RENO, Nev. (Jan. 16, 2023) – The Wyoming Cowgirls closed their three games in six days road trip Monday night at Nevada. It was another close, defensive battle, but the Cowgirls made enough plays down the stretch and hit a bunch of big-time free throws to survive with a 57-53 win.
Both teams were sluggish offensively to begin the game as Nevada jumped out to an early 8-4 lead. The Cowgirls would respond, however, going on a 10-0 run to take a 14-8 lead. The final six points of that run came via Emily Mellema layups. UW led 14-11 after the first.
In the second, the Cowgirls continued to play stifling defense, but couldn't get an outside shot to fall. Wyoming again went on a run, this time extended throughout the end of the quarter, finishing the half on an 8-0 run. UW held the Wolfpack to just two points in the second quarter and carried a 24-13 lead into halftime.
The third quarter opened the way it closed for Wyoming, as it went on a 7-2 run to build the lead up to 31-15 with under eight to play in the frame. After building that lead, Nevada would come alive, scoring the next six points to cut it to 31-21 before a Malene Pedersen fastbreak layup right before the third quarter media timeout. Mellema again went on a scoring run for the Cowgirls after the timeout, pushing the lead out to 39-23 with 1:29 to go in the third. The rest of the frame, the Wolfpack would score the final six, however, as the Cowgirl lead was chipped down to 39-29 after three. Turnovers really hurt Wyoming in the quarter, as it committed nine in the third quarter alone.
The Wolfpack continued to surge in the fourth quarter. Nevada opened the frame on a 6-1 scoring run to cut it to 40-35 before an Allyson Fertig layup led to a Cowgirl timeout with 7:30 to play. The two teams traded blows back-and-forth before Quinn Weidemann's first points of the night, a 3-pointer, pushed the Cowgirls to a 52-43 lead with 1:37 left. However, Nevada would respond with a quick run as its pressure caused multiple UW turnovers, and the Cowgirls led just 52-49.
After a pair of Tommi Olson free throws extended the UW lead to 54-49 with 30.5 seconds left, Nevada called a timeout to advance into the frontcourt. After the timeout, the Wolfpack would hit a tough turnaround in the lane and would then foul. Grace Ellis would nail both at the stripe and Nevada again would call a timeout, this time with 12.4 left. Out of the timeout, the Wolfpack would throw it away and then foul again. UW would split a pair at the line, which was followed by a pair of makes at the charity stripe from Nevada. The Cowgirls would get the inbounds pass in though and hang on for another thrilling road win.
Wyoming couldn't get anything to fall from 3-point range, shooting just 1-for-11 from outside. Nevada, hit just four 3-pointers in the contest. Overall, though, the Cowgirls shot 46.5-percent from the floor while the Wolfpack shot 33.3-percent. Both teams shot well at the free-throw line as UW went 16-for-19 and the Wolfpack shot 15-of-17. Wyoming ended up committing 21 turnovers on the night as Nevada had a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers. The Cowgirls outscored Nevada 36-16 in paint points.
Fertig and Mellema paced the Cowgirls with 16 points each. The 16 points from Mellema are a career-high for her. Mellema also added five boards, an assist and a pair of steals in the win. Fertig shot 6-of-7 from the field and also added five rebounds and two blocks. Pedersen also finished the night in double figures as she had 15 in the victory.
The Cowgirls now return home after a week on the road and will host conference-leading UNLV at 6:30 p.m., MT Thursday in Laramie.
-WYO-