LARAMIE – Malene Pedersen started the pivotal home stand in the spotlight and finished it resting on the bench.
 
Wyoming's season, which hit rock bottom during a six-game losing streak, is trending upward after decisive wins over Air Force (67-44) and Utah State (63-51) at the Arena-Auditorium.
 
Pedersen scored 24 points and Jane Rumpf added 17 points and 12 rebounds last Saturday against the Falcons. Henna Sandvik scored 14 points with Eyango Aurore adding eight points off the bench on Wednesday night against the Aggies.
 
"We were obviously very excited after we won (against) Air Force and we kind of had that good momentum," Sandvik said. "We really wanted to get another win and stack wins. I feel like we had great energy coming into the game."
 
Logann Alvar, Rumpf and Sandvik each made a 3-pointer to stake the Cowgirls to an early 9-0 head start. The perimeter shooting cooled off, but UW maintained a relatively comfortable lead for 39 minutes, 39 seconds with Utah State finishing 20-for-59 (33.9%) from the field.
 
The Aggies forced 21 turnovers but were only able to convert them into 15 points. Pedersen ended a 7-0 run by the visitors with a tough basket at the buzzer to give UW a 29-24 lead at the intermission.
 
The Cowgirls outscored Utah State 14-3 in the third quarter.
 
"I thought we obviously came out and executed, hit shots, were getting stops and then the turnover bug kind of got us there in the second quarter," head coach Heather Ezell said. "That's what we really talked about at halftime. I thought we were guarding and the only way they were scoring was off our turnovers, so we had to really just tighten up. I thought in the third quarter we really did that and then obviously our defense in the third quarter was outstanding. We were rebounding and just giving them one chance and done."
 
Pedersen, who finished with 10 points, watched the remainder of the game from the bench to catch her breath for the rematch when UW plays Utah State this Saturday in Logan (1 p.m., Mountain West Network).
 
"The biggest thing is who is going to make the biggest adjustments?" Ezell said of the scheduling quirk that has the Cowgirls and Aggies playing back-to-back games. "You can't say we're going to do the exact same thing. You're going to have to make a few adjustments, you're going to have to do something a little bit different, catch them off guard a little bit."
 
Pedersen leads the MW in scoring averaging 16.7 points per game, just ahead of Air Force's Milahnie Perry (16.2 ppg).
 
Rumpf, despite getting into foul trouble against Utah State, averaged 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds during the two wins. The Cowgirl bench provide more support with Eyango scoring six points in transition in the fourth quarter, Madi Symons tallying four points and six rebounds and Heidur Karlsdottir adding six points and seven rebounds against the Aggies.
 
"I think we can score on more levels. We have more players contributing, which is very important," Sandvik said of the team's recent improvement. "That has been the biggest difference, everyone gaining their confidence and being more aggressive offensively. … It's harder to scout and it gets us all going if somebody from the bench comes in and they have great energy and they're aggressive. It kind of gives me confidence and our other starters, too. It makes the team better as a whole."
 
The Cowgirls will try to complete a quick season sweep of Utah State before returning home to play Fresno State next Wednesday.
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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