Why Maria Albiero and her 4.8 points per game guides BYU women's NCAA dreams

PROVO — Maria Albiero doesn't score at the same blistering pace as the rest of the No. 11 scoring offense in the country; she averages just 4.8 points per game.

Capable of scoring big numbers, Albiero has set it aside to set up her teammates — she's scored in double figures just once in 2020-21, with a career-high 16 points coming two years ago against Portland. With a cast around her like the one boasted by 20th-ranked BYU women's basketball team, she doesn't have to.

There are plenty of ways to count points from a team that won 25 games during the regular season, the most in the history of the program.

The obvious starter is Associated Press All-America honorable mention Shaylee Gonzales, who averages 18.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. The Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year finalist does a little bit of everything, and her team follows suit with their individual roles.

There's also Paisley Harding, the other side of the twin terror duo who scores 17.0 points per game on 45.5% shooting, a defensive menace known as much for taking a well-time charge as a crucial trey.

Lauren Gustin is a walking double-double, averaging 10.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. As the saying goes, board man … errr, woman … gets paid, and Gustin's mark — which is tied for the ninth-best in the country — is likely to lead to some professional offers down the road.

Tegan Graham is a 3-point specialist, a newcomer to the starting lineup whose deep ball has opened up the Cougars' offense while averaging 10.0 points and 4.9 assists per game. There's Sara Hamson, one of the nation's top shot blockers and perhaps the scariest 6-foot-7 presence to emerge from the bench in Division I basketball.

But the conductor behind the music — the straw that stirs the drink, and the director of the offense said No. 11-ranked offense nationally — is a 5-foot-8 senior from Londrina, Brazil, with five years of experience in the system making her second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, where the sixth-seeded Cougars will face No. 11 Villanova in Saturday's opening round in Ann Arbor, Michigan (11 a.m. MDT, ESPN News).

But her role is no less important, dishing out 3.6 assists per game; even more often sets up the pass before the pass in BYU's heavy-ball movement offense; and as one of the top defensive guards on a team that often goes nine or 10 deep. It's a role that isn't flashy, often comes with a significant defensive responsibility, and hasn't featured Albiero on SportsCenter's Top 10 like some of her teammates. But it's no less important — and one she has learned to appreciate.

"I think it's important to point out that on a team like this, you have to figure out where people fit. You're going to have Shaylees and Paisleys on any team, and Tegan's presence has been huge," Albiero told KSL.com. "But if you want to be a good teammate, you just have to understand and accept your role — and if you do a really good job in your role, and nobody can do your role better, then you find value in what you do.

"I've learned to value what I do and my teammates make me feel valued. It wasn't really that difficult to accept, because we're doing so well. It's a hard role sometimes, it's dirty work — but I'm really happy to do it."

With Albiero bringing the ball up the court, the Cougars will open their second-straight NCAA Tournament against Villanova in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The winner will advance to face the winner of No. 4 Michigan and No. 13 American.

Under the Brazilian point guard's guiding hand, the Cougars rank second nationally with 20.0 assists per game, and third in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.53.

In Albiero's five years with BYU, few have run the point better than her. It's a big reason why the senior who came to Provo by way of Neuse Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina has stuck around for as long as she has — so much so that her and teammate Harding recently set a program record for most games played with 145.

Obviously, an extra season of eligibility provided by the COVID-19 pandemic helped set the mark. But so does knowing your role, and becoming an integral part of the team's scheme, as both players have been.

For Albiero, that starts on the defensive end.

"How she guards the ball and what she does dictates so much," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. "This kid is a special, special player, and we wouldn't be where we are. She deserves to be all-conference."

Harding's role is, perhaps, easier to see. But Albiero's is no less crucial on a team that prides itself on experience — and one that drives a large amount of confidence from it.

"We've got a lot of girls who have been here and have been through it," Harding said. "I think we know what it takes, but also the maturity to stay level-headed with our wins and our losses. We've always just tried to go toward the next day and tackle the next day, to be better.

"The veterans on the team definitely help."

Albiero definitely knows. And as she looks toward her final NCAA Tournament appearances as a collegiate athlete, the Brazilian international admits to feeling "lots of emotions."

"Different feelings," she added. "Excited. Ready to go play. But definitely bittersweet; I just really want to make the most of it — whatever that looks like.

"I think we've done a great job of looking at each day in the present, not in the future. So we'll keep doing that. We're really excited, bittersweet – but fun things ahead."

When Albiero was given the option to return for another season of eligibility, she didn't think twice about it. Perhaps she didn't communicate that clearly enough with head coach Jeff Judkins, who admits he "wasn't sure" that Albiero was coming back for a fifth year when the senior reported to national team camp with Brazil last summer.

But in her mind, there was never a doubt. First, Albiero has to finish her degree. Second, she wants to play Division I basketball — and the game, in general — for as long as she can. So why not spend another year with a team that has become, in whatever role is required.

BYU felt like the best fit in high school, even as she averaged just 8.3 minutes in 29 games as a freshman. She hung with it, though, starting seven games as a sophomore and progressing from there — always building on her role, brick by brick, like the hundreds of high school, club and national team practices taught her before college.

"I didn't know what would come out of it," Albiero recalled of her commitment to BYU. "But I'm definitely really lucky and very thankful. I definitely made the right decision, and I did it with the help of a lot of people. Looking back, it wasn't perfect, the journey was bumpy – but I couldn't be happier ahead of my last year with the tournament and stuff still to do. We're not done."

That role now happens to be a starter for every game of the past three seasons, 81-straight games. At least one more is likely to be added to that count, beginning Saturday.

But even if it isn't, Albiero knows she still has a place and a reason on the team.

"It took experience to learn that I can score, but I'm not scoring like Shaylee and Paisley," Albiero said. "You just have to find where you belong, and succeed in it.

"I think it's just understanding that at the end of the day, I genuinely want to win. That's all that matters to me, and me playing this role has helped us win. Why change it?"

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