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PROVO — Kailey Woolston doesn't want to make any excuses, but the BYU freshman guard had a lot on her mind during the Cougars' most recent three-game losing skid.
The former Lone Peak High standout and Gatorade Utah Player of the Year had been more unstoppable than not in her first season of college basketball, averaging 13.4 points on 46.4% shooting including 45.6% from 3-point range to lead the Cougars in their first year in the Big 12.
But during a recent three-game swoon, when BYU lost consecutive games to Kansas, TCU and Iowa State, Woolston combined to score just 9 points on 3-of-23 shooting between Feb. 17 through Feb. 24.
Four days later, on a night honoring BYU's senior duo of Lauren Gustin and Kaylee Smiler, Woolston found her shot again to drop 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four 3-pointers to go along with five rebounds and three assists in a 64-54 home win over Houston.
So what changed? Woolston, again, won't say. But it may be no coincidence that her personal slump-buster came less than 48 hours after Woolston announced she had received a call to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Baltimore, Maryland.
"It definitely was a relief," Woolston admitted in an interview with ESPN radio in Utah County. "After I opened my call, I started shooting better, so maybe it did help."
Woolston will begin her mission May 27, well after the Cougars' season finale — come what may of their final postseason adventure that begins Friday against Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament (4:30 p.m. MST, ESPN+). She didn't think she wanted to serve a mission at the start of her freshman campaign, but a series of strange coincidences impossible to ignore prompted her to submit paperwork before giving up the game for 18 months — when her younger sister and two-time 6A champion Kennedy is set to join her at BYU.
Still, the remainder of the season is just as important for Woolston — no matter how strong the freshman who ranks third nationally in 3-point percentage has played in 31 games, starting each one alongside fellow freshman Amari Whiting and Gustin, the program's all-time leading rebounder who ranks first nationally in rebounds and defensive boards per game.
"It was definitely more than I was expecting," Woolston said of her All-Big 12 honorable mention freshman season. "From when we first started back in June, our team is so different. We lost people to injuries … and our team is completely different now. Me and Amari had to step up into new roles in the back court. It was tough, but I was glad we had that experience."
The Cougars (16-15, 6-12 Big 12) will open the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City against a Kansas team led by Taiyanna Jackson and S'Mya Nichols, who joined Gustin on the All-Big 12 first team. Picked to finish 11th by the coaches in the Big 12 preseason poll, the Cougars finished one spot better in 10th — the top finish among the four conference newcomers of Cincinnati, Houston and UCF (as well as Texas Tech, the 12 seed).
Last week's win over Houston, then, kept BYU from playing on the first day of the tournament — essentially a first-round bye, though the Cougars are locked into the game with Kansas.
But it also helped Woolston get rolling, second-year coach Amber Whiting admitted.
"I feel like she had a lot of stress on her with the mission call, wondering where she would go and how people would react," Whiting said. "Finally, she could breath. And I told her, let's go finish this year right no matter what. I think that helped her focus a little more."
Jackson (13.0 points per game, 10.1 rebounds) erupted in her first game against the Cougars, pouring in 25 points and 22 rebounds in a 67-53 win over BYU. But the 6-foot-6 center from East Chicago, Indiana was held to just 2 points and four rebounds in the rematch — when Zakiyah Franklin came back for 24 points in a 70-62 victory in the Marriott Center.
How will round three go?
"I told the girls this morning, we're 0-0. This is what March Madness is for," Whiting said before the team flew to Missouri. "This is why we build and play and do this all year long. We're going into this game thinking the same thing, that it's hard to beat a good team three times in a row — and we're a good team. I just want them to go in on attack mode, and go in confident to this game."
