LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 13, 2017) — The Wyoming basketball team (2-0 overall) hit its free throws down the stretch to earn a hard fought 67-62 win over the Montana Lady Griz (0-1 overall) on Monday night.
 
Senior Liv Roberts led all scorers with 15 along with four rebounds. She was 9-of-10 (.900) from the free throw line Junior Bailee Cotton followed with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Juniors Clara Tapia and Sladjana Rakovic each chipped in ten points. Wyoming shot 17-of-40 (.425) from the field and 27-of-33 (.818) from the free throw line.  
 
 "It's always good to get a win," head coach Joe Legerski said. "It was a very physical game, hard fought, both teams trying to get the ball to the block and when that happens it becomes physical. We hung in there and you could see some of the maturity that we had down the stretch in the last four minutes. Natalie (Baker) hit a three and Marta's (Gomez) rebound was tremendous when went to the zone. We went to the zone because we were having a hard time containing them at the blocks. They posted guards, forwards and we were switching on ball screens which created some mismatches. It was a game changer. When you're up like that then you understand how you have to play defense. We were going to give the two pointers and make sure there were no three's. We finished it out from the free throw line 10 of 12 down the stretch. That's stepping up and the players executing what we wanted done. There's going to be more games like that this season."     
 
Four Montana players finished the night in double-figures. Redshirt junior Sierra Anderson and sophomore Madi Schoening each had 14 points, while redshirt sophomore McKenzie Johnston added 11 points. Redshirt junior Jace Henderson came off the bench and recorded ten points and a game-high eight rebounds. The Lady Griz shot 23-of-58 (.397) from the field and out rebounded UW, 32-30.
 
In the third quarter, the teams combined for 18 points to give the Cowgirls a one point advantage, 35-34, through the media timeout. Wyoming seemed to gain a little bit of momentum and went up three, 39-36, with 2:56 left in the period, but Montana tied it up with three straight free throws. Despite that Wyoming would take a 44-41 lead headed in to the fourth. The Cowgirls scored the first six of ten to pull ahead by five, 50-45.  The Lady Griz would make it a one point contest, 52-51, but started by a three-point play from Cotton UW scored nine straight to go up by double-figures, 61-51. Montana again battled back and scored seven unanswered to cut it to three, 61-58, with 33 seconds to go. The Cowgirls would hit six of eight free throws down the stretch to come away with the 67-62 win.
 
It was low scoring through the first several minutes of the game as the two teams combined for three points. A three by Johnston put them ahead 5-1, but the Cowgirls battled back to tie it up at seven all. The Lady Griz scored the next basket to take a 9-7 lead in to the first media timeout. UW held Montana scoreless the remainder of the period and scored five unanswered to go up 12-9. Freshman Sophia Stiles hit a shot for the Lady Griz to end a five minute scoring drought, which was answered with a 7-0 run to extend the Cowgirl lead to eight, 19-11. Montana continued to battle back and scored six of the next eight to close the gap to four, 21-17 with 3:14 left in the half. After a three by Kepenc, the Lady Griz scored the next seven to go up by one, 25-24. Tapia drove the length of the court, hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Cowgirls a 26-25 halftime lead.
 
Tapia led all scorers with eight followed by Roberts with five. Two players each had three rebounds each. Wyoming was 7-of-20 (.350) from the field and 4-of-11 (.364) from three. Montana was led by Johnston with seven followed by Anderson with five. The Lady Griz were 10-of-28 (.357) from the field and out rebounded the Cowgirls 18-14. 
 
Wyoming returns to action on Thursday, Nov. 16 as it heads out on the road for the first time. The Cowgirls will face the Denver Pioneers with the game being set for 7:00 p.m. MT at Hamilton Gym.