The Saint Mary’s Gaels made the trip from California Tuesday night for the Wyoming Cowgirls season opening contest. The Cowgirls went completely cold offensively in the middle two quarters and were unable to reignite, losing the game 56-47.
The Cowgirls and Gaels opened the game trading buckets and staying tight through the first 5 minutes of the game, but good passing and finishing at the hoop slowly lifted the Cowgirls to a small lead before the quarter’s end. To add even more, G Malene Pedersen nailed a last second three-pointer after a scramble for the ball put it in her hands with barely a second left. At the first break, the Cowgirls had hopped out to a strong 19-12 lead.
The second quarter was a stark contrast to the first however. Wyoming opened the period at the same pace they left off on, and kept a comfortable distance over the Gaels. However, that’s when the Cowgirls went completely cold. The Gaels ramped up their defensive pressure and aggressively pressed the Cowgirls to throw them out of any offensive momentum. For over 5 minutes, the Cowgirls failed to cash a single bucket, and from the 6:08 mark to the end of the half, they only scored a single free throw.
Meanwhile, the Gaels had offensive struggles of their own, but unleashed a flurry of buckets as the clock ticked down to make the game 26-23 in the blink of an eye. In the final minute of the 2nd quarter, they put up 7 points to close the gap that the Cowgirls had built.
The Cowgirls were outrebounding Saint Mary’s 17-11, but a long stretch of missed shots and defensive pressure from the Gaels was enough to keep it tight into the second half.
2 minutes into the 3rd, the Gaels had tied the ball game at 26. Finally however, the Cowgirls broke their scoring problems at just the right time. Pedersen cashed her 2nd 3-pointer of the night just after the Saint Mary’s came back, and put the Cowgirls back on top.
That didn’t last long however, and Saint Mary’s and Wyoming went back and forth, unable to inch away from each other. Once again, the Cowgirls were lacking field goals. Another eight minutes went by with only free throws adding points to the scoreboard for Wyoming, and luckily, those, along with good defense of their own, was enough to keep it close.
Incredibly, Pedersen’s basket was the only field goal for Wyoming in the entire 3rd quarter, yet it was deadlocked 35-35 as the final 10 minutes of the game got underway.
It only took 1:30 for the Cowgirls to get more baskets than they had in the entire 3rd period, after Heidur Karlsdottir and Payton Muma grabbed two points each, but Saint Mary’s was still right on Wyoming’s tail. Even when the Cowgirls got some of their offensive momentum back, the Gaels would too, making it nearly impossible to separate the two teams.
With just 4 minutes left, Wyoming coughed the ball up on two crucial possessions in a row and the missed production for the Cowgirls was enough for the Gaels to pull away by 4, with a deadly 3-pointer for Saint Mary’s immediately after making that 7.
The desperate Cowgirls tried to mount a comeback to no avail, and their flustered play just caused the lead of Saint Mary’s to grow. The clock struck 0 and the Cowgirls lost to the Gaels 56-47.
The Cowgirls ended with a 34% field goal percentage compared to Saint Mary’s 46%, while also giving the ball up 20 times and making just 3 of their 17 attempts from beyond the arc.
Malene Pedersen showed her veteran presence on and off the court despite the loss. She led the team with 14 points while also grabbing 5 rebounds, and thanked the fans for coming out over the PA system after the team broke their post game huddle. Henna Sandvik led the Cowgirls with 6 rebounds, and Peyton Muma put up 9 points for the struggling offense.
The Cowgirls will stay in Laramie for a short break before hosting Long Beach State on Nov 7. They tip-off at 6:30 from the Arena Auditorium.
