Before Big 12 home opener, BYU's Gustin making ordinary out of extraordinary

PROVO — Before every game, BYU women's basketball puts together a highlight reel of the best plays from the previous game, a way of "manifesting" their will from game-to-game, senior Kaylee Smiler said.

But a lot of times, those reels have a common thread.

"I swear, it's just a Lauren Gustin highlight reel," Smiler said with a laugh.

With good reason.

The 6-foot-1 power forward from Salem, Utah, is manifesting her will during her senior season, averaging a nation-leading 15.6 rebounds per game with 12 double-doubles in her first 14 contests as a senior for the Cougars (10-4, 0-1 Big 12).

Gustin needs just 74 rebounds to break BYU's all-time record off the glass held by 1980 national player of the year Tina Gunn. At Gustin's current clip of rebounding, that number is likely to fall during her fifth season of college basketball.

Until then — and likely after — Gustin will continue to make the extraordinary look ordinary, and her teammates will try not to take for granted the power forward with 68 career double-doubles, 1,408 rebounds, 14.1 rebounds per game, 1,345 points and 13.5 points per game in 100 games played (all starts).

"We expect those things from Lauren," Smiler said, "and she doesn't get enough credit."

Gustin and Smiler will lead BYU into its Big 12 home opener Wednesday against Oklahoma (7-5, 1-0 Big 12), a familiar opponent that the Cougars will face for a third straight season.

It's a chance to show BYU belongs in its new conference before the Sooners join the SEC, and a chance to bounce back from an 81-67 loss to No. 23 TCU in last week's league opener.

But Gustin has long shown she belongs at the highest levels of women's basketball. It's why when the power forward hit the transfer portal under a "do not contact" label after graduating from BYU, head coach Amber Whiting knew she'd have offers — including plenty of top-25 teams and other Power Five opponents.

Bringing Gustin back to BYU wasn't about playing in the Big 12, Whiting said; she already knew that. The second-year coach just wanted to remind Gustin of what she's already accomplished at BYU, and what she could still do in one more year.

"She already knew we would be there," said Whiting, adding that Gustin's next goal is her first career triple-double. "People recruiting here were Power Five, as well. My thing for her was to remember who she was, and how much she meant to this team."

For Gustin, returning to BYU for her senior season involved breaking records and setting a new standard close to home. Yes, there was a name, image and likeness monetization component, several sources have indicated to KSL.com; there usually is for most college athletes in the modern game.

But mostly, it was about finishing what she started at her campus home just 13 miles from the place she grew up.

"Stepping away from it helped me see a bigger view of how great it is at BYU," Gustin said. "It's always been a great place to be, and I've always enjoyed being here. Being able to fight with my girls again is a big reason I came back. … I love my teammates, and I wanted to come into the Big 12 with them."

Chief among those teammates was Smiler, the only other senior listed on the Cougars' 2023-24 roster. In a lineup replete with highly recruited freshmen and transfers, the six-year veterans of college basketball — one from Utah County, the other from Hamilton, New Zealand — are the backbone of Whiting's second season in Provo.

For all the credit that Gustin does — or doesn't, according to Smiler — get, Smiler provides a bigger boost than her 7.6 points on 50% shooting, including 54.5% from 3-point range, notice as well.

She may be the only player in BYU women's basketball's recent history to bleed from a wide laceration across her head, exit to the locker room to receive staples, and return barely a quarter later to help the Cougars rally 79-76 overtime win over Idaho State.

"Tough" scarcely begins to describe the New Zealand international's impact in her 118 games, including 42 starts.

"There's so much you can say about Smi," Gustin said. "She's one of the toughest kids I've ever played with. She just doesn't stop."

But the next step for the two BYU seniors? Picking up the program's first Big 12 win. Such a moment would prove that the Cougars aren't just in a new conference, but that they belong there, as well.

"We want our first win," Whiting said. "We don't want to be in the Big 12 just to be in the Big 12. We've got to believe every time we step on the court that we can win. As a team, that means playing way more connected than we did (against TCU)."

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