She started 35 games for the Buffalo Bulls over two seasons with the team. She averaged 7.5 points per game while also shooting 31.7% from the 3-point line last season.
“I am a shooter, that's my main thing,” Ogden said.
While playing off the ball on offense, she said, “I like to play out of it more as, like a big, like, pick and pops, setting screens, horns actions, kind of those type of things.”
She also hopes to add more to the offense than just being a shooter.
“I also like to be a facilitator," Ogden said. "I like to see the floor, make those passes, give it to my bigs.”
The BYU women’s basketball team concluded their first season in the Big 12 with a 6-12 record in league play and 16-17 overall. Coach Amber Whiting is entering her third season with the Cougars and she spent this offseason retooling the roster. Two of the players that BYU added are Gibb and Ogden, the former high school rivals.
Sights on this season
Both players are looking forward to the upcoming season with both of them stating that they are looking forward to their matchup with in-state rival, the Utah Utes. They are hoping to help the team in whatever way they can.
“I'm super excited. I want to start playing games and for myself, I think I just want to help benefit the team in whatever way I can,” said Gibb.
“I think our team is special this year, and I think that we got a lot of good pieces, just like, seeing them all fit together and practice is just awesome,” Ogden said.
The Cougars will hope to have a bounce back season this year while relying on the skills and experience that Gibb and Ogden bring. The two Canadian athletes should contribute early and effectively with this new look BYU roster as the Cougars enter their second season in the Big 12.