The BYU-Hawaii Lady Seasiders Basketball team is enjoying a year of success. Saturday, Jan. 24, the team won its seventh straight game in a row, tying a school record. They beat Academy of Art 72-68. The last time the women’s basketball team won seven straight games was in the program’s inaugural season back in 2006-2007, says BYUH sports information.
Along with the impressive winning streak, the Lady Seasiders are enjoying one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history with a 12-5 overall record and a 9-2 record in the Pacific West Conference. The last time the women’s basketball team had a winning record was in the 2008-2009 season. Since that time, the program has gone through some significant struggles.
Considering the rough season the Lady Seasiders had last year, finishing second to last in conference with a 4-21 overall record, it was no surprise that the Lady Seasiders found themselves at the bottom of this year’s preseason polls. However, after being picked to finish second to last, the Lady Seasiders have surpassed all expectations and find themselves in second place behind Hawaii Pacific University.
One of the keys to the Lady Seasiders’ success this season has been the vast improvement of their inside game. With Whitney Fieldsted being the only starting inside player returning from last year’s team, Coach Craig Stanger recruited three other inside players: junior Emily Nelson, freshmen Taryn Skahill, and sophomore Mata Tonga, to bring some much needed inside presence to the team.
Though Skahill suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the season, the other inside players have stepped up their game. Fieldsted is having a fantastic year averaging 10.8 points and 10 rebounds. She leads the team in double-doubles with seven double-doubles on the year. With Skahill injured, Tonga has seen more minutes and has made the most of it, both scoring points in the paint and getting rebounds.
Besides the improvement of their inside game, the Lady Seasiders’ back court continues to improve. Sharp-shooting senior Brydgetter Tatupu-Leopoldo continues the strong play that earned her a spot on the Preseason All-PacWest women’s basketball team. Currently, Tatupu-Leopoldo leads the team with 15.9 points per game.
Alongside Tatupu-Leopoldo, junior transfer Celeste Claw has been a key to the Lady Seasiders success averaging 13.4 points and 6.9 assists a game.
The Lady Seasiders have put themselves in a great position to possibly win the regular season conference title or to win the PacWest tournament and earn a spot in this year’s Regional Tournament. The Lady Seasiders will go for their eighth and ninth consecutive wins this Thursday, Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. at the Cannon Activities Center against visiting Azusa Pacific, and Saturday, and Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. against California Baptist.