Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- BYU women's basketball defeated Idaho State 68-59, improving to a 10-1 record.
- Olivia Hamlin scored a career-high 22 points with three assists and five steals.
- BYU scored 25 points off turnovers despite missing top scorer Delaney Gibb since Nov. 19.
PROVO — BYU women's basketball has been at its best when it starts fast, stays fast, and plays a fast-paced game.
The Cougars did at least two of the three Thursday night.
Olivia Hamlin scored a career-high 22 points with three assists and five steals, and BYU women's basketball improved to 10-1 with a 68-59 win over Idaho State in front of 2,244 fans at the Marriott Center.
Bolanle Yusuf added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, who got 10 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots from senior Lara Rohkohl.
Tasia Jordan scored 22 points to lead Idaho State (5-4), which outrebounded the Big 12 foe 57-31 including 23 offensive boards.
But the Cougars scored 25 points off 25 turnovers, and converted 20 fastbreak points to open with 10 wins in the first 11 games for just the fourth time in program history. All three of the previous 10-1 squads reached the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2013-14.
Just as impressive as an 18-8 first-quarter start or a 41-28 second half is that BYU has won six of the last seven games without leading scorer Delaney Gibb, who has been out since Nov. 19 with a lower-leg injury after averaging a team-high 16.3 points per game during a 4-0 start.
"That looked a lot more like us in the second half, sharing the ball, creating havoc," said BYU coach Lee Cummard, whose 10-1 start is the best by a first-year head coach in program history. "It was a bit of a tale of two halves, other than the first four minutes of the game."
Liv is unreal🤯 pic.twitter.com/CqLGlol5Z5
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) December 12, 2025
But to get there, the Cougars had to run — occasionally too much, but to go with 14 steals and eight blocks against the top defensive team in the Big Sky.
"When we start strong, it brings a lot of energy and our confidence goes way up," said Hamlin, the former 4A star from Snow Canyon in Santa Clara. "I really like to play fast like that."
Hamlin had 9 points, three steals and two assists as the Cougars forced nine turnovers and led by as much as 14 en route to an 18-8 first-quarter lead.
If only the rest of the game were so easily.
The Bengals used an 8-0 to open the second quarter to cut the deficit to two before Braeden Gunlock drained her second 3-pointer of the game to take the lid off of the basket for BYU.
Jordan, the junior with a 14.6-point scoring average in the Bengals' first eight games, capped an 8-0 run to give Idaho State its first lead, 29-27 with 1:42 left in the half.
The Big Sky's top scoring defense (56.8 ppg) and field-goal percentage defense (36.1) held BYU to 2-of-11 shooting in the second quarter to take a 31-27 advantage into halftime.
Rohkohl scored 6 of the Cougars' first 10 points of the second half, and Brinley Cannon tied the game with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 5:11 left in the third. The sophomore finished 6 points and tied freshman Sydney Benally with a team-high five assists.
BYU limited Jordan to 1 point in the third quarter, and Kambree Barber scored 5 in her second game off the bench to help the Cougars to a 51-49 edge ahead of the final period before finishing with a career-high four blocks in her second game since returning from injury.
"She's one of the best laterally on our team," Cummard said of Barber. "It kind of just sent a message. But she's slowly coming on with a career-high in blocks for her."
BYU wraps up nonconference play Saturday against UTEP (2 p.m. MST, ESPN+) before opening Big 12 play next Saturday, Dec. 20 at UCF (12 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
