Cowgirls basketball took a 71-61 victory over the San Jose State Spartans in The Event Center on Saturday. The win lifted the Cowgirls over .500, standing sixth in the Mountain West conference (12-11, 7-6 MW).
“I’m very happy with a win. We came here a year ago and came up short. San Jose State is like everyone else, that you play better at home,” Cowgirls head coach Joe Legerski said to gowyo.com. “We always talk about road breakthroughs and what was big tonight that Kayla and Kaitlyn hit threes against the zone.”
In their third consecutive win, three Cowgirls were in double digits, contributing a total of 59 points combined. Seniors, forward Kayla Woodward and guard Kaitlyn Mileto, as well as junior guard Marquelle Dent were the biggest contributors on the scoreboard. Dent led the pack with a team-high 24 points, seven assists, and four steals. Following Dent was Woodward who had a 20 point, 11 rebound double-double; her eighth of the season. Mileto topped off the high scoring with 15 points of her own.
San Jose State put up two good layups to give them a quick 4-0 lead over Wyoming. The Cowgirls answered with a jumper from Dent to put them on the scoreboard. The Spartans 4-0 lead was San Jose State’s only advantage of the game. In the first half the lead changed between teams five times, the largest lead was held by Wyoming by eight points at the end of the regulated first half. The Cowgirls and the Spartans entered the locker room at halftime 33-25. San Jose State capitalized in the paint finding 12 of their 25 points in the key in opposition to Wyoming’s six of 33.
Riding their advantage, the Cowgirls began the second half with a 16-3 run, putting the Spartans down by 21 points six minutes into the second half. The Spartans answered in the scoreboards and a three pointer from San Jose State’s Rachol West lowered the deficit to 16 points. Consecutive baskets from beyond the arc from Dent and Woodward put the Cowgirls up by 22, their largest advantage of the game.
The Spartans cut the 22 point lead in half by the end of regulation as they fought back on the boards and made a 12-5 run. At 62-47, a set of Wyoming free throws looked to overturn the Spartan’s comeback but the Spartans answered with two made free throws of their own followed by a three from San Jose State’s West. In the last minutes of the second half the Spartans dwindled down the Cowgirl’s lead, but were unable to overcome Wyoming’s upper hand before the buzzer.
“At the end of the game, we have some work to do in certain situations especially when the momentum started going the Spartans way,” coach Legerski said. “The lead kept going down and then we talked about hanging in there, making a play and Jordan Sibrel’s charge was a huge play.”
The Cowgirls will return to action Wednesday in the Dome of Doom where they will face the Nevada Wolfpack (7-16, 3-9 MW). Wyoming leads the series 12-5. Tipoff is set for 7 P.M.
