(Autumn McPherson Photo)
Folks I have to admit looking at this game I expected nothing but another tally to the Wyoming Cowgirls losing streak but boy was I wrong. The last time these two teams met it was a 29-point game–but it was a totally different story tonight.
The Cowgirls opened an offensive clinic down in Las Vegas. The UNLV Lady Rebels didn’t play badly by any means tonight, but the Cowgirls could do no wrong, beating the Lady Rebels despite them having the top two rebounders in the Mountain West.
The Cowgirls from the whistle always had a grip on this game, as the first shot they made was draining a three. They set the tone early and stuck to it.
At first I was confused at why the Cowgirls were only shooting from beyond the arch, but they silenced my doubt real quick. With four minutes left in the half the Cowgirls were shooting 50% from the arch.
The Cowgirls’ zone defense was a horrifying sight for the Lady Rebels, as even when they found ways to score the Cowgirls would march down the court and sink a three. At the end of the first half the score was 45-32 in favor of the Cowgirls.
While the score was impressive, the really impressive stat was the Cowgirls making 11 three pointers in just the first half.
The third quarter came and went and the Lady Rebels came out firing, not wanting to go down without a fight. The Lady Rebels put up 17 points in the third but the Cowgirls kept draining threes like nothing. The Cowgirls put up 16 points and added four more threes to make their total to 15 made triples in the first three quarters.
With one quarter remaining and the Cowgirls looking at the upset, they put the game to rest. Three of the Cowgirls including Jane Rumpf, Malen Pedersen, and Henna Sandvik all had 20-point performances as the Cowgirls completed the upset.
The Cowgirls had previously lost to the Lady Rebels by nearly 30, but tonight the Cowgirls’ trigger fingers were red hot and they showed that they have the fastest hands in the west. The Cowgirls went absolutely ballistic tonight shooting 44% from the three ending the game with 16 total three pointers made, 47% from in the paint, and 83% from the line. The Cowgirls showed off their shooting skills tonight making all of us Cowboys and Cowgirls here in the beautiful state of Wyoming proud. The final score was 82-72, with the Cowgirls pulling off a massive upset.
