Basketball teams both face Boise State, split weekend

UW’s basketball teams had a bittersweet weekend facing Boise State, as one team earned a victory while the other suffered a loss.

After falling to Boise State in their first meeting of the season, the Cowgirls had a strong comeback led by Chaundra Sewell, defeating the Broncos 77-60 on Saturday in the Arena Auditorium. In the Mountain West conference tournament the Cowgirls now rank 7-2 (18-7 overall). This win continued their five-game winning streak and leaves them undefeated at home with an 11-0 home record.

During Saturday’s game, the stands were filled with enthusiastic Poke fans wearing brown, gold and pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.

Ashley Sickles, Kayla Woodward, Alison Gorrell and Sewell led the team, with rebound after rebound. Woodward led scorers for Wyoming with 11 points, followed by Gorrell who scored 10, and Sickles and Sewell who each had eight.

While the women were ecstatic about their seventh win, the men found themselves disappointed with their seventh loss.

Playing Boise for the second time, the Cowboys hoped to avenge their first loss of the season. But despite its best efforts, the team lost 68-61 on the road Saturday in the Taco Bell Arena.

Senior guard Derrious Gilmore tied a career high with 26 points while senior forward Leonard Washington added 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Boise led the game by double digits until halftime. However, the second half proved that Wyoming was putting its all on the court as it caught up. This was not enough as Boise made two free throws in the last 17 seconds pushing them to 68.

“I thought the first 15 minutes of the first half the game was our tempo, but I made some poor decisions at the end of the first half that gave them some momentum,” UW head coach Larry Shyatt said in an Athletics Media Relations press release. “I admire these guys for fighting in the second half. The tempo was ours again and we gave ourselves a chance to win the game in the last two minutes, but we ran out of time.”

One thing is certain: if the Cowgirls continue on their current path they are bound to go far in the Mountain West tournaments and may even have a shot to play for the Championship title.

Both teams will play the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Fresno State Bulldogs Wednesday and Saturday, respectively.