Cowgirls Deliver a Bronco Beatdown in 79-45 Win

Largest margin of victory over Boise State in series history 

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 1, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls put together a dominant performance Saturday afternoon inside the Arena-Auditorium as they played arguably their most-complete game of the season in a 79-45 romp over Boise State. Allyson Fertig and Emily Mellema both scored 22 points in the rout. The 34-point margin of victory is the most for the Cowgirls against Boise State in series history.

The two strong defensive teams flexed their defensive prowess to begin the contest as Wyoming got five of the first six hoops of the game to take an early 10-2 lead. Boise State would respond before the first quarter media timeout, cutting the score down to 10-7 Cowgirls at the timeout. Following the media, Fertig would score six points and Kati Ollilainen would get a spinning layup to fall to push the UW advantage back up to 18-7. After a Mellema coast-to-coast steal-and-score, the Wyoming lead was 20-7 after one. The Cowgirls’ first 24 points from made field goals came inside the paint Saturday.

After UW got the first hoop of the second quarter, the two teams started trading scores back-and-forth. The Cowgirl lead was down to 28-17 at the media timeout. Out of the timeout, turnovers continued to hurt Wyoming’s efficient offense, but back-to-back layups got the lead up to 15, 32-17 with a little over three minutes left in the half. The swarming Cowgirl defense and then back-to-back 3-pointers from Malene Pedersen and Mellema forced a Boise State timeout with 1:48 remaining in the quarter as UW’s lead was 38-20. Wyoming led 38-21 at the break.

The Cowgirls’ efficient offense continued to open the second half as they went up by as many as 21 to open the third quarter. After a McKinley Dickerson layup fell, Boise State called a timeout with 6:23 left in the third as the Wyoming lead ballooned to 46-25. After the timeout, the Cowgirl onslaught continued as they led by 26 after a Dickerson 3-pointer. Following a media timeout, the rest of the quarter saw the two schools exchanging buckets as Wyoming led by as many as 28 points. UW led 57-33 heading to the fourth.

The deficit remained relatively unchanged to open the fourth quarter as the Cowgirls led 63-36 with under seven minutes to play. After a pair of pull-up jumpers from Emily Mellema and then a three from the senior, the Wyoming advantage surpassed the 30-point mark. Mellema’s personal run reached nine-straight, and was then followed by a Fertig layup that capped the incredible game for the Cowgirls. The Brown & Gold led 76-38 when the reserves came in for the final 3:45.

“I think this is one of the best games we’ve played as far as stringing together four quarters,” said Head Coach Heather Ezell.

“I think that’s some of the best execution I’ve seen from us, defensive-wise. But really, on both ends, that was some pretty good basketball we put together for 40 minutes.”

Wyoming shot 55.6-percent from the floor and hit 4-of-11 from 3-point range. Boise State shot a season-low 30.5-percent and went just 1-of-8 from beyond-the-arc. The 45 points by the Broncos are also a season worst. The Cowgirls enjoyed a big 43-28 rebound advantage, as well as a 58-34 spread in points in the paint. Wyoming outscored the Broncos 20-6 in points off turnovers and 15-9 in second-chance points. UW also scored nine fastbreak points to Boise’s two

In addition to their 22 points each, Fertig and Mellema combined to shoot 19-of-27 from the floor. Mellema had four steals defensively while Fertig pulled down 17 rebounds in the win. Pedersen closed the game with 15 points and five assists while Ola Ustowska and Tess Barnes had six and four assists, respectively.

The Cowgirls are off for a week now as it is time for the Bye Week. Wyoming returns to action February 8 with a trip to San Diego State for a 2 p.m., Mountain Time tip.