Kendyll Ferrall
Kferral1@uwyo.edu
A strong, early lead and three players scoring in the double-digits was not enough for the University of Wyoming Cowgirls to fend off the Utah State Aggies (6-5).
Coming up short nine points, the Cowgirls fell to 4-8 in conference play after their 84-75 loss to the Aggies on Saturday afternoon in Logan, Utah.
“Tonight, we came up short and just didn’t finish on some opportunities,” UW head coach Joe Legerski said. “Looking around the locker room, I’m asking five sophomores, six freshmen to make those plays which makes it difficult. I told them we will get there in time.”
Wyoming took the lead just over a minute into the game with a layup by senior guard Liv Roberts. The Cowgirls quickly began to add to their advantage with three’s by guards Marquelle Dent and Haley Ligocki. Narrowing the Cowgirls’ advantage to one possession five times throughout the first quarter, the Aggies failed to even out the score.
Heading into the second quarter, Wyoming led Utah State 24-21. Sophomore forward Natalie Baker put up nearly half of the Cowgirls’ first-quarter points, going 5-for-8 with 11 points. Baker went on to record a career-high 19 points, with eight rebounds and two assists.
Baker was one of three Cowgirls to score in the double-digits. Dent followed closely-behind Baker, putting up 18 points, three boards and nine assists. Roberts added 12-points to the Cowgirls’ score, eight rebounds and two assists.
“Overall, I thought we did a nice job defensively. We needed to grab a couple of extra rebounds and that’s a matter of experience,” Legerski said. “Three players finished in double-figures led by Natalie (Baker) with 19, Marquelle (Dent) with 18 and Liv (Roberts) with 12. Liv also did a nice job in a roving position on the defensive end to help out.”
Capitalizing on multiple Cowgirl turnovers, Utah State managed to tie the game 29-29 halfway through the second quarter. Wyoming lost the lead for the first time during the game after the Aggies scored off of a turnover by Snodgrass. Falling behind by as much as six points, the Cowgirls closed the margin to 41-38 to close out the first half.
Rallying out of the locker room, Wyoming put up seven points to tie the game at 45. A layup by Roberts gave Wyoming control of the scoreboard again after trailing Utah State for 10-minutes, but the Cowgirls’ lead was short lived.
The Aggies took the advantage after a turnover by Dent with five minutes left in the third quarter. Building up their lead, Wyoming trailed by six-points after a string of missed shots led to a three-minute scoring drought. Dent closed out the quarter with a big three with two-seconds left to bring the Cowgirls within two.
Free throws secured Utah State’s win with Wyoming sending the Aggies to the line five times during the last minute of the game. The Aggies went 9-10 from the charity stripe during the fourth quarter. A three by Gomez with 20-seconds left shrunk the Aggies’ lead, but it was not enough to close the gap.
Wyoming shot 29-76 (38.8 percent) from the field, 13-38 (34.2 percent) from beyond the arc and 4-8 (50 percent) from the line on Saturday.
The Cowgirls will host the Boise State Broncos this Saturday in the Arena Auditorium. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
