The Cowgirls lead from tip to the final whistle in their road matchup against the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Cowgirls outscored the Bulldogs in every single quarter as they cruised their way to victory behind a balanced team performance led by Allyson Fertig with a double-double.
The Cowgirls would open the game with a strong start, as both Tess Barnes and Malene Pederson would cash in their first attempts from deep as the Cowgirls opened up an early 10-3 lead. McKinley Dickerson would also rip the twine on her first three point attempt of the game and Pederson would also be all bottoms on her second attempt from deep as the Cowgirls were firing on all cylinders early. The Cowgirls would even take a 20-9 lead late in the first half, but the Bulldogs would trim it to a 23-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams would struggle offensively through the beginnings of the second quarter, but Barnes’s second three of the night would give the Cowgirls another 11 point lead at 30-19.
Both teams would battle back and forth late but the Cowgirls would ultimately go into the break with a 35-25 lead.
Emily Mellema would open the third quarter for the Cowgirls, laying it in down low. The Cowgirl defense would hold the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 4 minutes of the third quarter, but they also struggled to score at the same time. Marta Savic would end a 5 minute field goal drought for the Cowgirls, as the Cowgirls clung onto their 10 point lead at 41-31. The Bulldogs would be able to bring it within 6 late in the third quarter, but Barnes would again find her mark from beyond the arc and Fertig would go on a nice scoring run late to give the Cowgirls a 51-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Cowgirl defense wouldn’t give up an inch at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as midway through the quarter an Ola Ustowska three pointer would give them their largest lead of the night at 22. The Cowgirls wouldn’t look back either, as they’d cruise their way to a win by the same margin at 69-47.
Wyoming was led by Barnes and Fertig offensively, with both notching 16 points as Barnes was 4/7 from deep in the contest. Pederson paced them with 13 points on 5/7 shooting from the field. The Cowgirls were led on the glass by Fertig with 12 boards and Ustowska dished out 5 assists, leading the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls were highlighted by their team defense, as they held the Bulldogs to 32.1% from the field and just 15.8% from deep.
The Cowgirls will battle for first place in Mountain West on Jan. 31 in a matchup against UNLV, as both teams sit tied at first place with a 7-1 record in conference play. The game is set to tip off at 7:30.
