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Cowgirls Face-Off with Air Force Wednesday on the Road

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By
Kevin DeVries, Athletic Communications Coordinator — Tennis, Volleyball and Women's Basketball

Wyoming looks to bounce back at 4 p.m., at the USAFA 

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 20, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls look to bounce back from a tough loss Sunday with a Wednesday afternoon trip to face Air Force at 4 p.m., at the United State Air Force Academy.

Wednesday’s game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (10-8, 4-2 MW) is coming off a 72-71 overtime loss Sunday on the road at UNLV. Sunday’s contest featured 17 lead changes. In the loss, Allyson Fertig recorded her third consecutive game with 20-plus points as she ended the game with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor. It was Fertig’s ninth 20-point outing of the season. In the last five games, Fertig has scored 20-or-more in four of those contests. During that stretch, Fertig is averaging 20.4 points per game on nearly 60-percent shooting from the field. Defensively during those five games, Fertig is also averaging 2.6 blocks per contest.

Emily Mellema and Malene Pedersen both scored 16 points in the loss to the Lady Rebels. Mellema also led the way with six assists and three steals in the loss. Mellema is now averaging a team-high 3.7 assists per game this season, which ranks fourth in the Mountain West. Mellema, who is averaging 3.6 steals per game over the last seven contests, ranks second in the league with 2.33 steals per game. Mellema’s 1.53 assist-to-turnover ratio this season is fourth in the MW. After Sunday, Pedersen is now 44 points away from joining the 1,000-Point Club. She would become the 30th member in program history.

The Cowgirls are shooting a league-leading 45.2-percent from the floor this season. Over the last five games, UW has shot 50-percent-or-better from the field in four of those games and is shooting nearly 51-percent overall during that span. Wyoming also leads the Mountain West in assists per game as a team, coming into Wednesday averaging 15.3 a contest. The Cowgirls are also third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.08), scoring defense (60.9) and blocks per game (3.6).

SCOUTING AIR FORCE
Air Force is led by one of the league’s top-scoring duos this season in Milahnie Perry (16.4 PPG) and Madison Smith (14.2 PPG). Perry leads the Falcons with 58 made free throws and 111 field goals. Smith, meanwhile, leads the league with 46 steals and has a team-high 28 made 3-pointers. Jayda McNabb leads AFA with 7.8 rebounds per game while her 4.3 offensive rebounds per game leads the league. Jo Huntimer’s 3.9 assists per game and 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio are both second-best in the league.

As usual, the Falcons lead the Mountain West in steals per game as a team, recording 12.35 per game, which is better than three steals per game more than the second-best mark in the conference. Air Force is averaging 65.7 points per game and is allowing 61.1 a contest. AFA is shooting 39.3-percent overall from the field and just under 28-percent from 3-point range. Falcon opponents are shooting 44-percent overall and 30.6-percent from beyond-the-arc. The Falcons are committing 7.3 fewer turnovers per game than their opponents. Air Force is at the bottom of the league averaging 32.4 total rebounds per game but ranks third in the MW in offensive rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST AIR FORCE
Wyoming is 60-4 all-time in the series against the Falcons with all four losses coming on the road. The Cowgirls have won four consecutive games in the series, with the last loss coming in Colorado Springs in February of 2022. In six career games against AFA, Fertig is shooting nearly 84-percent (36-43) from the field.

 

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