Fertig and Mellema Earn Player of the Year Nods to Headline All-Mountain West Honors
Courtesy photo
Fertig, Mellema and Pedersen receive All-MW honors
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 9, 2025) – A trio of Wyoming Cowgirls received All-Mountain West honors announced Sunday and is headlined by a pair of Mountain West Player of the Year Awards for Wyoming. Allyson Fertig was named the league’s Player of the Year while Emily Mellema was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Malene Pedersen, meanwhile, was selected to the All-Mountain West Team along with Fertig.
Fertig becomes the third Cowgirl in Mountain West history (Aubrey Vandiver – 2011 and Liv Roberts – 2018) and just the fourth (Amy Burnett – 1994 and 1995) in program history to be named the conference’s player of the year. Fertig finished the season in elite company as she joined Vandiver as the second Cowgirl in Mountain West history to win the league’s scoring crown. Fertig, who averaged 19.5 points per game this season, also led the MW in rebounds (11.5 RPG), blocks (2.1 BPG) and field goal percentage (58.4-percent). She becomes the seventh student-athlete in league history to lead the conference in both points and rebounds. Fertig is the second all time to lead the Mountain West in points, rebounds and field goal percentage and becomes the first to ever lead the league in points, rebounds and blocks. In addition, she becomes the first to ever lead the conference in all four statistical categories (points, rebounds, blocks and field goal shooting).
With her player of the year nod, Fertig was also named to the All-Mountain West Team for the third time in her career. She becomes the fifth Cowgirl in program history to be a three-time selection to the league’s highest all-conference team and the first since Hanna Zavecz in 2007-08. In conference play, Fertig scored in double figures in every game she appeared in and had eight games with 20-plus points and a pair of 30-plus point outbursts. Fertig also recorded eight double-doubles on the season. In addition to player of the year and her All-MW selection, Fertig was also selected to the five-player Mountain West All-Defense Team for the first time in her career. Fertig, who anchored the league’s No. 1 scoring defense, recorded 35 blocks during conference play and had 11 games with two-or-more blocks.
Mellema, who was the tip of the spear defensively for a Wyoming team that allowed just 58.4 points per game during league play and a 39.5-percent opponent shooting percentage, was second in the Mountain West averaging 2.2 steals per game. Mellema also recorded 12 blocks on the season, which was 16th in the conference and third-most amongst Mountain West guards. Mellema had 12 contests where she recorded multiple steals, including six games with three-or-more and had six steals, twice.
She becomes the fourth Cowgirl to ever be named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, joining Brenda Pickup (2004), Zavecz (2006 and 2008) and Bailee Cotton (2019). Mellema, who obviously was also named to the league’s All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive season, becomes the fifth Cowgirl to be named all-defense multiple times.
Pedersen, who was named to the All-Mountain West Team for the first time in her career, finished eighth in the league in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. Pedersen scored in double figures in 17-of-18 conference games and had four games with 20-plus points. Pedersen finished third in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 53-percent from the floor in league play. Pedersen shot 44.3-percent from 3-point range this season while finishing 17th in the conference in 3-pointers made per game and was 34-for-37 (92-percent) at the free-throw line.
Pedersen was third on the Cowgirls and ninth in the Mountain West in assists, averaging 2.9 per game. Her 2.79 assist-to-turnover ratio was fourth-best in the league. Pedersen recorded four-or-more assists in six games in 2025.
This trio and the rest of the Cowgirls now set their sights on the Mountain West Championship. Second-seeded Wyoming will play at 6 p.m., Mountain Time Monday in the quarterfinals against the winner of Air Force and Utah State in Las Vegas.