The Wyoming Cowgirls dropped their first conference matchup this Wednesday to the New Mexico Lobos as they couldn’t hold onto a thirteen point second half lead and went ice cold from the field in the fourth quarter after an incredible first half.
“I didn’t think we came in with that focus of getting down to guard on the defensive end [in the second half]. When we needed stops, we got them in the first half,” coach Heather Ezell said postgame.
Malene Pederson would open the scoring for the Cowgirls with a clean cut to the basket for a wide open layup, answered quickly by the Lobos. Pederson would again find herself under the basket, scoring with ease as she’d open with two quick buckets. Emily Mellema would chip in, cashing in a nice elbow jumper for a nice start for the Cowgirl offense. The Lobos would take a lead though, as a couple of Cowgirl turnovers would turn into lay-ins on the other end for the Lobos as they’d take a 11-6 lead late in the first half. Marta Savic would finally answer on the other end to end what was a 7-0 run for the Lobos. Ola Ustowska would cash in her first three point attempt of the night as well, as the Cowgirls would fight back to make it a 13-11 game in favor of the Lobos. Savic would find Tess Barnes on a sweet cross-court dime as Barnes would also hit her first three of the night to swing the game into the favor of the Cowgirls. Kati Ollilainen would return the favor to Savic with a sweet dish of her own as Savic would finish down low as the Cowgirls would now open up a 12-4 run as the first quarter would come to a close and the Cowgirls would lead 18-15.
Allyson Fertig would open the second quarter with her first points of the night, scoring four straight then dishing one out to Pederson for an easy lay-in, as the Cowgirl lead would extend out to 5. Ollilainen would knock down her first three of the night and Barnes would score an easy lay-in off a steal as the Cowgirls would open up their largest lead of the night at 29-21. The Lobos would fight back with 6 straight points before Fertig could answer as she was putting together a great quarter. McKinley Dickerson would then hit her first three of the night and Fertig would finish a three point play down low as the Cowgirls would push their lead out to 10. The Lobos would be able to fight back to make it a 38-31 game in favor of the Cowgirls going into the half.
Pederson would pick off where she left off starting the first quarter as she’d score the opening bucket of the third quarter. She’d then dish one out to Fertig who would lay it in, and Mellema would cash in a nice jumper as the Cowgirls would jump out to a 44-31 lead in the early goings of the third quarter. The Lobos would finally answer with a three and open up a 8-0 run to make it a five point game before Ustowska would find her way to the rim and finish. However, the Cowgirl offense was beginning to struggle as they’d give away three straight possessions as the Lobos would make it a 46-45 game. The Lobos would even take a two point lead off a huge three as they were rolling late in the third quarter. Ollilainen would tie the game back up with a drive to the basket and Barnes would send the Cowgirls into the fourth quarter on a high note as she would nail a half-court shot to end the quarter and give the Cowgirls a 51-48 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Lobos would open up the fourth quarter with a free throw, but Madi Symons would answer with her first points of the night as the Cowgirls would hold onto a 53-49 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Lobos would tie the game back up with 5 minutes left in the contest as both teams were battling. The Lobos would even take a 3 point lead as the Lobos would knock down a huge three as the Cowgirls were struggling to score offensively. The Lobos would extend their lead to 5 with 2 and a half minutes left in the game as the Cowgirl offense needed some production to come back as the Lobos were on a 9-0 run and the Cowgirls hadn’t scored since the 8:44 mark. The Lobos would start to run away with the contest as they’d take their largest lead of the night at 60-53 with just a minute left in the game. Fertig would finally end the drought for the Cowgirls with a lay-in down low and Dickerson would even hit a three but the Lobos would hit their free throws as it was still a 6 point game. The Cowgirls wouldn’t give up though, as a disjointed play would lead to a Malene Pederson three but the Lobos still couldn’t miss at the line as the task proved to be too much for the Cowgirls as they’d drop the contest 68-61.
The Cowgirls shot decently well from the field in the contest, sitting at 43.3% but went only 7-30 from beyond the arc at 23.3%. The Cowgirls were dominant on the glass, out rebounding the Lobos by 10. However, the Cowgirls had 19 turnovers in the contest which the Lobos turned into 23 points.
The Cowgirls were led in double figures by Fertig with 14 points and Pederson right behind her with 13. Fertig also led the Cowgirls on the glass with 8 rebounds. Mellema and Barnes both led the Cowgirls in assists with 4.
The Cowgirls take on the Colorado State Rams this Saturday in the first iteration of this seasons’ border war in the Arena Auditorium at 2 p.m.
