2026 PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 4, 2026

Lee Cummard

Sydney Benally

Brinley Cannon

T-Mobile Center

BYU Cougars

Postgame Press Conference

BYU-76, Houston-66

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by BYU head coach Lee Cummard and student-athletes Sydney Benally and Brinley Cannon. Coach, opening statements.

LEE CUMMARD: Sure, Big 12 game, real physical. In the first half they did a good job of speeding us up, and in the second half I thought we did a good job of just kind of settling in and getting catches and initiating offense where we wanted to.

They turned us over 15 times in the first half to only seven in the second half, which was huge for us, but you can always tell, you know, the connection between a coach and his players by how hard they played, and Houston, I've watched a lot this season, and that team is still playing hard and playing hard for each other. So it says a lot about their program and the culture that they have over there.

Luckily for us, we were able to hit enough shots and not turn over as much in the second half to kind of mitigate their success at the foul line.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach and/or student-athletes.

Q. Brinley, Sydney hit a clutch three-pointer late in the game that kind of helped jump-start what you needed. What did that do for you to be able to see that, especially with Houston coming in on that attack and getting it down to three?

BRINLEY CANNON: Yeah, for sure. That was a big momentum switch. We were in a little rut. They kind of went on a run, and it was kind of going down to the wire. So when she hit that, I think it just settled us. I don't know. She just played super composed, and that three kind of just settled us to finish the rest of the game.

Q. Lee, same question for you.

LEE CUMMARD: Delaney had picked up her fourth foul and we subbed her out, which is tough. It's the first time we've had to play late in a game with Delaney in foul trouble. Syd initiated offense. I think they got mixed up on a switch on a ball screen, and she shot that thing with great confidence. I'm glad she did because I think it was a three-point game at this moment.

Got a time-out right after that, and you can tell the confidence in the players' eyes in that moment. That three was huge for them.

Q. Sydney, what started working for you guys in that second half and being able to kind of get in -- you had those two extended runs before they made that jump?

SYDNEY BENALLY: I think just continuing to stay composed and not let them speed us up and just stick to our game plan and run our offense. Yeah, just trusting each other.

Q. You guys obviously get rival Utah tomorrow. What does this moment mean for you guys, knowing that you have already beat them twice in different ways? But, Lee, what does this game mean for you personally and being able to have that in this stage?

LEE CUMMARD: We like playing our rival. It's a good thing for college basketball. It's a great thing for our state. Gavin and his staff do a great job, and looking forward to it tomorrow.

You know, it's just a good thing for everybody involved, because the rivalry kind of went away for a little while. It's just good to play in-state teams. We look forward to it.

They play a style of play that gives us problems, and we kind of play in a way that hurts them, and it kind of comes down to in these games they seem to always be close. Some of the little things, like toughness and diving on the ball and just who can stay connected the longest in these games.

But when we started the week, we saw the brackets. I didn't want our group to be looking past Houston at all, especially because it was Utah, right? Everybody wants to talk about, hey, you're going to match up with Utah. We wanted to stay in the moment with Houston.

I think they did a great job of that, knowing if we can be successful, we get our rival in the Big 12 Tournament. They're a great team, and it will be a great match-up tomorrow, but we're looking forward to it.

Q. Just for everyone, obviously could be a four-day grind. What is that prep like, and how do you get yourself mentally ready for if you win today, you get just the whole road ahead?

BRINLEY CANNON: I would just say just what Coach said, staying in the moment, enjoying our time here and being grateful for it, and just approaching every game with that excitement and that grind and just excited to see what we can do.

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a long week, but we have people, support staff here to help us. Yeah, we're just -- it's just a great opportunity.

SYDNEY BENALLY: Just taking one game at a time.

LEE CUMMARD: I packed until Tuesday, so... (laughter).

Q. The new court, everyone is talking about it. Just first impressions? Have you all played on it before? It's in Orlando, so I know some teams have practiced on it before. How did it feel? Did it feel any different from hardwood?

BRINLEY CANNON: I was sliding a little bit. It's really cool. It's really cool-looking. But it definitely is a little bit of a different feel you kind of have to get used to.

I think the second half kind of got more used to it, so...

SYDNEY BENALLY: Yeah, just getting used to it. Slips here and there, but I think we got it.

LEE CUMMARD: There was one of the media time-outs where the graphic on the court kind of started to move, and it kind of freaked me out a little bit, right?

But I thought -- and I didn't get to see the court. I wasn't paying attention to the court, but in pregame introductions the whole court being lit up in BYU blue and their names being the whole court, I thought that was as cool of a thing I've seen as far as pregame introductions. We do the big curtain at our place, which is also cool.

The court being lit up like that, I hope somebody in the crowd took each one of the starters' picture of the whole court lit up, because I thought that was really fantastic.

Q. Coach, been a lot of action across the country right now. Bubble talk a little bit. I know you're focused on tomorrow, but... bubble talk a little bit. Four straight. You guys are tied for the most Quad 2 wins in the country right now. What would you say to the committee about your team?

LEE CUMMARD: I've said what I said. I think we're 7-1 against those that are on the bubble, but truthfully, we have a game tomorrow against a team that's on the bubble. We have to take care of our business there. Don't think we can really -- we just need to handle our business, and let's go from there.