LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 5, 2026) – The Wyoming Cowgirls open postseason play Saturday in Las Vegas with the opening round of the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship. The Cowgirls, who are the No. 8 seed, will face ninth-seeded Air Force at 1 p.m., Mountain Time March 7.
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming, who is 19-25 all-time at the Mountain West tournament, is coming off a thrilling 59-57 win over Grand Canyon Tuesday evening to close the regular season. Malene Pedersen, on her Senior Night, led the Cowgirls with her 17th-career 20-plus point game Tuesday as she scored 20 to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Henna Sandvik also had a strong Senior Night, scoring 16 while recording four assists and a blocked shot. Off the bench, Madi Symons was tremendous, scoring eight points, grabbing a career-best eight rebounds and recording a pair of assists in the win.
With her 20 points, Malene Pedersen becomes just the third Cowgirl in league history to lead the MW in scoring. Pedersen, who won the conference scoring title by one point, averaged 17 per game and became the second consecutive Cowgirl (Allyson Fertig) to win the Mountain West's scoring crown. Pedersen has scored 10-or-more points in 48 consecutive games played, the fourth-longest active streak in Division I and the fourth-longest in conference history.
UW also has the league's leader in blocked shots during conference action as Jane Rumpf finished the season with 1.6 a contest. Rumpf also led the conference with 47 made 3-pointers and 2.35 per contest. Sandvik (34.95) and Pedersen (34.38) finished Mountain West play first and second in the conference in minutes played per contest. As a team, Wyoming is second in the league averaging 14.1 assists per game and have assisted on over 66-percent of its field goals in 2025-26. Four Cowgirls average at least 2.1 assists per game and are led by Payton Muma and Sandvik's 2.7 and 2.6, respectively.
SCOUTING AIR FORCE
Air Force is averaging 59.4 points per game and are allowing 62.9 a contest. The Falcons are shooting 35.3-percent from the floor overall and just 27.4-percent from 3-point range. AFA opponents are shooting 44-percent overall and 34-percent from beyond-the-arc. Air Force, as always, is disruptive on defense, forcing 17.4 turnovers per contest and averaging nearly nine steals a contest. The Falcons are minus-2.3 in rebounding margin but average a league-best 12 offensive rebounds per game.
The Falcons are led by the league's leading scorer in Milahnie Perry, who is averaging 17.1 points per game and is the program's single-season record holder for points scored. Perry is second on the team with 69 assists. Jayda McNabb continues to be Air Force's Swiss Army Knife, as she leads the team in rebounding (7.6), assists (80), steals (66) and blocked shots (26). Keelie O'Hollaren is second on the squad in scoring with 8.8 points per game and leads the Falcons with 43 3-pointers.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST AIR FORCE
Wyoming leads the all-time series with the Falcons, 64-5 and split the two meetings this season. Each team won on its home court in 2026. The Cowgirls are 2-0 all-time at the Mountain West Tournament against AFA and won last season's quarterfinal matchup, 77-64.
-WYO-
