LARAMIE, Wyo. (Dec. 31, 2020) – The Wyoming Cowgirls open 2021 with their home conference opener with a pair of games against Fresno State in the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowgirls and Bulldogs will play January 2 at 2 p.m., and Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
The games will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the 25 stations of the Cowgirl Radio Network with Keith Kelley on the call.
A LOOK AT THE COWGIRLS
UW (3-2, 1-1 MW) is coming off a thrilling 53-50 overtime win over Northern Colorado to close its non-conference slate on December 20. The OT victory is Wyoming's first overtime win since a 75-70 win over San Diego State in March of 2019. UW went 0-2 in overtime contests last season.
Three Cowgirls either set or tied career-highs in the win at UNC. Jaye Johnson, Tommi Olson and Ola Ustowska all hit career marks. Ustowska, who led Wyoming with 11 points in the win, set a new career-high while Johnson's nine also set a new mark. Olson tied her career-high with 10 points in the game and also tied a career-best with a pair of made 3-pointers.
McKinley Bradshaw leads the Cowgirls in scoring through her four games played averaging 13 points per game and is shooting over 41 percent from 3-point range. Alba Sanchez Ramos is the other Cowgirl scoring in double figures this season, averaging 10.2 per contest. Dagny Davidsdottir leads UW with 5.4 boards per contest while Olson leads the squad and is in the top 10 in the Mountain West with 3.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Quinn Weidemann continues to be the Cowgirls' closer as all six of her made free throws this season have come in the final minute of games. Weidemann is also on a streak of 38 consecutive made free throws, dating back to last season.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
The Bulldogs (3-3, 1-1 MW) are the defending regular-season Mountain West Champions and enters the series with a highly-efficient offense, averaging 84.2 points per game while shooting over 46 percent from the floor.
Fresno State is led by a pair of sophomore twins in Hanna and Haley Cavinder. Hanna leads the squad averaging 19.2 points per game while Haley averages 19 per and leads the Bulldogs averaging 8.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists a contest. The 2019-20 Mountain West Player of the Year, Maddi Utti is averaging 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game so far this season. Both Hanna Cavinder and Utti are blistering the nets, shooting 55.4 and 52.5 percent from the field.
The Bulldogs rank in the top half of the conference in most offensive statistical categories and opened league play with a split in two games against Colorado State, losing the opener 89-83 and winning game two, 78-74. Fresno has played just one true road contest this season and is led by seventh-year head coach Jaime White.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
The Cowgirls are 11-3 all-time in Laramie against Fresno State, including a win in last year's regular season finale. Since the two teams resumed their series in 2013 after a 15-year hiatus, UW is 6-13 with five of those wins coming at the AA.
NEXT UP
The Cowgirls return to road play in the Mountain West as they travel to Boise State for a pair of league contests Jan. 11 and 13. The Broncos are the back-to-back defending MW Tournament Champions and ended UW's season in 2019-20 in the semifinals of the tourney.
-WYO-
