With record-setting crowd, No. 20 BYU women thump Gonzaga to stay unbeaten at home

PROVO — On the celebration known as Senior Day, a sophomore for BYU women's basketball led the way.

The rest of the Class of 2022 wasn't far behind.

Shaylee Gonzales stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals (and just one personal foul), and Paisley Harding added 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds on a Senior Day to remember as No. 20 BYU thumped Gonzaga 63-39 Saturday afternoon in the Marriott Center.

Lauren Gustin added 5 points and 13 rebounds for BYU, and Maria Albiero had 8 points and two assists for the Cougars (23-2, 13-1 WCC). Fellow senior Tegan Graham supplied 6 points and five assists for BYU.

Melody Kempton led Gonzaga (21-6, 12-2 WCC) with 11 points and four rebounds.

With a season-high crowd of 6,289 fans — a Marriott Center record for women's basketball, beating out a high mark of just over 6,000 that stood since BYU and Utah faced off in 2008 — that filled up the lower bowl with only a handful of scattered empty seats in the 19,000-seat arena, the day was set for a big game in college basketball, men's or women's aside.

"We've been pushing to get more people here, and tonight was amazing," Harding said. "This place was packed; it was a dream.

"I've always wanted to play in a packed Marriott Center, and this was amazing."

It was everything that Harding dreamed of when she committed to BYU after her sophomore season of high school, when the Everett, Washington, native wore her BYU shirt to a Gonzaga camp that summer even as she struggled to do the "typical LDS thing" and play basketball in Provo.

Turns out, it's the best thing that could've happened to her, and the program: meeting her husband Connor, who now stars at Utah Valley, and leading the Cougars to sights previously unseen, including a program-high national rankings and a shot at a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in her fifth season thanks to an extra year of eligibility provided by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This year is not at all what I thought it would be; it's blown the expectations I had out of the water," said Harding, surrounded by teammates and wearing about 10 pounds of candied leis, capped by a floral crown. "I've been so blessed to get to know each and every one of them so much better. That's what I really cherish: these girls are my family.

"It's been amazing. I'm so excited to keep going for them. Like my mom just said, 10 more games."

The Cougars and Zags were essentially contesting a conference championship, played between two teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament.

But by the end of the afternoon, BYU made it a rout, pulling away midway through the third quarter en route to a 14-0 home record and all-but wrapping up a West Coast Conference title for the preseason favorites.

Plenty more celebrations await the senior class of Harding, Tegan Graham, Maria Albiero, Sara Hamson and Kayla Belles-Lee; but for now, the Cougars will take this one: they haven't lost at home in more than two years.

What a way to clinch the streak.

The Cougars took a 27-17 lead into halftime after holding the Zags to 1-of-11 shooting in the second quarter and 13 points from Gonzales. It was the defense that sparked an offense, even with an early off-shooting performance kept alive by Gonzales' 13 points in the first half and a clutch 3-pointer by freshman Nani Falatea with 6:53 left in the first half that put BYU up.

"We were really active. We switched a lot," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said of his team's defense. "We were aggressive, crashed the boards, set screens hard. This team can play that way; tonight they let us play, and it was a real physical game."

Harding capped a 14-2 with a deep 3-pointer of her own to push the Cougars' lead all the way to 44-21 midway through the third quarter. BYU held Gonzaga not just to two made field goals to open the second half — but only five attempts early.

The defense did the dirty work, and BYU's offense eventually caught up.

The Zags shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range, and a mere 25% from the field, including just 3 for 11 in the third quarter. BYU held the visitors to just 3 for 11 in that quarter, including a scoreless final 3:45 to double up a 50-25 advantage.

All that was left was the final margin of victory.

And then there was Harding, who connected on 6-of-14 shots but added a season-high seven assists, setting up her teammates with bounce passes, no-look dimes and the occasional cross-court cutter that Gonzales found on the fast break. The Cougars assisted on 20-of-23 made baskets, and dominated the Zags in the paint 22-14.

It all led to a magic night in the Marriott Center, the best atmosphere the building has ever seen for a women's basketball game — one that has featured rivalry contests and big names like UConn — to send out a special group of five seniors.

"They came back for this reason," Judkins said. "You know how in life, very few people can have dreams that come true? They saw this, and they felt this would happen to them this year — from day one, our first workout of the summer July 13. That's what they are, and they came back to really make a mark. This is part of it, and there are many, many more parts of it.

"Every one of them had to sacrifice something for this team to be successful."

BYU closes out the regular season next week with road games at Santa Clara and Pacific.

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