The Wyoming Cowgirls beat the sheep 76-60 in their last season game.
This game sent off seniors Tommi Olsen and Quinn Weidemann before they go to Las Vegas for the 2023 Basketball Conference in March.
“If there was a cut on Tommi and Quinn right now, I guarantee it’s brown and gold bleeding from them. They live and die by Wyoming and Cowgirl basketball,” Head Coach Heather Ezell said.
“Tommi and Quinn keep saying I hope we’ve rubbed off, and there’s no doubt they have. We talked about toughness, they are exactly what we talked about in our handbook, when we have toughness, there’s going to be a picture of Tommy and Quinn for the rest of the time.”
The first quarter of the game started slow, with the score being 5-4 Wyoming by the first official media timeout. With 1:24 left in the quarter, Malene Pederson made a layup with assistance from Weidemann, making the score 7-4. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 9-6 Wyoming.
The second quarter started with jump shots from both Olsen and a CSU player.
For the rest of the quarter, the Cowgirls and CSU exchanged the ball back-and-forth, and by the time of the media timeout, the score was 24-21 Wyoming.
After the timeout, Grace Ellis made two free throw shots, bringing the score to 26-21. CSU scored four more points, while Cowgirl Tess Barnes made two three-point shots bringing the score to 32-25 Wyoming with the lead at halftime.
Starting the second half of the game, Weidemann made a layup shot followed by another layup from CSU, making the score 34-27 Wyoming. Ellis made two free throw shots, and Allyson Fertig made a layup assisted by Pederson, bringing the score to 38-27.
After the official media timeout, the Cowgirls were slow but steady in the game. Between free throws, layups and three-point jump shots, CSU gained 15 points in the third quarter.
By the end of the third quarter, the Cowgirls gained 14 points, scoring 46-40 Wyoming.
The Cowgirls had a rough start in the fourth quarter, with CSU making 15 points in the first 4:20 of the quarter. Fertig scored six points in that time, and a layup was made from Ellis. The score was close when Wyoming called their timeout, 54-53 Wyoming.
After the timeout with 6:20 left in the game, the Cowgirls decided this game would be theirs.
Fertig made a layup shot assisted by Barnes. Fertig would make five free throw shots throughout the rest of the quarter. Ellis would also make a free throw shot, leaving the score 62-58 Wyoming with 3:48 left in the quarter.
“We came out in that fourth quarter, and I know they kept chipping away. I called that timeout at 6:20 and told the five on the court that we’re rolling with you guys,” Ezell said.
“Being able to watch those kids, all 13 of them. I told them this win goes down to everybody. It wasn’t just the five that finished on the court or the ones that played. This was a team effort, and it was fun to see them celebrate like they did want to lose too.”
Weidemann made four free throws making all four of them. Bringing the score to 68-60 Wyoming with 1:28 left in the game.
Pederson would be the Cowgirl to bring us to our final score of 76-60 Wyoming, making four free throw shots and a layup, ending the Wyoming Cowgirls Basketball season victoriously.
“It was something that we wanted. We went into the game thinking if we won this, this would be the highest we’ve ever finished in our career here,” Cowgirl Tommi Olsen said.
“That was a goal, and I’m happy that we can go into the tournament with this momentum.”
The Women’s Basketball Mountain West Tournament starts March 5 for the Cowgirls in Las Vegas, NV.
