LARAMIE, Wyo. (Dec. 30, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirls close the year 2022 in search of their first Mountain West victory as the Cowgirls host Fresno State December 31 for a 6 p.m., contest. It is Wyoming's home conference-opener.
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (7-5, 0-1 MW) is coming off a 73-67 loss Thursday at UNLV in the league-opener. The loss was an absolute battle with the defending Mountain West Champions that saw a 12-2 run by the Lady Rebels erase a seven-point Cowgirl lead early in the fourth quarter. The game featured four ties and five lead changes.
Quinn Weidemann led the Cowgirls with the eighth 20-point game of her career. Weidemann shot an incredible 8-for-9 from the floor and hit 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Tess Barnes and Emily Mellema each scored in double figures off the bench and both netted career-highs. Mellema had 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting and went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Mellema, who had the second double-digit scoring game of her career, tied for the team lead with four assists in the loss. Barnes, who also had a career-high, scored in double figures for the first time in her career as she had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Barnes also added a game-high two blocks against UNLV.
On the season, Weidemann is now up to a team-leading 13.3 points per game and is shooting 48.6-percent from the floor and 46.7-percent from 3-point range. Weidemann's 2.3 3-pointers per game, as well as her shooting from beyond-the-arc, both rank second-best in the Mountain West. Weidemann's 28 assists and 10 steals are both second-best on the Cowgirls. Tommi Olson leads UW with 30 assists while Allyson Fertig's 9.3 rebounds per contest leads the team and ranks 2nd in the conference. Grace Ellis is second on the Cowgirls in scoring, averaging 9.9 points per game. Ellis is shooting 51.6-percent from the field and has hit 15-of-30 from 3-point range.
The Cowgirls look to defend their homecourt as they have won at least seven conference games at home in each of the past six seasons. In the past six seasons combined, Wyoming is 43-9 (.827) in conference games at 7220.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
The Bulldogs have a trio of student-athletes scoring in double figures so far in 2022-23. Yanina Todorova leads Fresno State averaging 12 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Todorova also has a team-best 47-percent field goal percentage and is second on the team with 11 made 3-pointers and 29 free throws. Amaya West is averaging 11.6 points per game and has a team-best 44 made free throws and 22 steals. Amiee Book also averages in double figures at 10.1 points per contest.
As a team, Fresno State is averaging 56.7 points per game while opponents are averaging at 54.5 per. FSU is shooting 39.3-percent overall from the floor and 30.3-percent from 3-point range. Bulldog opponents are shooting at an even 40-percent clip and are hitting just under 30-percent from beyond-the-arc. The Bulldogs are outrebounding opponents by just over one board per contest.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST FRESNO STATE
Wyoming trails the all-time series, 17-22 with the Bulldogs but has won 4-of-5 of late in the series. The Cowgirls split a pair of contests in Laramie in 2021, the last time Fresno State came to town. UW won last season's lone meeting in Fresno, 61-58.
-WYO-
