LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 9, 2023) – The Wyoming Cowgirls open their three-game road trip and a three-game in six-day stretch Wednesday with a trip to Air Force for a 6:30 p.m., contest.
Wednesday'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 (9-5, 2-1 MW) last played January 5 against New Mexico, a 78-69 win in Laramie. Grace Ellis and Malene Pedersen led the Cowgirls with 19 points each. The 19 points from Ellis set a new career-high for her, the fifth time this season that Ellis has set a new career-best in scoring. Ellis also added nine rebounds and a block in the win. Pedersen, meanwhile, shot 7-of-9 from the floor and hit a pair of 3-pointers in the contest. For her efforts, Pedersen was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.
Allyson Fertig grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in the game while Tommi Olson had five points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Olson now ranks second in the league and 18th in the country with a 2.62 assist-to-turnover ratio on the season. UW shot nearly 51-percent in the win and out-rebounded the Lobos by 20 (41-21). The Cowgirls recorded a season-high 15 offensive rebounds in the win and had a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as they tallied 18 assists and had just nine turnovers.
Quinn Weidemann continues to lead the Cowgirls in scoring this season with 12.5 points per game. Weidemann is shooting 43.7-percent from 3-point range and is making 2.2 3-pointers a contest. Ellis, who is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 per contest, leads the Cowgirls through their first three conference games in scoring average at 15 per contest. Pedersen is averaging 13.7 points per game while Fertig is averaging a double-double in Mountain West play with 11.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
SCOUTING AIR FORCE
Air Force is led by Kamri Heath's 14.4 points per game and 37 steals. Heath and Jo Huntimer are the only two Falcons to have started in all 16 games this season. Madison Smith and Kayla Pilson also average in double figures this season with 13.3 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. Pilson leads the Falcons with 5.3 rebounds per contest while Smith has a team-high 24 made 3-pointers. Huntimer, meanwhile, leads AFA with 79 assists and is second on the team with 35 steals.
As a team, Air Force is holding opponents to just 64.4 points per game and is scoring at 64.3 per. The Falcons shoot 38.6-percent from the field and 29.5-percent from 3-point range. Falcon opponents are shooting 45-percent from the floor and just 27-percent from beyond-the-arc. AFA is being out-rebounded by over seven boards per contest. The Falcons are forcing opponents to commit over 21 turnovers per game.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST AIR FORCE
Wyoming leads the all-time series with the Falcons, 56-4 with all four losses coming on the road. Last season's loss in Colorado Springs snapped a seven-game winning streak in the series for the Cowgirls. UW is 2-2 in the last four meetings at Air Force. Fertig scored 10 points per game and grabbed 12.5 rebounds per in the two contests against AFA last season. In eight career games against the Falcons, Weidemann is averaging nearly nine points per game and is shooting 52.2-percent from 3-point range.
-WYO-
