• Fertig nets a double-double in the win
The Wyoming Cowgirls pulled out a double overtime thriller Saturday night in Laramie, holding on to survive with a 77-72 win over Fresno State. Although Wyoming controlled much of regulation and didn’t trail since the first quarter, the Bulldogs were able to rally to force the overtimes. UW led for nearly 44 minutes of the game.
After getting the first three baskets of the game and taking an early 6-2 lead, UW (8-5, 1-1 MW) struggled on the offensive end in the first quarter as Fresno State (7-8, 0-2 MW) claimed a 7-6 lead at the first quarter media timeout. After the timeout, Grace Ellis got the Cowgirls going offensively with back-to-back layups. Ellis was responsible for six consecutive points as Wyoming pushed the lead up to 12-7. Wyoming put the clamps down defensively in the first and led 16-9 after one.
In the second, Wyoming again got off to a strong start before the Bulldogs would again respond and cut the Cowgirl lead down to 22-15. Both teams continued to play strong defense as Wyoming held a 23-17 lead at the second media timeout. Following the timeout, the Cowgirls continued to get strong looks from beyond-the-arc but couldn’t get the shots to fall as FSU trimmed the deficit down to four points. A Tess Barnes 3-pointer finally lifted the lid for the Cowgirls as they built their lead back up to 31-20 with a little over a minute to play in the half. Wyoming led 33-22 at halftime.
The Cowgirls shot an even 50-percent from the field in the game’s first 20 minutes but went just 2-of-10 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs shot 32-percent and hit one 3-pointer while going 5-for-7 at the free-throw line.
Both teams were sluggish offensively to begin the third quarter before a Grace Ellis 3-pointer gave the Cowgirls a 38-24 lead. A Malene Pedersen three-point play later in the frame built the Cowgirl advantage up to 41-26. Fresno State hung around in the third quarter thanks to numerous trips to the free-throw line as well as Cowgirl turnovers. UW led 43-32 at the media timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs went on a big run, cutting the Wyoming lead down to just 43-39 with two minutes left in the quarter. A pair of Allyson Fertig free throws ended FSU’s 9-0 run. The Cowgirls clung to a 48-42 lead heading into the fourth.
Wyoming got the lead up to 52-44 with 8:06 to play in the game and called a timeout to begin the fourth. After the timeout the two teams began trading hoops right away, which was then followed by a stretch of misses from both teams. The Cowgirls led just 57-52 with 2:31 to play before the Bulldogs took a timeout. FSU scored the final five points as the game was sent to overtime at 57-57 as UW got a final defensive stop at the end of regulation. The Cowgirls went the final six minutes of regulation without scoring.
In overtime the Bulldogs continued to hit tough, well-contested shots as Wyoming and Fresno traded buckets in the early goings of the extra frame. After the Cowgirls hit a pair at the line, the Cowgirls got a defensive stop on Fertig’s fifth block of the night. UW got a circus layup from Tommi Olson as the shot clock expired on the next offensive possession and FSU called a timeout with 52.1 seconds left and the Cowgirls up 67-63.
Out of the timeout the Bulldogs again answered as they did all night and got a running layup and then forced a Cowgirl turnover. FSU hit a game-tying turnaround jumper in the paint with eight seconds left and the game went to a second overtime after UW failed to score the next time down the court.
The second overtime went a lot like the first, with the two teams trading baskets as Fresno State continued to hit tough shots on the offensive end. UW called a timeout after taking a 73-69 lead with 1:58 to go after a pair of Olson free throws and a Fertig layup. Again though, FSU would respond as it got a three-point play before Ellis would respond with an elbow jumper with a little over a minute left. The Cowgirls forced a shot clock violation with 42.7 left on the next defensive possession.
Following a Cowgirl timeout, Pedersen hit a pair at the charity stripe. A missed 3-pointer and a defensive rebound by Fertig would seal the escape for the Cowgirls in double overtime.
“I thought we kind of sped up a little bit and weren’t as aggressive as we wanted to be, especially in the third quarter,” said Associate Head Coach Ryan Larsen.
“Fresno State made some incredibly tough shots tonight that I thought we defended really, really well. They were sometimes the more aggressive team offensively and they got to the free-throw line quite a bit. All credit to the women though for pulling a game like that out tonight. It wasn’t that long ago we played a couple of triple overtimes in this same building back in the spring. It helps to be in some of those games at times. The veteran leadership from Tommi (Olson) and Quinn (Weidemann) helps a bunch.”
Fertig led all scorers with 22 points on the night while pulling down 12 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the season. Fertig also collected a career-high with five blocks in the win. Pedersen and Ellis also had big nights offensively, scoring 18 and 17, respectively. Pedersen shot 6-of-10 from the floor and hit all five of her free-throw attempts. Pedersen also had six boards and three assists. The 17 from Ellis ties a career-best for her. Ellis was one rebound off a double-double as she grabbed nine boards and also had four assists. Olson tallied five assists in the win and had no turnovers.
The Cowgirls shot 28-for-62 (45.2-percent) on the night and hit just 5-of-20 from 3-point range. Wyoming was deadly at the free-throw line, however, making 16-of-17 at the stripe. FSU finished the night going 27-of-62 (43.5-percent) and hit 3-of-12 from deep. The Bulldogs made 15-of-18 at the free-throw line.
Wyoming had a 39-31 advantage in rebounds and had a slight 12-8 edge in second-chance points. UW also had an 11-9 lead in points off turnovers and outscored the Bulldogs 42-38 in points in the paint. The Bulldog bench scored 29 while Wyoming reserves had 11.
The Cowgirls now will play just one game next week as New Mexico is next up for the Brown & Gold. That contest will be played at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, January 5.
