Cowgirls basketball post-season hopes were dampened into despair in the final minutes of action against Fresno State in the Mountain West quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs took the game 74-66, ending the Cowgirls post-season.
“I thought it was a great game,” Cowgirls head coach Joe Legerski said to Wyoming Athletics. “Both teams in the first half were able to get five point leads, and nobody was going to blink. Really played well.”
Cowgirl junior guard Marquelle Dent played a night for the books as she recorded a game high 26 points, three rebounds and three assists. The matchup against the Bulldogs marked Dent’s third consecutive 20-point game. Following Dent on the scoreboard was senior guard Kaitlyn Mileto and senior forward Jordan Sibrel with 12 points each. Sibrel had six rebounds for the Cowgirls and Mileto had three boards and one assists. Junior guard Jordan Kelley led the Cowgirls on boards with 11 rebounds, three offensive and seven on the defensive end. Kelley followed up with 10 points.
Out of the gates the Bulldogs gained an advantage with a three-pointer from Fresno’s Alex Furr. The Bulldogs built a five-point advantage before the Cowgirls closed the gap. A layup from Sibrel at the 10 minute mark gave the Cowgirls their first leg up on the competition. Consecutive free throws by Dent built this lead to 16-19, followed by a jumper to give the Cowgirls a five-point lead.
Entering the second half the back and forth play from the first half continued until a three pointer from Mileto at the 16 minute mark contributed to a 5-0 kick for the Cowgirls. The Cowgirls took the lead 38-34. After a Bulldogs timeout, Fresno tied up the game 50-50.
Mileto hit a three to break the tie, momentarily swaying the game before the Bulldogs went on a run and put the Cowgirls under pressure. A 14-0 run gave the Bulldogs a lead by as much as 11 points at two different instances, the highest margin of the game. The Cowgirls were unable to recover, closing the gap to five points by the buzzer.
“I thought there were a couple plays down the stretch,” Legerski said. “They grabbed an offensive rebound and had a second opportunity to put them up four with three minutes to go. You have to give them credit for getting that rebound.”
Leading the Bulldogs was forward Alex Sheedy with a double-double, 19 points and 11 rebounds.
“Then, like I said, whether it’s a charge, block, there’s plays like that all the time. But as we look at it, one of the things we always talk about is there are plays in any basketball game where you have to step up and make the play,” Legerski said.
With their final game played, having left it all on the court, the Cowgirls will be back next season short three key pieces, their three veteran seniors. Mileto, Sibrel and Woodward have played their final games in brown and gold, heard their final C-O-W-G-I-R-L-S chant, their season ends here for good.
