After a disappointing loss in the Mountain West Championship quarterfinals against Boise State, the Cowgirls were invited back to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
Wyoming came out strong in the second round of the tournament against the UTSA Roadrunners, hitting multiple back-to-back three pointers and earning an early lead of 26-8 in the first quarter.
University of Wyoming (UW) dominated during the first half on both offense and defense, having 13 assists and zero turnovers. They were easily moving the ball around the University of Texas San Antonia’s (UTSA) defense.
In a postgame interview Head Coach Heather Ezell said, “We took care of the ball, we ran at the right times in transition, we knew we could have that opportunity. And then we just shared the ball really well.”
Senior McKinley Dickerson hit her 1,000 point during the first half, making her the 29th member of the Wyoming 1,000-Point Club. Malene Pedersen also had a good first half getting her team multiple points. The Cowgirls ended the first half with a score of 45-20 and were 50-percent from the floor while UTSA was only 28-percent.
UTSA came out strong in the second half giving Wyoming more defensive pressure. Both teams were getting into foul trouble but the Cowgirls were able to keep their lead. Especially with Pedersen’s three pointer, the first one of the second half for Wyoming, in the final minute of the third quarter.
“We started to settle for some shots early in their zone, where we weren't getting post touches or whatnot,” said Ezell on their second half performance. “Then their pressure amped up when they started the full court pressure and things like that. I joked with the staff after I said, man, we haven't worked on press break in almost three weeks. So it was a little rusty, but we got it figured out.”
In the final quarter of the game the Cowgirls struggled offensively, letting the Roadrunners make it a 13-point game. Wyoming was able to hold them, making the final score 80-64.
Junior Allyson Fertig finished with her fourth double-double in the past five games and junior Emily Mellema got a career high of seven assists as well as zero turnovers. Wyoming ended the game shooting 46-percent while keeping their opponent to 41.7-percent.
The Cowgirls will be moving on to the Super 16 round set for March 27 to 29. They will face off against the winner of the Northern Arizona and South Dakota game.
