LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 9, 2021) – The Wyoming Cowgirls begin a four-game homestand to close the regular season beginning Thursday night at 6:30 with the first of two games against Utah State. Game two of the series is slated for 2 p.m., Saturday. Thursday's contest will be the third annual "Bounce Cancer" game. This year's Bounce Cancer Walk will be held entirely virtually. All proceeds will benefit the Meredith and Jeannie Ray Cancer Center.
Both 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
Wyoming (8-9, 6-8 MW) looks to rebound coming off a pair of losses last week at Colorado State. The Cowgirls lost game one to conference-leading CSU, 69-61 and lost a game two heartbreaker, 68-65. Quinn Weidemann led UW in both games in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. In the game one loss, Tommi Olson recorded a career-high 14 points in the loss.
Alba Sanchez Ramos recorded double-digit rebounds in both games against CSU and tied a career-best with 12 boards in game two. Over the last five contests, Sanchez Ramos is averaging 9.4 rebounds per contest and has reached double figures in three of those games. Sanchez Ramos leads the Cowgirls with 5.8 boards per game this season.
Olson ranks in the top five in the Mountain West in multiple statistical categories, ranking second in both total assists (76) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9) and ranks third with 4.5 assists per game. Olson also ranks fourth in the league in steals with 29, while her 1.71 steals per game is eighth-best in the league.
The Cowgirls are well-balanced amongst their top scorers this season as three UW student-athletes are averaging at least 10.1 points per game. Sanchez Ramos leads the squad averaging 10.8 points per game while McKinley Bradshaw and Weidemann are averaging 10.5 and 10.1 points per, respectively. Bradshaw, who has come off the bench in each of the last 11 games, is averaging 9.5 points per game as a reserve, a mark that ranks second in the conference amongst players coming off the bench.
SCOUTING UTAH STATE
Utah State enters this week's series having lost seven-straight and are looking for its first road victory this season (0-5). Jessica Chatman leads the Aggies averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season. Chatman also ranks third on the team with 11 steals and is second with eight blocks. Shyla Latone leads USU with 20 made 3-pointers on the year while Meagan Mendazona leads the squad with 11 rejections and is second with 12 steals.
Utah State is averaging 67.5 points per game on the year and is allowing opponents to score 78.4 per. The Aggies are shooting 38 percent from the floor and 28 percent from 3-point range while opponents are shooting 40 percent overall from the field and 32 percent from beyond-the-arc.
Kayla Ard is in her first season as the head coach of the Aggies and is the ninth head coach in program history.
SERIES AGAINST UTAH STATE
Wyoming leads the all-time series with the Aggies, 25-9 and has won the last five meetings with USU and nine-of-the-last-10 matchups. The Cowgirls defeated Utah State in last season's Mountain West Tournament, 64-59. It was the second consecutive season that the Cowgirls defeated Utah State at the tournament. US is 12-4 at home against the Aggies all-time in the series.
-WYO-
