GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Nov. 11, 2022) – North Dakota closed the final 5:07 of the game on a 15-2 run as the Wyoming Cowgirls opened the 2022-23 season with a 67-55 loss Friday afternoon on the road.
UW took its first lead of the game at 53-52 at the 5:07 mark on a Grace Ellis layup, but only got a pair of free throws the rest of the way as the Cowgirls failed to overcome a slow offensive start to begin the season. Wyoming (0-1) shot just under 34-percent in the loss and went 5-of-21 from 3-point range. The Fighting Hawks (2-0) shot 36.4-percent from the field and went 4-for-19 from beyond-the-arc. UND, however, went 15-of-17 at the free-throw line while the Cowgirls went just 12-of-22.
UND jumped out to an early 7-2 lead to begin the game and led by as many as seven, 13-6 with 3:21 to go in the first quarter. After the Cowgirls clawed their way back to make it 13-10, a Fighting Hawk putback with 1:01 to go pushed the lead back to 15-10 after one.
In the second, the Cowgirls were able to make a bit of a run after going down by six and cut it to 24-23 on a Tess Barnes 3-pointer, Wyoming's first of the contest, with 2:55 remaining in the half. However, like they did for the entire game, North Dakota would have an answer. UND would end the second quarter on a 6-0 run and carried a 30-23 lead into the break.
The third quarter followed much of the same script as the first two, as the Fighting Hawks built the lead back up to 43-36 with 2:29 to play. UW was able to get back-to-back layups in the final minute and a half of the frame, including a buzzer-beater from Malene Pedersen which cut the deficit to 43-40 with 10 minutes to play.
In the fourth, the Cowgirls cut the UND lead down to just one, three separate times. The last two coming via 3-pointers from Ellis and Pedersen. After Pedersen's three with 6:28 to play, Ellis' layup finally pushed the Cowgirls over the hump before the Fighting Hawks controlled the contest the rest of the way.
"You have to give credit to North Dakota, they played a heck of a game today," said Head Coach Heather Ezell postgame.
"They made some plays there at the end when they needed to after we took the lead and they buckled down and ratcheted things up, and we didn't in the end. Turnovers, missed shots and missed free throws really cost us down the stretch. You want to get to the free-throw line more than your opponent does and we did that today, but they still ended up plus-three in that category. It was just a lack of focus on our end at the free-throw line. We've got to step up in those pressure moments and knock those down. It's something we can work on and get fixed, among other things."
Pedersen paced the Cowgirls with 14 points in the loss on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor, including going 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Pedersen also pulled down four rebounds and had both Cowgirl steals. Ellis finished with nine points, seven boards and a team-best three assists on the day. Barnes, meanwhile, had seven points to lead the Cowgirl bench. Allyson Fertig, who was in foul trouble most of the contest, ended the game with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.
Wyoming ended up out-rebounding the Fighting Hawks 45-42 but had just a 13-12 advantage in second-chance points. UND had more points in the paint (26-24) and points off turnovers (8-4) in the contest.
The Cowgirls now shift their focus to the home opener Tuesday, November 15 as Gonzaga comes to town for an 8 p.m., tip. The game will be broadcast live on the AT&T SportsNetwork as well as the Mountain West Network.
-WYO-