Analysis: BYU is WBIT championship-bound after rallying late to defeat Kansas in tournament semifinal

BYU players celebrate following the Cougars' 70-67 WBIT semifinal victory over Kansas on March 30, 2026. | Jaren Wilkey/BYU PHOTO For the first time in the history of women’s basketball at BYU, the Cougars are 40 minutes away from winning a major postseason tournament. And they have three made shots to thank for keeping their season alive.

Monday’s WBIT semifinal between BYU and Kansas was a dogfight, as the Cougars and Jayhawks exchanged leads on 13 different occasions in addition to 10 ties. It was the polar opposite of BYU’s previous three WBIT outings, where Lee Cummard’s squad won by an average of nearly 20 points each time. The 13th and final lead change on Monday came with 5:30 left to play in the contest, when BYU’s dynamic freshman guard Olivia Hamlin drained a 3-pointer to put her team ahead by a point.

Exactly 60 seconds later, fellow freshman Sydney Benally hit a triple of her own, then completed the heat check on BYU’s ensuing possession with another long range knockdown. In the blink of an eye, the trio of 3-pointers from the freshman duo vaulted the Cougars from down by two points to ahead by seven. But more importantly, the tide of the back-and-forth affair had shifted for good.

BYU grabbed the victory right then and never let go. “Those shots were amazing,” said BYU forward Lara Rohkohl of Hamlin and Benally’s heroics. “Those shots got us ahead, and those shots won us the game.