BYU Women Refuse To Let Gonzaga Loss Wreck Their March Madness

LAS VEGAS – The BYU women’s basketball team fell short in their pursuit of a West Coast Conference Tournament championship with a 71-59 loss to Gonzaga Tuesday, but despite the loss, the Cougars vowed to use it as motivation as they now await word of their seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re disappointed, but there’s so much that’s still up to our team,” senior guard Paisley Johnson told reporters after BYU lost to Gonzaga. “We went out there and fought. They fought harder, unfortunately, and they really played well tonight against us.”

The Bulldogs held the Cougars to just 32% shooting overall for the game and just 21.7% from three. Harding, who scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds in the loss while shooting just 3/15 from the field, said they would learn from it.

“We’ve had a lot of opportunities to learn throughout the year, but not a lot of opportunities to learn off losses. So that’s kind of the blessing in this. We get to find our weaknesses and learn from them.”

Final from The Orleans Arena@ZagWBB 71@byuwbb 59#BYU shot just 32% (21/65) as they lose in the WCC Tournament championship game. The Bulldogs will hoist the trophy & earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament#KSLVegasMayhem #BYUhoops #GoCougs #WCChoops

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/1SB2KJH9fC

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 8, 2022

Head coach Jeff Judkins got choked up at different moments during the press conference and explained why he was so emotional after the loss

“The emotion is because my kids, the players wanted it. And a lot of times in life, you don’t get everything, but you sure wanted it. That’s where my emotion is (coming from) – that I know how much the players wanted to win this tournament. Last year, we lost in a heartbreaker, and it was tough. We wanted to really come out and do it.

“I just want to make sure you guys know I’m very proud of these guys and what they’ve accomplished so far. Nobody thought we’d be where we are. But these guys did. So we’re going to do our best we’re going to resent represent our university and this conference in the NCAA Tournament and hopefully make everybody proud.”

Judkins did make a vow about his team as they now get ready for March Madness.

“It’s sad that we lost this game, but my team will bounce back. I promise you… I’ve been to the NCAA Tournament many times we’ve been very, very successful. This first game, we’ll be prepared for it.”