The University of Wyoming women’s basketball team is having a hard time getting a conference win on the road.
The Cowgirls lost 72-69 to the Nevada Wolf Pack in Reno, Nev. on Saturday, despite overcoming an 11-point second-half deficit.
“We showed a lot of determination and got off to a great start,” said Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski. “Nevada went on a run, got up by double-digits and we fought back to close the gap at halftime. In the second half, we fell behind by 11 and battled our way back again. I thought we executed down the stretch exactly how we wanted to. Chelan (Landry) did what we asked of her, converted at the basket, followed up with some rebounds and put them on the foul line to keep us in the game. We had the shot we wanted at the end of the game, it just didn’t go down. I think that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Saturday’s loss follows a trend of the Cowgirls conference play thus far: winning at home only to fall on the road in the same week. Wyoming has yet to string together back-to-back wins or losses since Mountain West play began.
Junior guard Kaitlyn Mileto led the Cowgirls losing effort with a game-high 25 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Fallon Lewis recorded her seventh double-double of the season in the contest with 22 points and 15 rebounds.
The Cowgirls played close to the Wolf Pack for the majority of the first half, except for a shooting drought midway through the half that allowed Nevada to go up 22-12.
The Pokes managed to get back on top before a basket from Nevada’s Amber Smith gave the Wolf Pack a one-point lead going into the half, 34-33.
In the second half, the Wolf Pack stormed out with a 10-0 run to seemingly bury the Cowgirls 53-42.
The Pokes yet again countered with a run of their own, and eventually tied things up at 59 apiece. From there, the final four minutes of the game were back-and forth. A pair of free throws from Nevada put them up two, followed by one free throw from Lewis to make it a one-point contest 61-60.
Both teams then traded points until Nevada gained a three-point advantage, 72-69. The Pokes had a look at a shot at the buzzer, but could not get one to go and lost for the third time in conference play.
The Cowgirls will be back in the AA on Wednesday when they take on the Fresno State Bulldogs. The game is slated for 7 p.m.
