SAN DIEGO, Calif. (December 27, 2017) – Despite holding the lead at halftime, the Wyoming basketball team (7-5 overall, 0-1 MW) dropped its Mountain West opener, 68-62, to the San Diego State Aztecs (7-5 overall, 1-0) on Thursday night at Viejas Arena.
 
Sophomore Taylor Rusk led all Cowgirl scorers with 14 points along with four rebounds. Junior Marta Gomez followed with 11 points while seniors Liv Roberts and Natalie Baker each chipped in ten points, while Roberts added six rebounds. Junior Bailee Cotton finished the night with a team-high seven rebounds plus eight points. Wyoming shot 21-of-59 (.356) from the field and 10-of-25 (.400) from beyond the arc.
 
"I thought there were runs on both ends. We got up by eight, San Diego State got up by nine and with a minute left we got it down to one possession," head coach Joe Legerski said. "Give San Diego State credit, they made free throws which was a big part of the win tonight. When I look at the stat sheet, that we have a lot of individuals, playing a lot of minutes only making one or two shots in the game. It makes it difficult when we are asking them to play a lot of minutes. We have to get back in the gym, work on some things and I thought we broke down twice in defensive transition, both times same players and San Diego State responded with two threes. We figure that out and all of a sudden you are looking at a different ball game. We battled, but they shot 76 percent from the free throw line and we had to take our chances getting back in to the game. We need to shoot better than we did especially in the third quarter which was a difference in the game. We left some opportunities out there and we need to address that. It will certainly be nice to be back home next week against Nevada."   
 
Senior McKynzie Fort recorded a game-high 20 points for the Aztecs. Fellow senior Khalia Lark chipped in ten points followed by senior Genna Gomez and freshman Te'a Adams each added nine points Sophomore Baylee Vanderdoes had a game-high nine rebounds San Diego State shot 25-54 (.426) from the field and 19-of-25 (.760) from the charity stripe. SDSU out rebounded Wyoming 36-34 and had 32 points in the paint and 20 points off turnovers.
 
Rusk got the Cowgirls on the board with a three followed by Geena Gomez hitting one of two free throws early in the game. Cotton scored a layup at the 7:46 mark making it 5-1 through the first media timeout. Both teams struggled with Wyoming shooting 2-of-10 (.200) from the field, while the Aztecs was 0-of-7 (.000). Wyoming scored five of the next eight points to increase the lead to six, 10-4, but a late shot by SDSU made it 10-6 after one. Out of the timeout, UW stretch its advantage to eight, 16-8, which was answered with six straight by the Aztecs to close the gap to two, 16-14. Free throws by Tapia stopped the scoreless stretch and started an 11-5 run to push the lead back to eight, 27-19, with 1:16 left. San Diego State rallied back with another seven unanswered to make it 27-26 in favor of the Cowgirls headed in to the locker room.  
 
In the first half, Gomez led all scorers with eight points in 15 minutes off the bench. Rusk and Baker added five points each while four players finished with three rebounds apiece. The Cowgirls shot 10-of-30 (.300) from the field and 5-of-12 (.417) from beyond the arc. San Diego State was led by Fort with seven points followed by Adams with five. Vanderdoes recorded four boards. The Aztecs were 9-of-27 (.333) from the field and 7-of-10 (.700) from the charity stripe, while out rebounding UW 21-17.  
 
Out of the break, Wyoming scored the first basket of the third quarter but the Aztecs ran off eight straight to put them ahead for the first time in the game, 36-29, with 4:24 on the clock. Free throws by Roberts would end a five minute scoreless drought and the Cowgirls chipped away at the lead making it 36-33. After a three-point play by Murray, Roberts sparked an 8-2 run capped off by a Rusk three-point field goal tied it up at 41 all. A late three made by San Diego State put the Aztecs up 44-41 after three quarters of play. The two teams traded early fourth quarter baskets followed by six straight from SDSU increased its lead back to nine, 52-43. Wyoming responded with back to back threes to cut in to that lead, 52-49. Fort scored a bucket to end the UW run followed by free throws by from Roberts made it 54-51. Six straight points by San Diego State increased it back to a nine-point advantage, 60-51. The Cowgirls continued to battle and went on an 11-4 run to pull within two, 64-62, with 23 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, four straight free throws down the stretch sealed the 68-62 victory for San Diego State.
 
Wyoming returns to home next Wednesday, Jan. 3, as it hosts the Nevada Wolf Pack. The game is set for 6:30 p.m. MT in the Arena-Auditorium.