LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 11, 2017) — Three Cowgirls finished the night in double-figures as the Wyoming basketball team (1-0 overall) earned a 73-47 victory over the Adams State Grizzlies (0-1 overall) on Saturday afternoon.
 
Senior Liv Roberts recorded a team-high 14 points along with four rebounds in her season debut. Junior Sladjana Rakovic finished with a career-high 13 points and a team-high five rebounds, while sophomore Taylor Rusk chipped in ten points. The Cowgirls shot 26-of-51 (.510) from the field and 14-of-16 (.875) from the charity stripe. They out rebounded the Grizzlies 30-27 and had 20 assists on 26 made baskets.
 
 "For a season opener, I was very happy with how we played," head coach Joe Legerski said. "I think you saw the difference Liv (Roberts) makes to this program. She has the ability to score on the outside and inside. There was one play today that I believe shows what this team is about. Taylor (Rusk) dove for a loose ball, came up with it, flipped to Natalie (Baker) and she found Liv streaking down the sideline for layup. It shows the experience that we've gained to keep playing than wait for it to happen. We defended and shot the ball well again and in the last quarter we were trying to finish the game out. The fatigue set in with the kids who don't always play a lot of minutes."   
 
Adams State was led by freshman Stephanie Ruiz with a game high 15 points in 26 minutes of play. She was followed by seniors Macy Meyers and Nicole Mortensen with seven points, while Mortensen also had a game-high eight rebounds. The Grizzlies shot 19-of-49 (.388) from the field and 5-of-17 (.294) from beyond the arc. 
 
In the third quarter, Wyoming extended the lead to 30, 48-18, with a 7-2 run. The Grizzlies chipped away at the lead scoring nine of 12 to make it 51-27. The Cowgirls went on a 14-0 run to close out the third quarter and held Adams State scoreless for almost six minutes to take a 65-27 lead. Nine unanswered by Ruiz cut the deficit to 29, 65-36, with 6:51 in the game. UW would be outscored 11-8 the remainder of the game, but still came up with the 73-47 win.
 
Rusk hit the first basket of the game and then the Grizzlies scored five straight to pull ahead 5-2. Roberts ended a couple of minute drought to start a 12-0 run from the Cowgirls to put them up 14-5. A field goal by Hoiser stopped a five minute scoring drought by Adams State, but UW scored nine of 11 to take a 23-9 advantage. The two teams traded baskets in the first part of the second until back to back three point field goals by the Cowgirls gave them a 19 point lead, 31-12, with five minutes to go in the period. Wyoming clamped down defensively and held the Grizzlies to four points the rest of the way and took a 41-16 lead headed in to the locker room.
 
Roberts led all scorers with nine followed by Rusk with eight. Sladjana Rakovic had a team-high five rebounds. The Cowgirls shot 16-of-26 (.615) from the field and 6-of-10 (.600) from three. The Grizzlies were led by Macy Meyers with five points Ki'asha Harris with four. Adams State shot 7-of-19 (.368) from the field and 1-of-6 (.167) from three.  
 
Wyoming returns to action on Monday, Nov. 13 as it hosts the Montana Lady Griz. The game is set for 6:30 p.m. MT in the Arena-Auditorium.