BYU women’s basketball games are more tense for Tresa Spaulding Hamson (BS ’89, MS ’96) now than when she played for the Cougars in the 1980s. The four-time all-American has a simple strategy to manage the stress of watching her daughter Jennifer D. Hamson (’14) on the court: “I yell.”
In 1987 the 6-foot-7 Tresa was the nation’s leading scorer in basketball; now the 6-foot-7 Jennifer headlines two Cougar teams. In 2011–12 Jennifer led the volleyball team in kills and service aces and set the pace for basketball in field goal percentage and blocked shots, the same stats her mom still owns in BYU’s books. Tresa’s records are “pretty amazing,” says Jennifer. But volleyball is all hers, and this summer Jennifer competed with the U.S. national A2 team, a feeder for the Olympic team.
The mother-daughter duo check in as the two tallest women ever to don Cougar uniforms. As for filling Mom’s shoes, both gratefully agree that Jennifer doesn’t have to. Tresa’s feet are a tad larger, they say, and shoes that big are hard to find.
— Jeffrey S. McClellan (BA ’94)
