LAS VEGAS – The Cowgirls survived and advanced.
After taking a deep breath at halftime.
Second-seeded Wyoming overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to defeat No. 7 Air Force 77-64 in the Mountain Tournament quarterfinals on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Allyson Fertig, the MW player of the year, finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Cowgirls (21-10).
Malene Pedersen, who was also named to the all-MW team announced Sunday, added 18 points.
Emily Mellema (15 points) and
Tess Barnes (15 points) also scored in double figures as UW outscored the Falcons (18-14) 49-30 in the second half.
The Cowgirls set a MW record by shooting 60.4% from the field. UW will face No. 6 Fresno State, which upset No. 3 Colorado State 54-52, in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"I think our nerves being the first game we had to kind of get those off of our shoulders," UW head coach
Heather Ezell said after her team went 9-for-10 from the field in the third quarter and shot 76% (19-for-25) over the final 20 minutes. "We came out in the second half, and I thought we executed both offensively and defensively. We were able to find open people, knock it down and come away with the victory."
UW trailed by eight early in the third quarter before Pedersen and Mellema each hit a 3-pointer to turn the tide.
The Cowgirls ended the frame on a 10-0 run, which was capped with a 3-pointer by Barnes and a three-point play by
McKinley Dickerson, to take a 54-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
"Shots were just finally falling and it built up our confidence and momentum for the rest of the second half," Pedersen said.
A bucket by Fertig made it a 16-2 run and extended the lead to 60-47. A 3 by Pedersen gave UW its largest lead, 67-51, to put the game out of reach.
All-MW selection Madison Smith led Air Force with 14 points.
"That's just a testament to the experience of our team," Mellema said. "We talked about just kind of leaving that first half behind knowing our shots were going to fall in the second half. The confidence that the girls on the court have is we're thinking every one is (going) in."
The Cowgirls got off to a nervous start and trailed 17-12 after the first quarter. Fertig had six points and six rebounds in the fame, but the rest of the team was 3-for-11 from the field.
Air Force made three 3s, including a buzzer beater by Jordy Devaughn to extend the lead to five points.
UW answered with a 6-0 spurt to start the second quarter. Fertig grabbed an offensive rebound for an easy layup to give her team a brief 18-17 lead.
Mellema made a difficult bank shot as the shot clock was expiring to get the Cowgirls within 26-24, but the Falcons closed strong and led 34-28 at the intermission.
Air Force finished the first half 4-for-10 behind the arc while UW went 0-for-3 on 3s.
Fertig finished with 14 points and nine rebounds at the break. Seven different players scored for the Falcons, who shot 50% from the field.
"The first half it seemed like we couldn't make anything and then we talked in the locker room like, they're going to fall, we'll get those shots, and it just happened to do so in the second half," Fertig said.
The Cowgirls also swept the two regular season meetings from Air Force and lead the all-time series 63-4.
"That's two teams that are playing their best basketball in March," Mellema said. "That's kind of what you want going into the tournament is two really good teams going at it. We've had some really great contests against Air Force this year and we're just really happy we could get all three of them, especially this one, the most important one."