LARAMIE, Wyo. (Dec. 19, 2023) – The Wyoming Cowgirls close their pre-holiday and non-conference slates this week with a pair of contests at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. The Cowgirls will face Wright State at 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time, December 21, and Eastern Washington at 1 p.m., Mountain, Dec. 22. Both games will be held at South Point Arena in Las Vegas.
Thursday and Friday will be streamed live on FloHoops and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (4-5) is looking to end a three-game skid and close it's non-Mountain West slate strong. The Cowgirls are coming off a 64-55 loss at Montana State Sunday. UW just couldn't get over the hump in the loss to the Bobcats as it committed a season-high 20 turnovers in the loss. The Cowgirls were one off their season-high with seven made 3-pointers in the contest but went 0-for-6 from beyond-the-arc in the fourth quarter.
Malene Pedersen led the Cowgirls against MSU with 18 points and hit a career-high four 3-pointers. Pedersen is now up to 11.3 points per game this season, second on the team trailing only Allyson Fertig's 13.7 a contest. Fertig led the Cowgirls with nine boards in the loss Sunday and tied a career-high with five blocks. Fertig also leads Wyoming in rebounding (7.1) and blocked shots (17) in 2023-24. Ola Ustowska recorded a season-high nine points and hit a trio of threes against the Bobcats. Ustowska is third on the team with nine made from beyond-the-arc this season and is shooting 41-percent from deep.
Wyoming continues to lead the nation in team free-throw shooting at 84.2-percent overall after going 8-for-10 from the stripe against Montana State. Pedersen leads the Cowgirls with 21 made freebies this year and is shooting 91.3-percent. As a team, the Cowgirls rank third in the league in field goal percentage (43.4-percent), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.03) and defensive 3-point percentage (28.7-percent). Wyoming's 22.7 bench points per game so far, ranks fourth-best in the league. Marta Savic continues to lead Cowgirl reserves averaging 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Savic's 62.2-percent shooting from the floor leads the squad.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
Wright State comes into the holiday classic with a trio of student-athletes scoring in double figures. The Raiders are led by Alexis Hutchison who is averaging 18.8 points and three assists per contest. Hutchison is also tied for the team lead with 17 steals and is shooting 34.3-percent from 3-point range and has a team-high 24 made 3-pointers. Layne Ferrell also has 17 steals this season and a team-leading 20 blocks. Ferrell is averaging 12.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. Kacee Baumhower also averages in double figures with 11.2 points. Rachel Loobie leads WSU with 7.1 rebounds a game.
The Raiders have a strong offense, averaging 71.7 points per game while shooting over 43-percent from the field as a squad and is hitting nearly-37-percent from beyond-the-arc. Wright State is allowing 69.7 points per game, 43-percent from the floor and 35-percent from 3-point range. The Raiders average 14.5 assists and 34.5 rebounds per game this season. WSU has turned the ball over fewer times (161-173) than its opponents this season as well. Wright State is 1-4 away from home this season.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST WRIGHT STATE
Thursday's meeting will be the first between the two programs.
SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON
Eastern Washington was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Big Sky this season. The Eagles offense has impressed early on, averaging nearly 73 points per game this season. EWU is shooting 43.5-percent overall from the floor in 2023-24 and has hit 36-percent from 3-point range. Eastern Washington is allowing just 59.1 points per game on the season and has surrendered an opponent shooting percentage of just 38.7-percent and under 30-percent from beyond-the-arc. The Eagles average 37.1 rebounds, 17.1 assists and 9.2 steals per game.
The Eagles are balanced offensively with five players averaging 8.9 points per game or better. Aaliyah Alexander leads the team scoring nearly 16 points per game and is shooting nearly 47-percent from the field and an impressive 48.4-percent (15-31) from 3-point range. Jamie Loera is second on the squad in scoring at 11.6 a contest and has a team-high 44 assists and 17 steals. Loera is shooting 43.3-percent from deep. Jacinta Buckley and Jaleesa Lawrence average 9.2 and 9.1 points per game, respectively with Buckley averaging 5.2 rebounds per game. Milly Knowles leads EWU with 6.2 rebounds a contest.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST EASTERN WASHINGTON
The Cowgirls are 2-1 all-time in the series with EWU. This will be the first neutral-site meeting between the two schools. UW is 1-1 on the road in the series and won the lone home meeting, 72-62 in overtime in the first-ever meeting in 1982.
-WYO-
