LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 9, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirls officially tip off the Heather Ezell Era Friday as the Cowgirls open the 2022-23 season on the road at North Dakota for a 12 p.m., Mountain Time contest.

Friday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with Keith Kelley on the call.

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming wrapped its exhibition slate last Saturday with an 87-40 win over Sioux Falls in Laramie. The Cowgirls shot nearly 62-percent from the floor overall and hit nearly 48-percent of their 3-pointers in the contest while going a perfect 9-for-9 at the free-throw line. Allyson Fertig and Marta Savic dominated the paint against the Cougars, combining for 34 points and 12 rebounds on 16-of-20 shooting from the floor. Overall, UW outscored Sioux Falls 46-4 in the paint.

Malene Pedersen and Quinn Weidemann also finished in double figures in the game, scoring 12 and 10, respectively. Pedersen had five assists on the day while Weidemann recorded a pair of blocks. Emily Mellema led the Cowgirls with six assists off the bench.

In the two exhibitions this season, Wyoming held its opponents to just 26.1-percent shooting (39-111) from the floor and 9-of-45 (20-percent) from beyond-the-arc. The Cowgirls out-rebounded CCU and USF by 49 boards combined in the two exhibitions and had a 66-18 advantage in points in the paint.

Friday's season opener marks the first time since 2009-10 that the Cowgirls will begin the regular season with a true road contest. Cowgirl head coaches are 4-3 in program history in their UW debuts. Wyoming has won 10 consecutive season openers, having last lost an opener in November of 2011.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota was picked to finish fourth in the Preseason Summit League Poll while Kacie Borowicz was named to the Summit League Preseason First Team. Borowicz led the Summit League in scoring last season at 19.4 points per game and was the leader in free-throw percentage at 95.7. Borowicz was a First Team selection in 2021-22 while also finishing second in the conference with 4.4 assists per game.

The Fighting Hawks opened their season Monday with a 70-61 victory at home over Detroit Mercy. Borowicz led UND with 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor and also tallied nine assists. Claire Orth added 16 points, a block and a pair of steals in the win. Orth averaged 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season and led the Fighting Hawks with 43 steals. Orth was also one of three Fighting Hawks to start in all 30 games in 2021-22.

UND shot 29-of-63 (46-percent) overall from the floor against Detroit Mercy and made 5-of-11 from 3-point range. The Fighting Hawks struggled at the free-throw line, going just 7-for-17. North Dakota held Detroit Mercy to just 33.3-percent shooting from the floor in the win but was out-rebounded by 12 (49-37). Mallory Bernhard is in her third season leading North Dakota. It is her 10th season overall with her alma mater.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST NORTH DAKOTA
Friday will be the third-ever meeting between the two programs. UW is 2-0 all-time against the Fighting Hawks and last played them in November of 2009, an 85-59 Cowgirl victory in Grand Forks.

-WYO-