LARAMIE – Allyson Fertig is already on the shortlist of the greatest players in the history of Wyoming women's basketball.
 
The 6-foot-4 center from Glendo was the Mountain West freshman of the year and an all-conference selection as a sophomore and junior.
 
Fertig has 1,238 points (19^th in UW history), 833 rebounds (seventh) and 151 blocks (third) entering her last ride with the Cowgirls.
 
After leading UW to the Great 8 round of the WNIT in the spring, third-year head coach Heather Ezell issued Fertig this challenge during a postseason meeting.
 
"Hey, you've got one year left. You've had an amazing career so far, but what stops you from having that record breaking, absolutely just terrorize the league season?" Ezell said during a recent appearance on the One Wyoming Podcast. "It starts with getting in the best shape of your life where I have to play you all of the minutes that I want to play you."
 
Fertig, the co-MW preseason player of the year along with Colorado State's Emma Ronsiek, responded by taking her offseason training to an elite level to match her game.
 
"When we did conditioning drills I didn't just want to survive it, I wanted to beat everyone else in it," Fertig said during the MW media day event last week in Las Vegas. "Just changing my mindset was the biggest thing that helped me actually take that step and get into the best shape I've been in."
 
Fertig will be even more of the focal point this season on a team with six seniors, other talented role players, impact transfers and four talented freshmen.
 
Marta Savic, who shined in her role as Fertig's stunt double off the bench the past few years, has graduated. Casper College transfer Logann Alvar and 6-4 freshman Heidur Karlsdottir have bright futures in the brown and gold but are in their first seasons in the program.
 
"She'll be humble about it, but Allyson had an incredible offseason," senior point guard Emily Mellema said. "I think the Cowgirl fans had a fun time the last three years watching her but they should be excited about the year she is about to have. She has dominated since the season ended in April and she had a truly incredible offseason. I think everyone is excited to see what she can do."
 
Ezell would like to see Fertig on the floor for 35 minutes a game if she can stay out of foul trouble.
 
"It's one of my favorite things watching how she can step up and improve game after game, season after season. She just keeps on reaching another level, which is really good for her," senior guard/forward Tess Barnes said of Fertig. "She's getting up and down the court quicker, she's stronger than ever, just dominating basically. That's the key word."
 
Fertig led UW in scoring (14.3 ppg) and was the MW's second-leading rebounder (8.4 rpg) and shot blocker (1.64 bpg) last season. She also shot 60.8% from the field, which ranked 10^th in the NCAA.
 
Ola Ustowska barely recognized Fertig when the fifth-year senior guard from Poland returned to Laramie on July 11 for summer workouts.
 
"We were doing conditioning, and she was the one on the line that was the fastest out of all of us," Ustowska said. "All that work she deserves the player of the year and hopefully we will win the Mountain West and go to the NCAA and shock the world."
 
Cutting down the nets at the MW Tournament and playing in the NCAA Tournament, something Ustowska and McKinley Dickerson had a chance to do at the end of the 2020-21 season, is about the only thing missing from Fertig's résumé.
 
"I'm really excited for this season, and I think we can do great things and go pretty far this year," Fertig said. "I wouldn't say the things we did (this offseason) were different than in previous years, but I would say the big thing for me is I came back a little earlier. I was here for much of the summer."
 
UW was picked to finish second in the preseason MW coaches poll behind two-time reigning champion UNLV. Desi-Rae Young, the Rebels' dominant post player who was the conference player of the year in 2022 and 2024, is out of eligibility.
 
But the rest of the conference still has a Fertig problem to deal with in the paint.

"Her confidence level and knowledge of the game has progressed," Dickerson said of Fertig. "She knows when it's her time and when it's maybe time to spread it around. We try to get here the ball anytime we can because we know what she's going to do with it. We know there's only maybe a few people that can guard her down there and that's from bigger conferences.
 
"Seeing her at practice we know that she's going to surprise some people still."
 
By the end of the 2024-25 season, No. 45 could be in the conversation for greatest player in Cowgirl history.
 
"This girl, whatever she puts her mind to she can accomplish. I believe in that," Ustowska said of Fertig. "She's a great human being, she's a great player, a great teammate, and I love playing with her. Whatever she wants she can accomplish, and we will help her accomplish that. She deserves that."
 
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