The Wyoming Cowgirls made program history on Wednesday night.
Their 87-76 victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs marked the program’s 600th win.
“This was a really nice win for our program,” said head coach Joe Legerski. “It was a game that was very difficult.”
If the Cowgirls felt the game was difficult, they didn’t let it show. Wyoming pulled ahead early in the first half and maintained their lead over the Bulldogs throughout the game, only changing four times during the two halves.
The Cowgirls held a double-digit advantage late in the first half after scoring 14 unanswered points to give the Cowgirls a 25-13 lead.
Eventually, they went into the locker room with a 14-point lead, 44-30.
“We got up double-digits with ten minutes left in the first half and the clock doesn’t seem to run out fast enough until the end of the game,” said Legerski. “You know that Fresno State has the fire power to get into the game and are well-coached, so it was a long 30 minutes left in the game.”
The 30 minutes were long, but successful. Following the first half, the Cowgirls extended their lead to 54-36. Wyoming dominated the beginning of the second half, until the Bulldogs outscored the Cowgirls to cut the lead to 12 points with 12 minutes left in the game.
A layup by junior guard Kaitlyn Mileto ended the team’s scoring drought, leading to a 16-8 run and ending in the Cowgirls 20-point lead, 78-58, the largest lead for either team that night.
Mileto led the Cowgirls’ scoring with 21 points, along with five rebounds and four assists. Wednesday night marked her 12th double-figure scoring game of the season.
Junior forward Kayla Woodward finished one point behind Mileto with 20 and had a total of seven rebounds. Senior guard Fallon Lewis scored 14 points and made nine rebounds.
“Our team responded very well. We’ve been talking about being balanced and consistent. I look tonight and we had three players in double-figures, two with nine and two with seven,” said Legerski. “We also had 16 bench points between Chelan and Kaylie.”
The Cowgirls were consistent in their scoring on Wednesday night, going 31-63 from the field and 9-20 from behind the ark. They maintained a solid free throw percentage of 72.7 percent making 16-of-22 shots.
The Cowgirls ended the night on an 11-7 run, capped off by two free throws from Chelan Landry to secure the Cowgirls’ 600th victory.
“You put everything on the line, it has to be fun because you got 120 [games] throughout your career and that’s about it,” said Legerski. “But you also have to produce and get something accomplished. I always tell them winning is fun, but you have to find that balance to be successful.”
The Cowgirls next game is Saturday at 7 p.m. when they take on the Utah State Aggies on the road.
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