PROVO — For the first time since 2017, BYU women's basketball was solely represented with the West Coast Conference's Player of the Year.

And what a year it was for Shaylee Gonzales, who was previously named the league's Newcomer of the Year and an all-WCC first-team honoree.

Gonzales is the first outright recipient of the WCC Player of the Year award since Cassie Broadhead following the 2016-17 season. Gonzales was also named WCC co-Player of the Year last year.

The six-time conference player of the week led the 17th-ranked Cougars to their first WCC title since 2016 with a 15-1 record, and 25-2 overall. Gonzales led the league in scoring with a career-best 18.7 points per game, while also adding 5.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 64 steals and seven blocks on the year.

The 51% shooter who played 30 minutes per game is coming off one of her best weeks, when she scored 17 points and 18 points against Santa Clara and Pacific, respectively, to clinch BYU's conference title and the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament next Monday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Against the Broncos, Gonzales also had a season-high nine rebounds before adding eight boards and four steals against the Tigers.

"The thing about Shaylee is she's focused on being the best player," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said of his fourth-year sophomore star. "Shaylee does a lot of things; she scores a lot of points, but she does a lot of other things defensively, gets a lot of steals, deflections, rebounds, and she's an excellent passer.

"Shaylee deserves this award," he added. "She has been the best player in the league all season from start to finish and been so consistent. I am happy for the players who received these honors and recognize everyone on our team has contributed to our success this year in a lot of different ways.

"She scores a lot of points, but she does a lot of other things defensively, gets a lot of steals, deflections, rebounds, and she's an excellent passer."

Judkins was named WCC Coach of the Year for the third time in his coaching career after leading the Cougars to arguably their best regular season in program history and recording his 450th career win — the most all-time in BYU basketball (men's or women's) history. The reigning WCC Coach of the Year also won coach of the year in the Mountain West in 2006, 2007 and 2011.

In addition to Gonzales, BYU's Paisley Harding and Lauren Gustin were also named to the All-WCC first team, and Tegan Graham was voted honorable mention in a vote of the league's 10 head coaches.

Saint Mary's forward Alil Bamberger was named WCC Newcomer of the Year, Gonzaga's Yvonne Ejim was Sixth Woman of the Year, and San Diego's Jordyn Edwards added Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Two years removed form reconstructive surgery to repair a torn ACL, when she redshirted and sat out the entire 2019-20 season, the redshirt sophomore won her second WCC Player of the Year honor after sharing the title in 2021. And she raised her game more, increasing her scoring, rebounding and assists average, shooting more efficiently, and leading BYU women's basketball to one of the best seasons in program history.

Gonzales is also one of 10 semifinalists for the 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. The award named in honor of the former Colorado State All-American, six-time WNBA All-Star and current head coach of the Las Vegas Aces is given annually to the best player in women's basketball from outside the Power Six conferences.

The winner will be announced at Final Four weekend.

Taking advantage of a free season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harding returned for a fifth season of playing time — and her most productive. The four-time All-WCC honoree from Everett, Washington, poured in 17.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game to lead the Cougars, including a career-high 33 points against Utah back on Dec. 4 — one of five wins over Power Six conference opponents BYU beat during nonconference play.

But she was much more than a scorer, often drawing the assignment to guard the opposing teams' best player (or best guard/wing, at least) and doing so with gusto. Known for her uncanny ability to draw charges, Harding also went to the free-throw line 100 times, making 82 foul shots on the year.

Combined with Gonzales, the "Splash Sisters" provided a lethal duo nearly impossible to contain together on any night.

"Paisley guards the best player every night, and she's really our go-to player when we need a basket," Judkins said. "She can score in so many different ways."

Gustin posted a league-high 14 double-doubles in her sophomore season. The Salem Hills product averaged 11.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, ranking No. 8 nationally in boards, with 10 or more rebounds in 21 of the 26 games she played.

Graham was the Cougars' top marksman, pouring in 66 3-pointers and averaging 10.1 points per game, while also averaging 4.8 assists per game — the second-most in the conference.

The Cougars, who rank No. 9 in the NET rankings, are currently projected as No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN.com after a nonconference slate that includes wins over Arizona State, Florida State, West Virginia, Utah and Washington State. They haven't lost since a 75-64 setback Feb. 3 at Portland — their only conference loss of the year — and ride a seven-game winning streak with an average margin of victory of 21.2 points per game, ranked No. 3 nationally.

BYU moved up to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, its second-highest mark in program history. The Cougars, who have been ranked No. 16 on three separate occasions, also extended a program record with 14 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25.

BYU opens the WCC Tournament as the No. 1 seed Monday in Las Vegas. Tipoff at 1 p.m. MST from the Orleans Arena will air on BYUtv.

WCC Honors

BYU's Alex Barcello highlights WCC all-league honors; Traore named All-Freshman

The 6-foot-2, 192-pound guard from Chandler, Arizona, returned for a third season of extra eligibility and had his best in a BYU uniform, averaging 17.0 points per game while shooting 45.7% from the field with 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

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