The Wyoming Cowgirl Basketball team defeated the #1 Mountain West team UNLV 77-73 at home this Thursday, Feb. 24.
“In the first half, I thought we took very good shots,” Head Coach Gerald Mattison said. “I thought we read good, good action.”
“I thought we did a couple of things well. I thought we were patient when we needed to be and I liked the pace that we played with bringing the ball up early.”
Senior Tommi Olson commented on the game post-win.
“It was definitely good to get a good first quarter underneath us,” Olson said. “As the game went on, we were able to figure some things out on defense and the end was about getting defensive stops.”
The 12-11 Cowgirls gained a quick lead on the Lady Rebels, 27-18 at the end of the first quarter.
Junior McKinley Bradshaw led the team in scoring with 23 points, shooting 50% from behind the arc.
Bradshaw got off the offense rolling, scoring 16 points in the first quarter.
Alyson Fertig helped the Pokes offensively, tallying 5 rebounds in the first quarter.
The Lady Rebels closed the gap in the early minutes of the second quarter, after several scoreless possessions from the Cowgirls.
But the Cowgirls responded, scoring several three-point field goals in the second quarter.
The Cowgirls maintained the lead going into halftime, 41-35.
The Lady Rebels gained momentum coming out of the half, bringing the lead to within four, 46-42 with 6 minutes left in the third.
By the end of the third quarter, the Cowgirls held a slim lead over UNLV, 51-50.
The Cowgirls responded in the fourth quarter sinking several three’s from guards McKinley Bradshaw and Quinn Weidemann.
Weidemann also reached the 1,000 career point mark with her three in the fourth quarter.
A three from #3 on the UNLV squad tied the score at 57. The Poke squad responded with an easy layup bringing the score to 59-57.
The Pokes took advantage of several scoreless possessions on the UNLV side as they increased their lead to seven, 64-57, with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
With a minute left in the game the Lady Rebels fouled the Cowgirls in an effort to comeback, but to no avail, as the Cowgirls closed out the game 77-73.
The Cowgirls look ahead to their next game against San Diego State in Arena Auditorium this Saturday.
