LARAMIE, Wyo. (Dec. 8, 2023) – The Wyoming Cowgirls return to action Sunday after a week-long hiatus. Wyoming hosts No. 21/22 ranked Creighton at 1 p.m., inside the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowgirls are coming off a 78-62 loss last Sunday at Oklahoma State.
Sunday's contest will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard on the Cowgirl Radio Networks that aren't preempted by Denver Broncos football. David Settle will be on the call.
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
UW (4-3) is looking to bounce back from last week's road loss as they continue their tough non-conference slate. Wyoming has a pair of familiar faces at the top of the team in scoring in Allyson Fertig and Malene Pedersen, who are averaging 12.1 and 11 points per game, respectively. Fertig leads the team in rebounding with 6.1 per game and is shooting 57-percent from the field. Fertig also has a team-best 11 blocks. Pedersen, meanwhile, leads the Cowgirls with 17 made free throws and is second on the team with seven steals and third with 15 assists. Emily Mellema leads the Cowgirls with 20 assists and 10 steals.
Off the bench, Marta Savic leads the Cowgirl reserves averaging 7.4 points and five rebounds per game. Savic is shooting a team-high 61.5-percent from the field and in her last three games, is averaging 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a contest and is shooting 16-for-21 (76.2-percent) from the floor. In the game against OSU, Marena McKenna came off the bench and scored a game- and career-high 15 points while sinking 4-of-5 from 3-point range. As a team, the Cowgirls are averaging 26.6 points per game from their bench. That mark ranks third-best in the league so far this season.
Through seven games in 2023-24, Wyoming is averaging 68.1 points per game and is shooting 45.3-percent from the field. UW is allowing 62.3 points per game and has a plus-three rebounding margin. The Cowgirls also third in the league with a 1.10 assist-to-turnover ratio and has forced opponents into nine more turnovers than assists this season. Despite shooting just 8-of-12 from the free-throw line in the loss at Oklahoma State, the Cowgirls continue to lead the nation in team free-throw percentage, shooting 85.7-percent as a squad at the line.
SCOUTING CREIGHTON
The 21st-ranked Bluejays are potent offensively, averaging 77.6 points per game on the young season. Creighton is shooting just under 45-percent from the floor overall and 36.5-percent from 3-point range. The Bluejays make 9.4 3-pointers per contest and are averaging 19 assists per contest and just 12.7 turnovers a game. Despite having no player over 6-1 in height, Creighton is averaging over 39 rebounds a game and is out-rebounding its opponents by over six boards per contest. The Bluejays have had hot starts to the beginning of halves this season, outscoring opponents by nearly eight points in the first quarter of games and over seven points in the third quarter. Sunday will be just the second true road game this season for Creighton.
CU has a trio of high-octane scorers this season. Lauren Jensen leads the team averaging 18.1 points per game while Emma Ronsiek and Morgan Maly are averaging 16.4 and 16.3 points per game, respectively. Ronsiek leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per contest and is shooting nearly 48-percent from 3-point range and 46-percent from the floor. Morgan, meanwhile, has a team-best 18 made 3-pointers. Molly Mogensen is averaging a team-high 4.3 assists per game. Mallory Brake leads the Bluejays with 12 blocks and 12 steals this season.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST CREIGHTON
Wyoming trails in the all-time series with the Bluejays, 8-12, but are 7-5 in Laramie in the series. The Cowgirls and Bluejays last faced off in December of 2011, a 66-50 Creighton win in Laramie. The Bluejays have won the last five contests against Wyoming, including the last two in the Arena-Auditorium.
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