Defensive POY Hamson leads BYU women into must-win WCC Tournament

PROVO — Sara Hamson’s legacy as a two-sport athlete goes back before she got to BYU.

A club volleyball standout since she was in eighth grade, Hamson’s older sister Jen starred on both Cougar squads, leading the BYU women’s basketball team to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and earning All-American honors with the volleyball team.

But basketball has always been there for the younger Hamson sister.

“I started basketball in third-grade rec league when it’s just jungle ball and doesn’t really count,” Sara Hamson said. “I’ve been doing it forever.

“I feel like you have to have a certain amount of athleticism to play volleyball; you can’t play volleyball so young.”

With just one season of playing both sports, the freshman center has found her niche on the basketball court. Hamson was named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Tuesday, an honor bestowed by league coaches even though she only played basketball full-time for about half the season.

Still, the 6-foot-7 two-sport star from Pleasant Grove High School had credentials for BYU (16-13) that speak for themselves. Hamson has averaged 5.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game as a freshman — the latter of which ranks second in the nation.

The soft-spoken but increasingly more-vocal freshman deferred credit for the award to her teammates after practice Tuesday.

“If our team didn’t play good defense, then I wouldn’t have the award. If I were the only one defending, we would not be a very good defensive team,” said Hamson, who follows last year’s defensive player of the year Kalani Purcell, and older sister Jen Hamson, who won the award in 2013-14.

“We are a very good defensive team, and it’s a credit to the team for doing such a good job in their area, their zone, and on their man.”

Gonzaga junior Jill Barta was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year.

Hamson posted 107 blocks in her freshman season, including two games of nine blocks apiece. But just as important are the shots she alters, BYU coach Jeff Judkins said.

The 17th-year Cougar head coach compared Hamson’s emergence to that of Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert.

“He started during his rookie year, and you saw his potential — but he couldn’t score,” Judkins said. “He’s gradually gotten better, though, and that’s where I see Sara.

“She’s getting a lot better and understands what she needs to do. She’ll have to guard this pick and roll her whole life, and she’s figuring it out a lot quicker than Jen did.”

BYU opens the West Coast Conference tournament Thursday against sixth-seeded San Diego (15-14), a team that swept the Cougars during the regular season. Hamson’s emergence in the paint will prove vital in the matchup against the Toreros for two teams that know they need a conference tournament championship to have any chance of advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

As vital, even, as the offensive play of Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee and Brenna Chase, who were both named to the all-WCC first team Tuesday.

“They beat us twice, and I think they are going to go into this game very confident,” said Devashrayee, who averaged 19.3 points and 4.3 assists per game during the regular season. “But we feel like we haven’t played our best game against them. We know we can beat them, and I think we’re focusing on things we didn’t do.”

By opening the tournament Thursday, BYU can advance to Monday’s semifinals with a win. That’s a better spot for the Cougars than a top-two seed, which would require the team to play Friday before resuming competition after the men’s tournament begins Saturday due to the school’s no-Sunday practice policy.

“We’re leaving tomorrow and plan on being there until Wednesday,” Judkins said. “That’s a long week in Vegas.

“We need to win the tournament if we want to go (to the NCAA Tournament), and hopefully we are playing our best basketball.”

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