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PROVO — Lexi Eaton Rydalch knows she is in uncharted territory.
A fifth-year senior, thanks to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her sophomore season, the reigning West Coast Conference Tournament MVP has never finished a season without an NCAA Tournament bid.
And she doesn't plan on stopping with one more to go, as she hopes to lead the Cougars back to the big dance in a season that kicks off at 7 p.m. MST Thursday with a home exhibition against Fort Lewis College in the Marriott Center.
"We definitely have to build off that success," said Eaton Rydalch, whose Cougars officially kick off the regular season Nov. 13 against Utah Valley. "I think that experience is a huge building block, and so once we've been there, we know we could come through in the big stage and we can do it again. Now it's building off that and winning the regular season championship, winning the tournament and going deep in the NCAA tournament."
The 5-foot-10 native of Mapleton, Utah, will be counted on as a big part of her team's success. Eaton Rydalch is one of just two seniors alongside point guard Kylie Maeda, and her share of the offensive load will be large coming off a season in which she averaged 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game of a season that earned her AP All-American honorable mention honors.
But the all-time leading scorer in Springville High School history and two-time Utah Gatorade player of the year is used to high expectations.
"I honestly feel like getting All-American last year, I was starting to tap into my potential," Eaton Rydalch said. "Now I'm just always striving to take it to the next level, and I feel like once you are at a high level, you have to take it to the next by doing mental work. I just want to take it to the next level every year."
BYU women's coach Jeff Judkins believes his star sharpshooter will play a big role in this year's team — just as she has every year she's been available for the Cougars to date. Eaton Rydalch could become the first player in BYU women's basketball history to go to four NCAA Tournaments, with BYU missing out on the big dance just once in the past four years.
Rather than apply unnecessary pressure, Judkins feels such a feat will motivate the former Red Devil standout.
"If that happens, a lot of it is because of her," Judkins said. "She's a great player. But we've also got some good young kids, and I think that experience of going to the tournament and doing those things will really help."
In addition to Maeda, the Cougars also return fellow scorer Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher and reserve guard Cassie Broadhead. Even the newcomers will have high expectations, with junior college transfer Kalani Purcell on Judkins' short list of players to watch at BYU.
But the Cougars will also have to battle a tough non-conference schedule, one designed to boost their RPI as much as possible before WCC play with the likes of Oklahoma, Colorado State and Georgia away from Provo.
If they can survive that, a chance to dethrone Gonzaga as the WCC regular season champion could be in the cards.
"If we're lucky and do well, we might be 9-2 or 8-3 with a really good RPI," Judkins said. "If we play well in-conference, our RPI could hopefully be good enough for an at-large bid even if we don't win the tournament.
"I'm looking forward to really seeing a team that will play a hard schedule and how we handle that both physically and mentally. I want to see how the young kids develop, and that will be a big key for us. If they develop like I think they can, when WCC play comes around, we'll be really solid."
