LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 29, 2019) – The Wyoming Cowgirls (25-8, 13-5 MW) will continue their run in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Sunday, when travel to Tucson, Ariz., to face the Arizona Wildcats (21-13, 7-11 Pac-12). The game will tip off at 3 p.m. (MT) for fans watching outside of Arizona, and 2 p.m. locally for fans in Tucson, as Arizona doesn't participate in daylight savings time. The Cowgirls are playing in the WNIT quarterfinals for just the second time in program history, joining the 2007 team that won the title.
 
The game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network, and can be heard across the 25 stations of the Cowgirl Radio Network with Reece Monaco on play-by-play and Wyoming Hall of Famer Margie McDonald with color commentary.
 
A LOOK AT THE WYOMING COWGIRLS
The Cowgirls are 25-8 this season and 13-5 in the Mountain West coming off a 61-60 win over Pepperdine in the third round of the WNIT. The Cowgirls are led offensively by senior forward Marta Gomez, a MW all-conference performer who averages 15.9 points per game while adding 4.8 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Bailee Cotton averages nearly a double-double with 11.6 points per contest and pulling down a team best 8.7 rebounds per game. Cotton has also taken a team-leading 21 charges this season. Junior Taylor Rusk is scoring 9.3 points per contest while adding 106 assists and only 37 turnovers, the 12th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country. Freshman guard Karla Erjavec leads the team in the assist department with 123 on the year, and she was named to the league's all-freshman team. Defensively, Rusk has recorded 32 steals this season, while Cotton has 34 blocks and 46 steals and was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Offensively, the Cowgirls are shooting at a 45.6 percent (825-of-1,809) clip from the field while shooting 39.2 percent (225-of-574) from three and 77.4 percent (367-of-474) from the free throw line to average 67.9 points per game. The Cowgirls average 15.6 assists and just 11.2 turnovers per game. Opponents are shooting 41.1 percent (738-of-1,795) from the field, 31.9 percent (151-of-473) from three and 68.6 percent (267-of-389) from the free throw line to average 57.4 points per game. Cowgirl foes average 9.8 assists and 13.4 turnovers per game.
 
Head coach Joe Legerski is in his 16th year at the helm of the Cowgirls, and he has compiled a 314-185 record as Wyoming's head coach. He is the winningest coach in program history.
 
SCOUTING ARIZONA
The Wildcats are 21-13 this season and went 7-11 in Pac-12 play. Arizona reached the quarterfinals of the WNIT by defeating Idaho State (66-56), Pacific (64-48) and Idaho (68-60). Arizona is led by Aari McDonald, an all-Pac-12 and Pac-12 all-defensive team selection. She averages 24.3 points per game, the third most in the NCAA. She also leads the team in assists at 4.7 per game and steals at 2.5 per game. Cate Reese made the Pac-12 all-freshman team and leads the squad in rebounding with 6.7 per game while averaging 11.9 points per contest. Sam Thomas patrols the paint for Arizona, averaging 1.2 blocks per game in addition to the 9.3 points she brings to the table.
 
The Wildcats shoot 43.5 percent (870-of-2,001) from the field, 32.5 percent (218-of-671) from three and 69.5 percent (376-of-541) from the free throw line to average 68.6 points per game. As a team, Arizona averages 13.0 assists and 13.1 turnovers per contest. Opponents shoot 38.7 percent (753-of-1,947) from the field, 31.5 percent (221-of-702) from three and 66.4 percent (378-of-569) from the free throw line to average 61.9 points per game. Wildcat foes average 12.5 assists and 16.0 turnovers per contest.
 
Head coach Adia Barnes is in her third season as the head coach of the Wildcats and owns a 42-53 record at the helm of Arizona.
 
SERIES HISTORY ARIZONA
The Cowgirls trail the all-time series against Arizona, 3-5, and dropped the last meeting in the series, a 61-80 setback in Tucson in 1995. The teams met regularly as High Country Athletic Conference foes, and the teams split six games in the 1970s. In Tucson, the Wildcats are 4-0 against Wyoming, and have never allowed Wyoming to score more than 61 points in a game down in the desert.
 
UP NEXT
With a win, the Cowgirls will face the winner of the game between TCU and Cincinnati.