The Cougars will next face the No. 8 team in the country.
(Tyler Tate | AP) Brigham Young guard Sydney Benally looks to pass the ball during the first half of a game against Washington State on Dec. 3, 2025, in Salt Lake City.
It’s been a nearly perfect start for first-year head coach Lee Cummard and the BYU women’s basketball team. With just one loss through their first 13 games, the Cougars have more than enjoyed the first two months of the Cummard era.
But how real is BYU’s impressive start? The Cougars ranked just 248th out of 362 teams with their non-conference strength of schedule, and while they boast an impressive win against Virginia Tech, they lost their only game against a top-25 opponent in Vanderbilt.
BYU will be tested again on Wednesday when it hosts the No. 8 TCU Horned Frogs. This game will be a glimpse of how competitive the Cougars can be in the Big 12 and whether their record is real or crazy.
“They’re a legitimate Final Four contender,” Cummard said of the undefeated Horned Frogs. “It’s a great opportunity for us… [and] another data point where we are.’
TCU is coming off its most successful season in program history, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in 2025. This season, TCU replaced All-American point guard and WNBA draft pick Hailey Van Lith with fellow All-American and Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles. Miles is averaging 18.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game and will be by far the best player the Cougars have faced this season.
Fortunately for the Cougars, they will likely have a fully healthy Delaney Gibb to counter Miles’ impact.
Gibb, who was the 2025 Rookie of the Year, missed eight games earlier in the season with a lower leg injury.
In her absence, freshman guards Olivia Hamlin (13.2 points per game) and Sydney Benally (5.4 assists per game) provided the Cougars with a lifeline. They are the main reason BYU’s record didn’t suffer when Gibb was sidelined.
In Gibbs’ first game back from the injury against UCF on Dec. 20, she played just 16 minutes and scored 12 points off the bench in the Cougars’ first Big 12 win. Against TCU, Gibb likely won’t have a minutes restriction.
“As far as I know, there shouldn’t be a minute limit,” Cummard said Monday. “We’ll see how she feels after today’s practice. She didn’t do a full practice today and I assume she won’t do a full practice tomorrow, but I haven’t heard the term ‘minute restriction’ so I’m hoping for her and planning for her.”
BYU players Hattie Ogden and Brinley Cannon talked about the importance of having Gibb, who was averaging 16.3 points and 6.0 assists per game before the injury, for the game against TCU.
“I think just the playmaking ability that he brings to the team, he has a way of getting out there and seeing the floor,” said Ogden, a senior forward. “I think he’s a big part of our team.
“Adding another primary ball handler and linebacker takes some of that pressure off [the other guards]” said Cannon, a sophomore.
A win against No. 8 TCU would not only legitimize the Cougars’ hot start, but it would be an all-time great win for the program. It would be BYU’s highest-ranked win in the Big 12 era and its first regular-season win against a top-10 opponent since 2006, when it knocked off No. 4 Stanford.
“We try not to focus on the rankings,” Cannon said. “They’re a really talented team, but I think so are we.
Big 12 action tips off Wednesday at 7pm MST at the Marriott Center.
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