LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 10, 2026) – The Wyoming Cowgirls suffered an 82-53 loss at the hands of UNLV Saturday afternoon at home. The Cowgirls assisted on 17 of their 21 made field goals in the loss.
UNLV jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first four points before a Malene Pedersen 3-pointer got the Cowgirls on the board. Pedersen scored Wyoming's first nine points of the contest as she personally gave UW an early lead. The Lady Rebels led 11-9 at the first media timeout. Following the timeout, UNLV played well on both ends of the court the rest of the quarter and lengthened its lead to 23-9 after one.
The Lady Rebels' hot outside shooting continued to open the second quarter as the Cowgirls' offensive struggles remained. UNLV led 30-12 at the media timeout. Out of the timeout, Rumpf hit her second 3-pointer of the first half as the Cowgirls started to try and claw back into the game. Wyoming would cut the deficit down to 10 thanks to an 11-0 run before UNLV ended the half strongly. The Cowgirls trailed 44-26 at the half as the Lady Rebels closed the second quarter on a 10-2 run.
Much like to begin the game, UNLV opened the second half with the first three points as the lead ballooned to above 20. Rumpf's third 3-pointer got the Cowgirls on the board in the third as she reached double figures for the second time in her career. The Lady Rebels led 55-29 at the media timeout. The rest of the third saw both teams play solid defense before ending the frame trading buckets. UNLV led 64-39 after three.
After the two teams traded 3-pointers back-and-forth to begin the fourth, both teams went cold for a stretch in the middle of the quarter. UNLV led 73-46 at the final media timeout. The final 4:15 of the contest saw the two teams take the air out of the ball as the Lady Rebels cruised the rest of the way to victory.
Pedersen, who tied for the Wyoming scoring lead with 16 points, reached double figures for the 35th-straight game. Pedersen has now also made at least one 3-pointer and scored 10-plus points in 23 consecutive games. Rumpf also finished in double figures as she had a career-high with 16. Rumpf had a strong all-around game as she recorded career-highs with four assists, five blocks and 10 rebounds while making a career-best four 3-pointers. It was Rumpf's first-career double-double. Payton Muma led UW with five assists in the loss and also pulled down eight boards.
Wyoming assisted on 81-percent of its field goals in the contest. The Cowgirls shot 34.4-percent from the floor while UNLV shot 44-percent. UW made 9-of-31 from beyond-the-arc while the Lady Rebels buried 12 3-pointers on 31attempts (38.7-percent). UNLV out-rebounded Wyoming 45-38 on the afternoon.
The Lady Rebels outscored Wyoming 19-6 in points off turnovers and scored 28 bench points. UNLV had a 7-2 edge in second-chance points and scored 32 paint points to Wyoming's 20. The Cowgirls got seven points from their bench.
"Three and a half minutes there at the end of the first quarter, where they went on that 12-0 run, that really got us," said Heather Ezell postgame.
"The biggest thing is we have to get our minds right over the weekend and come back Monday ready to work."
Next up, Wyoming travels to face Boise State Wednesday night at 6:30.
-WYO-