Cowgirls Host Lobos for Pivotal Wednesday Night Matchup
Courtesy photo
Wyoming secures at least the three seed with a win
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 24, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls return home after a week of road games to host New Mexico Wednesday night. Tip time against the Lobos is at 6:30 from the Arena-Auditorium.
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 (17-10, 11-4 MW) is coming off a thrilling come-from-behind 45-42 victory Saturday at Nevada. The Cowgirls held the Wolf Pack scoreless for the final 9:01 of the contest, erasing a 14-point deficit with a 17-0 run to end the game. The comeback culminated on a Malene Pedersen corner 3-pointer with under a minute to play to break the 42-42 tie. Tess Barnes led all scorers with 13 points in the victory while Emily Mellema and Pedersen scored 10, each. The Cowgirls pulled out the win despite scoring a season-low in points and shooting a season-worst 31.4-percent from the field. UW shot 7-of-12 in the game’s final 10 minutes.
Across all games this season, the Cowgirls have a trio scoring in double figures, led by Allyson Fertig’s 19.4 points per game. Pedersen is averaging 13.3 a contest while Mellema is scoring 10.2 a game. Barnes is on the cusp of scoring in double digits, averaging 9.9 per contest. In Mountain West games, Fertig remains the league-leader in scoring (20.4), rebounding (10.7) and blocks per game (2.1) while shooting a league-best 60.6-percent from the field. Pedersen, who is 10th in the MW in scoring (14.9), trails only Fertig in field goal percentage, shooting 54-percent in league action. Ola Ustowska and Mellema rank fifth (3.7) and seventh (3.4), respectively in the conference in assists per game.
Despite the poor shooting against Nevada, Wyoming still leads the conference in league play shooting 48.3-percent from the floor as a team. The Cowgirls also moved into the top spot in defensive scoring thanks to Saturday’s efforts and now allow just 59.3 points per contest in Mountain West action. Wyoming, who was held to just 12 assists in Saturday’s win, still paces the league averaging 17.27 assists per game, which is nearly three better than UNLV and Colorado State (14.29), who are tied for second.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO
New Mexico is led by the league’s highest-scoring duo across all games in Destinee Hooks and Viane Cumber, who are averaging 16.3 and 16.1 points per game, respectively. Cumber far-and-away leads the Lobos with 78 made 3-pointers on 37.7-percent shooting, also leads UNM with 73 made free throws and is one of the nation’s top free-throw shooters, shooting over 91-percent at the line. Alyssa Hargrove leads the team averaging 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Hulda Joaquim leads New Mexico averaging 7.3 rebounds per contest while Amhyia Moreland has a team-high 41 blocks.
As a team, the Lobos are averaging over 72 points per game and are allowing just over 69 a contest. UNM is shooting 43.3-percent from the floor and 34-percent from beyond-the-arc. Lobo opponents are shooting just under 41-percent and 32-percent from 3-point range. New Mexico has a plus-3.2 rebounding margin and averages 8.3 steals per contest. The Lobos average nearly 15 assists per contest. New Mexico enters Wednesday riding a three-game winning streak.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST NEW MEXICO
New Mexico leads the all-time series, 47-40 and won this season’s earlier meeting, 73-67 back in January in Albuquerque. Wyoming has lost four of the last five contests against the Lobos in Laramie. The Cowgirls last won in the AA, 78-69 in January of 2023. UW is 27-14 in the series against New Mexico at home. UNM has won four straight in the series, dating back to February of 2023.