LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 23, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls officially opened practice Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the 2025-26 season, the fourth under Head Coach Heather Ezell.
The Cowgirls are coming off a 22-12 record a season ago and recorded a program record 14 conference victories in 2024-25. Wyoming made its first-ever trip to the WBIT last season and advanced to the Championship Game of the Mountain West Tournament for the second time in the previous three seasons under Ezell.
Wyoming must replace a pair of Mountain West Players of the Year in Allyson Fertig and Emily Mellema from last season. Fertig, whose name is littered all over top-10 lists in Cowgirl history, became just the third Cowgirl in Mountain West history to be named the league's player of the year. Mellema, meanwhile, was the fourth in Wyoming history to be named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
This season, the Cowgirls will be led by All-Mountain West Team performer Malene Pedersen, who is in her fourth season with the program. Pedersen finished 11th in the Mountain West in scoring last season, averaging 14 points per game. Pedersen was ninth in the league averaging 2.9 assists per contest while shooting 49-percent from the floor (3rd) and 38.3-percent from 3-point range. In conference play last season, Pedersen's 15.6 points per game ranked eighth in the conference while her 53-percent shooting from the field was second-best in the MW. In conference-only games, Pedersen was sixth in the league with 3.1 assists per game and was tied for third with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.0.
Other returners joining Pedersen for 2025-26 are Logann Alvar, Lana Beslic, Mikyn Hamlin, Heidur Karlsdottir, Karoline Lundin, Payton Muma, Kati Ollilainen and Madi Symons. New to the Cowgirls this season are a quartet of freshmen and a pair of transfer student-athletes. Freshmen include Liv Blomkvist (Stockholm, Sweden), Katie Harrington (Victoria, Australia), Jane Rumpf (Denver) and Peyton Wohlford (Smithville, Missouri). The two transfers are Aurore Eyango (St. Bonaventure) and Henna Sandvik (Indiana).
The Cowgirls open the season with the first of two exhibitions in Laramie, beginning October 24 against Fort Lewis at 6:30 p.m. The regular season tips off November 4 at home against Saint Mary's with a 6:30 p.m., tip.
-WYO-
