The Wyoming Cowgirls hosted the Nevada Wolf Pack on a snowy Saturday afternoon, winning 59-52. They used a strong team performance to win the second half and move to 8-2 in the conference.
Wyoming hopped out to an early 6-2 lead halfway through the first quarter, but Nevada sank back to back three pointers to get their first lead of the afternoon. They tried to build on it, but a good team effort from the Cowgirls tied the game back up at 9. As the first quarter wound down however, Nevada made a series of shots, and they were able to rebuild a 16-13 lead heading into the second.
The Cowgirls struggled to make their three point attempts, and the Wolf Pack started to pull away, spreading the offensive effort out across the whole team to go up 20-13. The Cowgirls tried to hang in the contest and three straight layups closed the gap, but Nevada was able to keep their lead at 5 with 4 minutes left in the half. Thanks to a good effort from Marta Savic however, the Cowgirls evened it up at 25 at halftime.
Savic led the Cowgirls with 6 points and Mellema, Pedersen, Fertig and McKenna all had 4 points to add to the first half scoring. The Cowgirls were 0-4 from beyond the arc while the Wolf Pack was 2-6, but the Cowgirls were able to shoot 44% to Nevada’s 39%. Each team gave up 6 turnovers and the Wolf Pack out rebounded Wyoming 18-14 in the first half.
Out of the gate, both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the second half, but Fertig helped get the Cowgirls going offensively. She got two layups to take them to 32, but the Wolf Pack was right behind them and quickly evened the score. To close out the third quarter, the Cowgirls displayed excellent passing and team basketball to build a slim 40-37 lead.
Despite leading the game, Wyoming was 0-7 from three point range heading into the final period. Nevertheless, the Cowgirls opted for a strong presence in the paint to score on layups and short jumpers. Using this scheme, they started to build a strong lead and went up 46-37 on a Fertig layup at 6:51. It would then be Ustowska who broke the Cowgirls three point drought when she cashed a jumper to make it 49-39 and take the lead to ten.
As the fourth quarter ticked down, Nevada tried to mount a quick comeback and the Cowgirls started to struggle with shooting coming down the stretch. Not making a single field goal in the last 4:15 of the game, the Cowgirls were still able to fend off the Wolf Pack with excellent free throw shooting. Despite Nevada going 4-5 at the end of the contest, Wyoming had built a large enough lead to win 59-52.
At the end of the afternoon, the Cowgirls were 14/16 for free throws and only 1/12 for three pointers. It was a true team effort, and 8 players got 4 or more points, Fertig leading with 12.
The Cowgirls will stay at home for a conference matchup with Utah State on Wednesday, February 7th, tipping off at 6:30.
