LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Dec. 14, 2020) – Alba Sanchez Ramos poured in a career-high 20 points, all in the first half, as she helped lead the Wyoming Cowgirls to a 67-62 victory over UNLV Tuesday afternoon in Las Vegas. The win is the first conference victory of the season for UW and improves its record to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the MW after the split with the Lady Rebels.
Sanchez Ramos got out to a hot start for the Cowgirls as she scored 12 of UW's 14 first quarter points and then added six more in the second quarter. Sanchez Ramos went 8-of-15 from the floor in the win and hit a pair of 3-pointers. Sanchez Ramos also led Wyoming with a season-high six rebounds on the day.
"I'm very pleased to get the win, any good is a good win, it doesn't matter where it's at," said Head Coach Gerald Mattinson postgame.
"We're very happy to come down here and get the split and to be able score more than 40-some points. I'm happy for the kids, I thought their effort was tremendous. We played hard on defense again and we executed much better on offense tonight. Very pleased."
The first half was a back-and-forth affair as it featured four ties and 14 lead changes. The Cowgirls got out to a fast start Monday and led 9-2 with 6:44 to play in the first quarter, thanks in large part to Sanchez Ramos' seven points in the opening three minutes. However, the Lady Rebels (2-3, 1-1 MW) closed the quarter on a run and led 15-14 after one. The second quarter was much of the same as UW scored the first two buckets of the quarter to take an 18-15 lead with 8:13 left in the first half. The two teams would trade baskets much of the final eight minutes of the quarter with UNLV making a late run in the period to carry a 30-28 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Cowgirls came out and put the clamps on defensively, holding UNLV to just 10 points in the quarter and 3-for-13 shooting in the opening 10 minutes of the second half and UW led 41-40 after three.
In the fourth, UW scored 26 points, a season-high for points in one period. The Cowgirls hit 6-of-11 shots in the final 10 minutes, including making 12-of-15 at the free-throw line and draining a pair of 3-pointers. For the game, the Cowgirls shot 40.4 percent (21-52) from the floor and made six 3-pointers while UNLV went 23-for-56 from the field (41.1 percent) and hit four 3-pointers. The Cowgirls went 19-of-25 at the free-throw line for the game, hitting at a 76 percent clip while UNLV went 12-of-18 at the line. The 19 made free throws and shooting percentage were both season-highs for the Cowgirls.
"I thought we executed some things well down the stretch, we've got to get better at the free-throw line, especially down the stretch but Quinn was able to knock some down for us. The girls will be able to enjoy their off-day tomorrow more now and then we'll get back after it the next day," continued Mattinson.
McKinley Bradshaw opened the fourth with a 3-pointer to put UW up by four as the Cowgirls opened the final quarter out-scoring the Lady Rebels 14-6 and led 55-46 with 5:01 left to play after Grace Ellis' 3-pointer. Bradshaw's three-point play with 2:22 left to play put the Cowgirls back up by nine, 60-51. From there on, UW would hit seven free throws the final 52 seconds to salt the game away.
"Good thing for Alba in that first half, she came out and hit some shots and got to the basket and really carried us in the first half. I'm also really pleased with McKinley Bradshaw as well, she hit some crucial shots for us and I thought Quinn also played well. Great win," said Mattinson.
Bradshaw finished the game with 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting including hitting 6-of-7 at the charity stripe to go along with five rebounds. Weidemann added 10 points, four boards and three assists on the day and Dagny Davidsdottir chipped in with eight points and three rebounds. Tommi Olson also had three assists in the win to go along with four points and a team-best two steals.
UNLV out-rebounded the Cowgirls 40-29 in the game and had a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points. The Lady Rebels also outscored UW in the paint, 34-26 while the Cowgirls had the edge in fast break points (9-3).
Up next, Wyoming continues its road swing as it travels to face Northern Colorado Sunday, Dec. 20 in a 1 p.m., contest. It will be the Cowgirls' final non-conference game of the season.
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