(Autumn McPherson Photo)
Wyoming Cowgirl basketball head coach Heather Ezell has been imploring her team to shoot the basketball throughout conference play. The Cowgirls have struggled offensively all season long, ranking dead last in the conference in scoring offense–however, the Cowgirls’ best performances within league play has been when they’ve shot the three-ball well. The Cowgirls average just over seven three-point makes in conference games, good for the fourth amongst their fellow Mountain West opponents.
It was no surprise, then, when the Cowgirls found their second straight win in conference play after starting blazing hot from three-point distance against the Utah State Aggies. The Cowgirls wasted little time taking a 9-0 lead behind three straight triples to open the contest, followed by a fourth long range make to take a 12-3 lead.
They never looked back from there as they cruised to a 63-51 victory.
“We were obviously very excited after we [beat] Air Force on Saturday and we had that good momentum,” senior Henna Sandvik said. “We really wanted to get another win and stack wins. So, I feel like we had great energy coming into the game.”
If there was anything to be critical about in the Cowgirls’ dominant performance in this victory, it would certainly be their disposition in turning the ball over. The Cowgirls ended the opening half of play with three straight turnovers, which allowed the Aggies to whittle a double-digit lead down to just five at the break–which could have even been a three-point game had senior Malene Pedersen not hit a miraculous fall-away buzzer beater in the dying seconds of the half.
“The only way they were scoring was off our turnovers,” Ezell said. “It’s gotta be one of those focus things where we’ve got to be able to have a little bit more toughness.”
Besides the Cowgirls’ less than ideal amount of turnovers, they completely controlled every other aspect of the contest. The Cowgirls nullified their turnover-prone offensive performance by completely controlling the paint, outrebounding the Aggies by 18 while simultaneously outscoring them by 10.
Ezell was most impressed by her team’s defensive prowess, though. The Cowgirls have held their opponent to less than 52 points in their last two wins, a mark that has been a recipe for success this season as the Cowgirls are now 4-0 when doing so.
“We’ve just been really locked into our scout. They’re just really understanding, we’ve been putting a big emphasis on understanding personnel and making sure we really know what the guard is and what the rotations are,” Ezell said.
“We’ve always put a big emphasis on [defense] because we know that shots aren’t always gonna fall for us, but if we can rely on our defense we can be in almost any game.”
And even despite the Cowgirls’ offensive output ranking them at the bottom of the league, that side of the ball has certainly come along as the season has progressed. The Cowgirls have enjoyed much more scoring depth of late, Pedersen–the Cowgirls’ leading scorer–only chipped in 10 points in this one. That ties her lowest point total of the season.
It ultimately didn’t matter in the end, as her team had her back.
“We have more players contributing, which is very important,” Sandvik said. “I think that has been the biggest difference, just everyone kind of getting their confidence being more aggressive offensively.”
Sandvik led the way with 14 points, followed by Pedersen with her 10 point night. Freshman Jane Rumpf had another dynamic performance despite struggling with foul trouble most of the game, finishing with eight points and team and game highs with eight rebounds and four assists. Aurore Eyango chipped in eight points off the bench for a career high, as well.
The Cowgirls will hope to replicate their success against the Aggies this Saturday in a rare set of back-to-back contests between the two teams. If the Cowgirls are to find the win, it will earn them their longest winning streak this season–making it three victories in a row.
“I think the biggest thing is, who’s gonna make the best adjustments?” Ezell said. “You can’t go in and do the exact same thing, you’re gonna have to make a few adjustments.”
