The Cowgirls return to the newly remodeled Dome of Doom yielded unexpected results for head coach Joe Legerski.
“For the last 24 hours, I thought of all kinds of scenarios of how I thought this game would play out,” coach Legerski said. “What happened tonight was never one of those scenarios.”
In a 104-29 game, Cowgirls basketball took its first win of the season over the Western State Mountaineers. Wyoming’s 12-woman roster featured all 12 players in double digit minutes for the season opener, a stat Coach Legerski was very proud of for the night.
Right out of the gates, the Cowgirls gave fans something to cheer about as senior forward Kayla Woodward made the first point of the game with a layup only seconds after the opening whistle. The Cowgirls quickly set the offensive pace taking an 8-0 run.
Junior forward Marquelle Dent set off a 16-0 run with two made free-throws. The offensive intensity was then carried out by freshman guard Liv Roberts with a shot, Dent for another layup then junior guard Jordan Kelley joined the action with a layup of her own. Dent had another layup that was quickly followed by another from Cotton. Dent hit a jumper and Woodward crossed the run with a three, the series of plays put the Cowgirls up 39-9.
“They shot well,” coach Legerski said. “I think Cotton’s first rebound as a Cowgirl was as impressive as I’ve seen. She went across the lane, grabbed it, finished i, and really got off to a good start.”
At the half the Cowgirls built a substantial 68-18 point lead and 11 of the 12 Cowgirls had a basket in the scoring column in the first 20 minutes of play. Leading at the half was junior guard Marquelle Dent with 12 points, followed by Woodward with 10 and freshman forward Bailee Cotton with eight.
“We have great depth,” said Woodward. “Whenever someone came in they came with fire and energy and they played aggressive and that’s what we needed in getting rebounds, getting steals, assists all over the place. I think we did a great job just finding each other.”
Entering the second half the Cowgirls showed no signs of slowing down, Wyoming continued to dominate the Mountaineers on the scoreboard.
Woodward set off the scoring tempo once again in the second half with a three-point basket, Dent was credited with the assist. Woodward went 3-5 from beyond the arc, leading the Cowgirls in three-point field goal percentage as the team collectively shot 40.7 percent for three.
In the second half the Cowgirls raked up another 50 points holding the Mountaineers off to 11 in the final 20 minutes of action. The Cowgirls held the Mountaineers to their 18 points for a four minute dry spell entering the second half. The Mountaineers found their baskets few and far between for the rest of regulation.
“We have a lot of chemistry on the court and you can very much feel that,” Dent said. “I think we did a great job.”
The chemistry the Cowgirls have acquired playing together in the new arena in these six short weeks reflected in their stats.
In their ninth highest points-scored in a single game at 109, 24 of the Cowgirls points came off the bench. Freshman forward Marleah Campbell made her debut as a Cowgirl with 12 points off the bench, three blocks and two steals. Cotton also made quite a splash in her first game as a Cowgirl with 12 starting points, nine rebounds and two steals.
Campbell and Cotton were among the team’s veterans in scoring leaders for the night. Woodward had a team high of 17 points followed by Dent with 16 points.
“I think we had a great game for a different feel,” coach Legerski said. “But for the first game out, it was exactly it. If you would have asked me what do you really hope for? Everybody to play, everybody to play at a very high level and Wyoming to win.”
The Cowgirls will return Friday to face the Denver Pioneers in the Arena Auditorium at 7 p.m.
