Provo • Last week was a memorable one for BYU’s men’s and women’s basketball programs, as the men swept San Diego and Loyola Marymount on the road and the women won at Portland and No. 13 Gonzaga.
The West Coast Conference recognized the significant accomplishments Monday by naming BYU junior guards TJ Haws and Brenna Chase its men’s and women’s players of the week, respectively. It is the first time Haws and Chase have earned the weekly honor.
Haws averaged 24 points, 7.5 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from 3-point range and 95 percent from the free-throw line for the week.
“As a staff, we challenged TJ the last couple of days, that for us to be where we want, he needs to be more aggressive,” coach Dave Rose told the BYU sports network after Haws scored a career-high 35 points in the 88-82 overtime win over San Diego last Thursday. “TJ had a real look in his eye tonight. … He attacked and was just really aggressive, and we ran a couple plays for 3-point shots, and he buried those.”
Haws was 10 of 11 from the free-throw line against USD and 6 of 6 from the charity stripe in the final 39 seconds of the 70-62 win over LMU in Los Angeles. He also 13 points, a block and a steal against the Lions.
It is the third WCC weekly honor for a BYU men’s basketball player this season; Junior forward Yoeli Childs claimed it on Dec. 10 and Jan. 14.
(Photo courtesy of Madeline Mortensen, BYU photo) | BYU guard Brenna Chase attempts a layup against UC Riverside in a women's basketball game played Nov. 9, 2018 at the Marriott Center in Provo.
Chase, a 5-foot-9 guard from Thornton, Colo., helped the women’s team sweep Gonzaga for the first time since it joined the WCC in the 2011-12 season.
In the 70-69 win over Portland, Chase led the Cougars with 24 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers, and also had four steals and seven rebounds.
In the 66-64 upset of Gonzaga in front of 6,000 fans at The Kennel, Chase made four 3-pointers en route to 14 points and also had five assists, three rebounds, two blocks and two assists.
BYU’s men host San Francisco on Thursday at the Marriott Center before traveling to No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday, while the BYU women have a bye on Thursday and will host San Diego on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Marriott Center.
