Cowgirl Kaitlyn Mileto lays the ball up in the game against UNLV Lady Rebels winning 82-56.
The Mountain West can’t seem to find a way to win in the Arena Auditorium against the Wyoming women’s basketball team, who got their sixth home conference win of the season on Saturday against the UNLV Lady Rebels, 82-56.
The Cowgirls have yet to lose a conference game at home this season. Saturday’s win improves their league record to 6-4 and 14-6 overall.
“I think that our fans do a lot in terms of getting us energized, and helping us start games,” said senior guard Fallon Lewis.
“We’ve been very good at home, and unfortunately it’s just the opposite on the road,” said Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski.
Sophomore guard Marquelle Dent led the Cowgirls with 18 points and seven assists. Lewis recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Junior guard Kaitlyn Mileto also had a prominent performance with 16 points.
“I think that we had a good consistent effort tonight. I thought Marquelle Dent got us off to a great start. She was very difficult to guard in the open court,” said Legerski. “When she hits that 12-15 foot jumper you can just watch her confidence grow.”
The Cowgirls controlled the game for the majority of the second half, starting the period on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 53-35. After that the Rebels closed in to within four, 53-39, marking the last time the UNLV squad would come to within five of the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls scored another 29 second-half points to the Rebels 15 and managed to pull all of their starters in the last two minutes.
The first half did not start as well as the second for the Pokes, as they allowed the Rebels to start the game with a 11-10 lead before surging ahead on a 14-5 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 25-15.
Dent scored 13 of her 18 in the first half, and the Cowgirls claimed control to take a commanding 43-31 advantage into the locker room.
Junior forward Alana Cesarz led the Lady Rebels with 16 points in 29 minutes.
The Cowgirls victory came in spite of losing the rebound battle 39-44 to the Rebels.
“They’re a team that creates a lot of problems for you. They’ve got great size,” said Legerski. “They can get to the basket and put pressure on you all the time.”
Wyoming women’s basketball returns to the floor Wednesday against San Diego State in San Diego. The game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.
