Kendyll Ferrall
Kferral1@uwyo.edu
If Marta Gomez was nervous during Sunday afternoon’s 81-53 victory over Chadron State, the freshman did not let it show. Three rebounds shy of a double-double, Gomez led the Cowgirls, putting up 14 points for Wyoming.
“I was so nervous at the beginning, well I was so nervous the last game too, but I don’t know, I just go and play,” Gomez said. “The other coach kept yelling, ‘She’s a shooter, she’s a shooter,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, if I’m a shooter then I’m going to shoot.’”
Alongside the freshman forward, sophomore Skylar Snodgrass sparked the Cowgirls late in the first period to cut down Chadron’s lead over Wyoming. Coming off the bench, back-to-back threes’ by Snodgrass matched with Gomez’s six points from outside the paint made up for the Cowgirls’ relatively slow start to begin the game.
“I think we all kind of started off really slow, myself included, but it wasn’t just me who sparked it, it was everyone really,” Snodgrass said. “I love the role as coming off the bench, I’ll do whatever I have to do to play and help out the team”
Finding their groove on the outside, the pair accounted for 12 of the Cowgirls’ 18 points in the first period. Gomez went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and Snodgrass went 4-for-4, contributing nearly a third of Wyoming’s total points.
“Tonight, I thought it was Skylar Snodgrass that really stepped up and helped us out,” head coach Joe Legerski said. “When you take a look at it, between Skylar and Marta, they were 8-of-12. For them to shoot that well, it really was a lift for us.”
Lacking in energy for most of the first period, the Cowgirls fell behind the Eagles after missed three’s by seniors Jordan Kelley and Marquelle Dent and sophomore Liv Roberts. Going into the second period tied 18-18, the Eagles lost their lead after a jumper by Dent led the Cowgirls on a five-point run.
“They came out with more energy than we did and that’s always a bad thing,” Kelley said. “Coach always talks about energy and so, I don’t know if our mojo was off at the beginning of the game or what it was, but they had a good first five minutes coming out and we were slow.”
Scoring another five-unanswered points, the Cowgirls began to pull away after making several crucial offensive and defensive rebounds. Kelley dominated the glass for Wyoming seven offensive rebounds and five defensive rebounds. Kelley was the lone Cowgirl to record a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Heading into the locker rooms at half, Wyoming held an 11-point lead over Chadron after outscoring the Eagles 20-to-9 during the second period.
A turnover and foul by Roberts put the Cowgirls in a two-minute scoring drought, but two points from the line by sophomore forward Bailey Cotton led the Cowgirls to an eight-point run.
Placing pressure on Chadron, the Cowgirls’ free throw shooting provided a lift on the scoreboard. The Cowgirls went 14-for-14 from the line thanks to Kelley and sophomore forward Natalie Baker who both went 4-for-4. Cotton and freshman forward Tijana Raca both went two-for-two.
Heading into the fourth period, Wyoming held a nearly 30-point lead after outscoring Chadron 25-10 during the third period. Wyoming maintained its scoreboard dominance for the final 10 minutes of the game, putting up another 18 points in the last period.
Subbing in the team’s underclassmen for the final three minutes, the Cowgirls gave up four points to finish the first regular-season game 81-53.
The Cowgirls will take on Saint Mary’s College tomorrow in the Arena Auditorium at 7 p.m.
