Cowgirls Dominate South Dakota Wire-to-Wire, 79-45

Four score in double figures for Wyoming

VERMILLION, S.D. (Dec. 15, 2024) – Much like they did in March in last season’s WNIT, the Wyoming Cowgirls took care of business against South Dakota with a great performance on both ends of the court. The Cowgirls blistered the nets offensively, especially from the outside and played strong defense on the way to a 79-45 victory. UW outscored USD 49-19 combined in the second and third quarters.

The Cowgirls started the game by hitting each of their first two 3-point attempts to take an early lead. After an Emily Mellema three-point play, UW held an early 9-3 advantage. Wyoming led 14-3 at the first quarter media timeout as the hot start continued. Following the timeout, the lead was built up to as many as 14 before the offense slowed down to end the quarter. The Cowgirls led 18-7 after one.

Mellema opened the second with back-to-back 3-pointers and the Wyoming lead surged to 24-9 with eight minutes left in the half, forcing a Coyote timeout. Out of the timeout, UW went up by 18 before USD started to find its range and cut the score down to 31-18. However, the Cowgirls responded after that, continuing the hot shooting from the outside with back-to-back 3-pointers, going back up 37-18 with under two to play in the half. The lead ballooned from there, to 41-18 at the half.

The third quarter began with more hot outside shooting and strong defense from the Cowgirls as they built up a 55-20 advantage to open the half. After the quarter’s media timeout, USD trimmed the lead down to 55-26 before Wyoming had yet another answer in the game. The Cowgirls closed the third on a 12-0 run and led 67-26 after three.

In the fourth, UW emptied the bench and played mostly just subs in the quarter. USD would outscore the Cowgirls in the frame to make the final score a bit more respectable.

Wyoming hit a season-best 14 3-pointers in the victory and shot nearly 54-percent from beyond-the-arc. Overall, the Cowgirls shot a season-high 54.5-percent, going 30-of-55. South Dakota shot just 25.4-percent, which was even lower before a solid shooting fourth quarter. The Cowgirls enjoyed a 46-26 advantage in the rebounding department and outscored the Coyotes by 18 (30-12) in paint points.

UW recorded a season-best 23 assists on those 30 made field goals (77-percent). The Cowgirl bench was solid in the win, providing 20 points. Kati Ollilainen led the Wyoming reserves with a season-high 10 points. Karoline Lundin had seven in the fourth.

Allyson Fertig led all scorers with 17 points in the win and was just one rebound shy of a second straight double-double. Tess Barnes, Mellema and Ola Ustowska all added 12 each and combined to shoot 11-for-15 from beyond-the-arc. The 12 from Ustowska are a season-best in scoring for her. This marks the first time that five Cowgirls have scored in double figures in the same game since that victory over USD last season.

Next up, Wyoming closes its month away from home with a trip to Omaha, Nebraska for a 5 p.m., Mountain Time matchup at Creighton.