Most people in Provo know the Marriott Center as the home of BYU men's basketball. The women's team plays there too, and last season it gave the building plenty to cheer: 26 wins, BYU's best Big 12 record, and a run to the WBIT championship game. Year two under Lee Cummard starts with an exhibition on October 27 and the opener on November 3. Here is what last season built, who is back, and the games to see.
Last season in short
| Record | 26-12 overall, 9-9 Big 12, 11-1 nonconference |
| Big 12 Tournament | 9th seed; lost in the quarterfinals to No. 1 seed TCU |
| NCAA Tournament | First team left out |
| WBIT | No. 1 seed; beat Alabama A&M, Missouri, Stanford and Kansas; lost the final to Columbia |
| Best crowd | 3,541 at the Marriott Center for the WBIT win over Stanford |
Being the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament stung, and the team answered by winning four straight WBIT games, including a 93-75 win over Missouri and a 76-61 home win over Stanford. The 26 wins were the second-most in a season in program history. BYU also swept all three games against Utah, only the third time it has done that in the 54-year rivalry.
The coach: Lee Cummard
Older BYU fans remember Lee Cummard as a player: a 6-foot-7 guard on the men's team from 2005 to 2009, the 2008 Mountain West Player of the Year and a two-time All-American, who then played professionally in France, Japan and Belgium.
He came back to coach, first on Dave Rose's men's staff, then in 2019 on the women's staff under Jeff Judkins, where he helped win the 2022 WCC title and reach two NCAA Tournaments. He was associate head coach under Amber Whiting, and was named head coach on March 31, 2025.
His first season was the best debut in program history. The 26 wins passed Judkins, his former boss, for the most by a first-year BYU women's coach, and he became only the third BYU women's coach to win 20 in his first year. Asked about breaking his mentor's record, he called being mentioned alongside Judkins "a tremendous honor."
How he leads comes through in how he talks about his team. "They've been all-in from the beginning, and their hard work is paying off," he said last season. His summary of the culture he wants is five words long: "Everybody is in it for everybody." His staff includes chief of staff John Wardenburg and assistants Keilani Unga, Josh Edwards, Andrew Curtis and Paisley Johnson-Harding.
The players
Delaney Gibb, guard, junior. First-team All-Big 12 last season. She reached 1,000 career points in her 57th game, the third-fastest in BYU history.
Sydney Benally, guard, sophomore. Set BYU's freshman assists record with 148 last season and was a Big 12 Freshman of the Week.
Olivia Hamlin, guard, sophomore. All-Big 12 honorable mention and All-Freshman team last season, from Santa Clara in southern Utah.
Bolanle Yussuf, forward, sophomore. At 6-foot-5, the tallest player on the roster.
New faces. Liza Astakhova, a 6-foot-2 guard and forward who transferred from North Carolina, and freshmen Prasayus Notoa and Vahayliah Seumanutafa of Brisbane, Australia, and Stella Sakalas of suburban Chicago.
Local players. Kailey Woolston played at Lone Peak High in Highland.
The 2026-27 schedule: games to see
The full schedule has 32 regular-season games. The first seven are all at home, from November 3 to November 21, which makes November the easiest month to see this team.
| Date | Opponent | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Tue., Oct. 27 | Western Colorado (exhibition) | Marriott Center, 7 p.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 3 | Idaho State (opener) | Marriott Center, 7 p.m. |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Bethune-Cookman | Marriott Center, 11 a.m. |
| Wed., Nov. 18 | Utah State | Marriott Center, 2 p.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 24 | at Utah Valley | UCCU Center, Orem, 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 27-28 | Fairfield, Boston College | St. Pete Showcase, St. Petersburg, Fla. |
| Tue., Dec. 15 | Weber State | Marriott Center, 2 p.m. |
| Wed., Dec. 30 | Kansas State | Marriott Center, 7 p.m. |
| Wed., Feb. 3 | at Utah | Huntsman Center, 7 p.m. |
| Wed., Feb. 10 | Arizona | Marriott Center, 7 p.m. |
| Sat., Feb. 27 | Utah (finale) | Marriott Center, 2 p.m. |
Times are Mountain and can change; check BYU's schedule before you go. The November 11 game tips off at 11 a.m., and the December 15 game against Weber State puts a 15-game Marriott Center winning streak in that series on the line.
The games that will decide the season are in Big 12 play, from mid-December to the end of February. The Utah home-and-home, at the Huntsman Center on February 3 and in Provo on February 27, is the rivalry stretch; our Holy War explainer covers the background. The November 24 trip to Orem is the crosstown game against UVU; all of BYU's games against Utah schools are in our in-state games guide.
Going to a game
Tickets. Single-game tickets usually go on sale about two weeks before the first home game, with a Cougar Club presale at 10 a.m. and the public sale at noon, online through BYU's ticket site or at the Marriott Center ticket office. General admission is first-come, first-served in designated sections. Tickets are required for ages 6 and up in general admission and 2 and up in reserved seats.
Students. The ROC Pass and the cheaper Olympic Sports ROC Pass both cover women's basketball, and attendance at women's games counts toward a student's priority for football and men's basketball tickets. Our ROC Pass guide explains how it works.
Parking and the arena. Women's games use the same Marriott Center and parking as men's games, usually with smaller crowds. Our BYU basketball game-day guide covers parking, the bag policy and where to eat.
The bottom line
BYU women's basketball has a coach who just had the best first season in program history, an All-Big 12 guard in Delaney Gibb, two promising sophomores, and a clear goal: the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. It is also the easiest way to see a Big 12 game in the Marriott Center, with seven straight home games to start the season.
For the men's team, see the BYU basketball 2026-27 season preview. For BYU's fall teams, see BYU volleyball and BYU soccer.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources
The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.
- Women's Basketball 2026-27 Schedule, BYU Athletics. Checked October 13, 2026.
- Women's Basketball 2026-27 Roster, BYU Athletics. Checked October 13, 2026.
- BYU women's hoops caps illustrious 2025-26 campaign, BYU Athletics. Checked October 13, 2026.
- BYU announces 2026-27 non-conference schedule, BYU Athletics. Checked October 13, 2026.
- BYU names Lee Cummard head women's basketball coach, BYU Athletics. Checked October 13, 2026.
- BYU Women's Basketball tickets, BYU Tickets. Checked October 13, 2026.
- Lee Cummard passes former mentor as BYU's winningest first-year head coach, KSL. Checked October 13, 2026.
