Cowgirls Travel for Border War Round Two

6 p.m., contest slated for Saturday 

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 27, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls make their final road trip of the regular season Saturday with a trip to face off with Colorado State at 6 p.m., in the second installment of the 2025 Border War.

Saturday’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 (18-10, 12-4 MW) is coming off another impressive defensive performance in its 59-40 win Wednesday night in Laramie over New Mexico. The 40 points allowed are a season-low for the Cowgirls and are the fewest points scored by the Lobos since early last season. UW held UNM to under 32-percent shooting in the win. Allyson Fertig led all scorers with 15 points on the night and was one rebound shy of a double-double in the victory. Malene Pedersen and McKinley Dickerson also scored in double figures against the Lobos, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Tess Barnes had a great all-around game, scoring eight points, grabbing eight boards and tallying team-bests with four assists and two blocks.

The Cowgirls enter Saturday with the league’s No. 1 scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just over 58 points per game. Offensively, UW continues to lead the Mountain West in league action with a team field goal percentage of 47.7-percent. Wyoming is third in the conference in 3-point percentage (35.7-percent) and is second with a plus-4.4 rebounding margin. The Cowgirls average a league-high 17.1 assists per game and are third with a 1.22 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Individually, Fertig continues to pace the MW in scoring (20.1), rebounding (10.6) and blocks (2.0) per game. Fertig, who has dipped below 60-percent shooting during conference action, is still shooting a league-leading 59-percent from the field. Malene Pedersen still ranks second behind Fertig, shooting 52.5-percent overall and is just outside the top-10 in the MW in scoring, averaging 14.6 a contest. Fertig and Pedersen combine to be the league’s highest-scoring duo, averaging a combined 34.7 points per game.

In addition to Fertig’s league-leading blocks, Emily Mellema also sits atop the league averaging 2.3 steals per game. Wyoming has a trio ranking in the top seven in the conference in assists per game this season. Ola Ustowska’s 3.5 assists a contest are fifth in the MW while Mellema (3.3) and Pedersen (3.1) rank sixth and seventh, respectively. Pedersen’s 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third-highest in the Mountain West while Ustowska (2.9) and Mellema (1.3) rank fifth and eighth.

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
Colorado State is led by one of the top players in the league in Emma Ronsiek, who ranks third in the Mountain West in scoring, averaging 18 points per game. Ronsiek also leads the Rams with 81 assists and 64 made 3-pointers on 35.4-percent shooting from beyond-the-arc. Ronsiek is second on the team averaging six rebounds per game. Ronsiek’s sister, Hannah, leads the team averaging 6.1 baords per contest and has team-highs with 42 steals and 25 blocks. Hannah Simental is the other Ram averaging in double figures in scoring at 10.1 a game.

As a team, Colorado State is averaging 68.8 points per contest and is allowing just 60.1, defensively. The Rams are shooting 43-percent from the floor and 35.4-percent from 3-point range. Opponents shoot it at a 36.7-percent clip, is all and are making under 30-percent from three. The Rams have a minus-4.3 rebound margin, but has the best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.61) in the conference. CSU averages 14.4 assists per game and commits the fewest turnovers in the league, as it turns the ball over less than nine times per contest. The Rams force opponents into 12.8 turnovers per contest and commit the fewest fouls per game in the MW (13.4).

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST COLORADO STATE
With its 61-56 win in Laramie in the first meeting this season back in January, Colorado State broke a 57-57 tie in the all-time series. Wyoming is looking for its first win in Fort Collins since February of 2020. The Cowgirls are looking to snap a five-game losing streak on the road in the series. CSU has won each of the last two meetings in the series.