LOGAN, Utah (Jan. 26, 2023) – It was a gutty, gritty, come-from-behind victory for the Wyoming Cowgirls Thursday on the road at Utah State. The Cowgirls overcame a 3-for-20 start to the game, a first quarter where they scored just seven points, and trailed by as many as 18 in the contest but prevailed for a 64-52 victory.
Wyoming got off to another slow start, going just 1-of-6 to start while the Aggies began 4-for-7 with a pair of 3-pointers to take the early 10-2 lead. Utah State continued its strong start to open the quarter, jumping out to a 15-4 lead at the first quarter media timeout. Out of the timeout, it continued to be all Aggies as they held a 19-7 lead after one. The Cowgirls shot just 3-of-18 in the first 10 minutes and went 0-for-7 from 3-point range and committed five turnovers.
The second quarter followed the same script as the first for the most part, as Wyoming continued to struggle on the offensive end and turn the ball over. Utah State continued to shoot the ball well in the second, pushing the lead up to as many as 18 multiple times in the frame. The Cowgirls were able to whittle the deficit down to 33-24, thanks to a 9-0 run that was capped off by an Emily Mellema 3-pointer with under a minute to play in the half. After that, the half closed with a USU three-point play followed by a Malene Pedersen 3-pointer to beat the buzzer as the Aggies carried a 36-27 lead into the locker room. UW ended the half going 7-of-12 from the floor after starting just 3-for-20 to open the contest.
In the third, the Cowgirls carried their momentum over from the first half, cutting the deficit to 39-35 with 5:35 to go in the quarter on Pedersen's second 3-pointer of the night, forcing a Utah State timeout. Following the timeout, UW got its first lead of the night, 42-41 with 2:12 to go in the third on an Ola Ustowska 3-pointer. The Aggies would hit a three which was then followed by a Mellema driving layup to end the quarter and things were all knotted up at 44-44 going to the fourth.
The Cowgirls scored six of the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take a 50-46 lead with 5:27 remaining. After a UW timeout, an Emily Mellema coast-to-coast steal and layup made it a six-point lead before the Aggies would respond. Utah State would cut it to 52-50 before four Cowgirl free throws pushed it back up to 56-50 with 3:36 left. USU would call a timeout with exactly two minutes left after UW missed a pair of good looks from three to extend the lead. After a Utah State free throw, Tommi Olson would hit four consecutive free throws for Wyoming, which lengthened the lead to 60-51 with 1:12 left. After a timeout, the Cowgirls would get a defensive stop and then an offensive rebound to take nearly a minute off the clock. Mellema, who scored in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games, iced the game with two more at the line.
Wyoming (13-7, 6-3 MW) ended up at 34.5-percent shooting for the game and went 5-of-22 from 3-point range. The Aggies, meanwhile, ended up shooting just 35.3-percent and were just 7-for-25 from beyond-the-arc. The Cowgirls were tremendous at the line, going 19-of-22 while USU was 9-for-11.
Allyson Fertig posted her fifth double-double of the season as she, along with Mellema, led all scorers with 15 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Fertig was great in the second half, scoring 11 and grabbing seven boards in the second half. Mellema went 5-for-11 from the field and added a pair of assists and a career-best five steals in the contest. Pedersen ended the night with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists while Olson added eight points and four boards.
On the night, the Cowgirls posted a plus-23 (48-25) rebounding margin and had a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points. UW outscored the Aggies 30-18 in the paint and had 24 bench points to Utah State's 10.
Next up, Wyoming will close its two-game road swing this week with a trip to Boise State for a 2 p.m., Saturday contest.
-WYO-