University of Wyoming
0-1,0-0Mountain West
Santa Clara
1-0,0-0WCC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara | 26 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 84 |
| Wyoming | 15 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 50 |
11/2/2026 9:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 2, 2026) – A strong offensive showing from Santa Clara and second half offensive woes from the Wyoming Cowgirls were the difference Monday night in Wyoming's season-opening loss to the Broncos inside the Arena-Auditorium, 84-50. The Broncos were picked as the preseason favorites in the West Coast Conference.
A Liv Blomkvist layup provided the first points of 2026-27. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth to begin the game as Santa Clara was hot early from 3-point range, making its first three from beyond-the-arc. SCU led 17-10 at the first media timeout. Out of the media, the Broncos' hot shooting continued, and they led 26-15 after one. UW got some solid looks on its offensive end but couldn't get them to fall consistently.
The second quarter began with more shots falling for Santa Clara as it built up a 17-point lead early in the frame. A Katie Harrington 3-pointer got the deficit down to 12, but the Broncos led 35-22 at the media timeout as they got the offense going again before the break. Following the timeout, the fast-paced SCU attack kept going as it built the lead up to 48-27 at halftime, ending the second quarter with a 7-0 run after a Norah Clark 3-pointer cut the Cowgirl deficit to 14.
Just like she did in the first quarter, Blomkvist opened the second half with a layup to get Wyoming on the board. Santa Clara's offense continued to be efficient, however, as it led 55-30 at the first media timeout of the half. After the media, the Cowgirl struggles on both ends of the court continued as the Broncos led 68-36 after three.
Santa Clara's strong shooting from deep continued to begin the fourth as turnovers started to mount for Wyoming. The Cowgirls emptied the bench later in the quarter as all available played for UW in the loss. Wyoming was able to continue to get to the free-throw line in the fourth, as it had in the first 30 minutes of the contest. Peyton Wohlford buried a couple of 3-pointers to get the UW offense going some in the fourth. Six Cowgirls scored their first-career points in the Brown & Gold Monday night.
"These early games are really important. It's never easy, but just trying to get everyone on the same page," said Head Coach Heather Ezell.
"Going against a team like Santa Clara, those guys have been together for 3 or 4 years and that's a really good team and they're on the same page and know what everyone else is doing. That's where we need to get to. We're playing a lot of freshmen and players that are new to this program."
Clark finished with a game-high 16 points and went a perfect 9-for-9 at the free-throw line. Clark also led UW with seven rebounds to go along with a block and three steals. Kati Ollilainen ended with seven points while Blomkvist and Wohlford had six each. Blomkvist also led the Cowgirls with two assists.
Wyoming shot just 29.1-percent from the floor, going 16-of-55. SCU shot an even 60-percent on 32-of-64 shooting and hit 12-of-27 from beyond-the-arc. The Cowgirls hit 4-of-13 (30.8-percent) from deep. UW went 14-of-18 at the line while the Broncos were 8-for-9.
Santa Clara out-rebounded the Cowgirls 45-28 and were plus-eight on second-chance points. The Broncos outscored Wyoming 38-22 in the paint and 24-10 on points off turnovers. UW assisted on eight of its 16 made field goals in the loss.
Next up, the Cowgirls welcome Missouri State to town for a 7 p.m., tip Saturday, November 7.
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-WYO-
