Wyoming Game Notes | Live Video | Live Audio | Championship Central
LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 5, 2017) – The Wyoming women’s basketball team earned a first round bye and will open up with its first game of the 2017 Mountain West Championships on Tuesday. The Cowgirls will play the winner of the Fresno State/Nevada game that is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Game time is set for a 7:00 p.m. MT tip at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Live stats, video and audio can be found on the GoWyo.com website.
The Cowgirls, who enter the contest with a 21-8 overall record and 13-5 in league play, locked up the second seed with a 68-59 victory over the San Jose State Spartans on Friday night. Wyoming is currently on a three-game winning streak, while the 13 conference wins is the most in program history with the previous mark being 12, which was achieved four times.
Junior Natalie Baker finished with her third double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Senior Hailey Ligocki added a team-high 14 points and five assists followed by redshirt sophomore Bailee Cotton with her first double-double of her career recording 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Freshman Taylor Rusk came off the bench and added 11 points while sophomore Clara Tapia chipped in ten points and four assists. The Cowgirls were 27-51 (.529) from the field for the game, including 15-24 (.625) in the third and fourth quarters and 10-15 (.667) from the free throw line. They out rebounded the Spartans, 42-30, had 32 points in the paint and 18 bench points.
UW is shooting 676-1539 (.439) from the field and 210-570 (.368) from beyond the arc. The Cowgirls are also outscoring opponents 65.0-54.0 and out rebounding teams 36.2-31.9. Wyoming ranks first in field goal percentage as well as three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and assists.
Fresno State enters the tournament as the seventh seed and is currently 15-14 overall and finished 8-10 in league play. Last time out, the Bulldogs dropped a 54-38 contest against UNLV. Junior Bego Faz Davalos leads the way averaging 14.3 points and 10.9 rebounds. Sophomore Candice White averages a team-high 15.0 points plus 5.3 rebounds. As a squad, the Bulldogs are shooting 664-1641 (.405) from the field, averaging 60.6 points and 36.5 rebounds per contest. This will be the 29th meeting between the two schools with Fresno State holding a 17-11 lead in the series. The last time the two teams met was Feb. 8 2017 with the Bulldogs earning a 52-47 win in Fresno. Fresno State is coached by Jaime White who is in her third season with the program.
Nevada enters the contest with an 11-8 overall record and 5-13 in league play. They are the tenth seed in the tournament. Last time out, the Wolf Pack dropped a 64-51 contest against Colorado State. Senior Stephanie Schmid leads the team with 12.4 points per contest. Sophomore Terae Briggs is averaging a team-high 7.5 rebounds while adding 8.5 points. As a squad, the Wolf Pack are shooting 678-1778 (.381) from the field, averaging 67.4 points and 41.7 rebounds per contest. This will be the 22nd meeting between the two schools with Wyoming holding a 15-6 lead in the series. The last time the two teams met was January 14, 2017 with the Cowgirls earning a 72-59 win in Reno. Nevada is coached by Jane Albright who is in her ninth season with the program.
