Cowgirls Travel to Face San Jose State Wednesday Night
Courtesy photo
7 p.m., tip from the Golden State
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 27, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirl Basketball team returns to the court with a trip to the Golden State for a 7 p.m., Mountain Time Wednesday tip off against San Jose State. The Cowgirls are looking to rebound from a 61-56 loss Saturday against Colorado State.
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 (11-9, 5-3 MW) got 34 points from Allyson Fertig in the loss to the Rams. The 34 points are tied for the fifth-most for a single game in program history. Fertig, who also added 15 rebounds and two blocks in the loss, made 15 field goals against CSU, tied for the third-most makes in program history for one game. It also marks the first time since 1989 that a Cowgirl has made 15-or-more field goals in the same game.
For her efforts against CSU, and earlier in the week at Air Force, Fertig was named the Mountain West Player of the Week for the second time this season. On the week, Fertig averaged 24.5 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 59.5-percent (22-37) from the floor. It marks the fifth time in her career that Fertig has received player of the week honors from the league.
Nearly halfway through league play this season, Fertig is first in the MW in scoring (20.6 PPG), is second in rebounding (9.5 RPG), is first in blocked shots (2.6 BPG), is second in minutes played (35.7 MPG) and leads the league in field goal percentage at 59.8-percent. Malene Pedersen is second during conference action shooting 54.3-percent from the floor and is 13th scoring nearly 14 points a contest.
Defensively, Emily Mellema’s 2.4 steals per game in league play ranks second-best. Mellema is tied for fifth averaging 3.8 assists per contest. After her nine-assist, zero-turnover performance against Colorado State, Ola Ustowska is the Mountain West leader with a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. Pedersen (3.1) and Mellema (1.4) are third and eighth, respectively.
As a team, the Cowgirls are sixth in the Mountain West in scoring average (67.6) and are second in scoring defense (62.5). Wyoming’s 49.1-percent team shooting percentage is tops in the league while opponents’ 41.1-percent from the floor ranks fourth-best in the MW. The Cowgirls are second in the conference shooting 37.6-percent from 3-point range while their plus-5.9 rebounding margin leads the league.
SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE
San Jose State has a balanced offensive attack this season with seven Spartans scoring at least seven points per game and five scoring at least 9.3 a contest. The Spartans are led by Amiah Simmons’ 11.1 points per game, as she is the only Spartan averaging in double figures. Djessira Diawara is second on the team averaging 9.4 a contest and leads SJSU with 6.4 rebounds a contest. Sydni Summers leads the team with 52 assists and 45 made 3-pointers. Jasmine Singleton has a team-leading 34 steals this season.
On the year, the Spartans are averaging 65.4 points per game and allowing 68.8. SJSU is shooting 40.7-percent from the field and 30.2-percent from 3-point range. San Jose State opponents shoot it at an even 40-percent and is hitting nearly 34-percent from beyond-the-arc. The Spartans have a plus-4.3 rebounding margin and average better than one assist more than their opponents in 2024-25. San Jose State turns the ball over more than three times per game than opponents do. Six of SJSU’s nine wins this season have come at home.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST SAN JOSE STATE
The Cowgirls lead the all-time series against the Spartans, 18-3. Wyoming has won 13-straight in the series, having last lost in March of 2016 in San Jose. UW is 8-2 all-time on the road in the series. In four career games against the Spartans, Malene Pedersen is averaging 13 points per game. Last season in San Jose, Tess Barnes scored 21 points and hit five 3-pointers in the win.