Cowgirls:
Despite getting a career-high 27 points from Alba Sanchez Ramos and making 15 3-pointers, tied for the third-most as a team for a single game in program history, it wasn’t enough for Wyoming to overcome Fresno State Monday night in Laramie as the Cowgirls fell in another thriller with the Bulldogs, this time in overtime, 83-80.
Sanchez Ramos went 9-for-18 from the field overall, including a 5-for-8 night from 3-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to pour in her second 20-point effort of the season. The nine made field goals sets a new career-high for Sanchez Ramos while the five made 3-pointers ties her career-best. Sanchez Ramos also had a nice all-around game as she grabbed nine rebounds, a season high, to go along with four assists and a career-best three steals.
Wyoming (4-3, 2-2 MW) got out to a fast start in the loss Monday, scoring the first eight points of the game and led 20-9 after one quarter of play, thanks in large part to Sanchez Ramos’ 11 in the frame. In the second quarter however, the Bulldogs (4-4, 2-2 MW) would return the favor in the second and eventually took the lead, 32-31 with three minutes left to play in the half. An Ola Ustowska 3-pointer with under a minute left in the second put UW back in front 34-32, a score they would carry into halftime.
In the second half, the Cowgirls looked to have regained control of the contest once again, leading by as many as eight, 49-41 with 5:29 left to play in the quarter, but FSU would again respond, closing the third on a 15-6 run and taking a 56-55 lead into the final period.
The fourth quarter brought about four ties and six lead changes as the two teams battled back-and-forth. Wyoming got out to an early advantage in the frame thanks to a Quinn Weidemann 3-pointer that made the score 63-59 Cowgirls with 7:28 left in the fourth. However, Fresno would take the lead back at 67-66 with 4:48 to play. After the two teams exchanged baskets over the next two minutes, Sanchez Ramos’ layup with 1:46 remaining, knotted the score at 71-71. Less than 30 seconds later, Hanna Cavinder would give the Bulldogs a 72-71 lead on a free throw while Dagny Davidsdottir went 1-of-2 in her own trip to the line with 16 seconds left to tie the game at 72 all and send it into overtime.
In the extra frame, Fresno State was able to break open a 74-74 tie with under a minute to play thanks to back-to-back turnovers from the Cowgirls made it 78-76 with 28 seconds left to play. Sanchez Ramos would try to will the Cowgirls to victory, scoring five points in the final 13 seconds but FSU hit its free throws to ice the game and earn a split with UW in the series.
“I’ve got to give them credit,” said Head Coach Gerald Mattinson in his postgame comments.
“I think they made some tough plays, they made some extra plays. They kept attacking the basket, we tried everything but we let them get too deep, too close, too often and that’s what they do, they’re a good team.”
The Bulldogs shot well from the floor in the win, going 31-of-62 overall from the field and 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range while hitting 13-of-17 at the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Cowgirls were buoyed by their 15-of-31 performance from 3-point range but shot just 36.8 percent overall from the floor, including going just 13-for45 inside the arc.
Fresno State had a big advantage on the night in both points in the paint (42-22) and fast break points (21-2) while the Cowgirls enjoyed a 19-6 edge in second-chance points, thanks to grabbing 21 offensive rebounds, a season-high and out-rebounding the Bulldogs 49-32 on the night.
“I give Fresno credit, they came in and they played tough and made some tough plays and got the split,” said Mattinson.
Weidemann and Jaye Johnson had big nights in the loss for the Cowgirls. Weidemann scored 16 points and hit four 3-pointers while also dishing-out a career-high six assists and blocking a career-best two shots while Johnson also set a career mark in scoring, 12 while hitting 4-of-8 from 3-point land. Dagny Davidsdottir chipped in with seven points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds. Tommi Olson added six boards and six assists of her own in the loss.
Next up, the Cowgirls are off for a week before traveling to face Boise State in a pair of road contests January 11 and 13. Both games are set to tip at 2 p.m.
Cowboys:
The Wyoming Cowboys struggled from the field in an 81-61 loss to Fresno State on Monday evening in the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. Wyoming shot 39 percent from the field for the lowest total of the season. The Bulldogs also held the Pokes to a season low 61 points. The Cowboys move to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play with the Bulldogs improving to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the MW.
“I think Fresno State had their back against the wall and they wanted to come out and find a win and give them credit,” UW head coach Jeff Linder said. “In this league you have to play like your backs are against the wall every game. In the first half, Fresno State did a great job defending the three point line, but we missed some layups and free throws. We will learn from it and get better.”
Wyoming was led by Freshman Marcus Williams with 22 points on the night, as he has scored in double-figures in every game this season. It marked his fourth game with 20 or more points this season. He also added a team-high seven rebounds in the contest. Sophomore Kwane Marble II added 12 points off the bench going 6-of-9 from the field. Junior Hunter Maldonado added 11 points.
Wyoming attempted only 17 three pointers on the night and connected on a season-low five triples. Fresno State shot 55 percent from the field and owned a 42-25 advantage on the boards. Wyoming offense was credited with only six assists on the night for a season-low.
“It is hard to win on the road,” Linder said. “We found a way to split the series. With a young team, we are going to have to learn a lot from it. We look forward to getting back on the floor.”
The Pokes held the Bulldogs to 1-of-5 from the field to open the game to build an early 5-2 advantage in the opening three minutes of play. The Pokes would move the lead to 8-3 a minute later thanks to an and-one play from sophomore Kenny Foster.
Marble II came off the bench for the Cowboys and added a pair of acrobatic layups to help the Pokes build a 13-7 lead with 12:45 left in the opening frame. Fresno State would make four-straight field goals to make it a 17-17 game halfway through the half.
Fresno State would take its first lead of the game with a triple from Orlando Robinson and he would add a layup for a 22-19 Bulldog advantage with 8:24 left in the half. Fresno State added to the lead with a pair of three-pointers from Jordan Campbell for a 28-19 lead, as Wyoming went scoreless for over four minutes.
The Bulldogs would maintain the advantage and took a 37-26 lead into the half. The Cowboys were held to 33 percent from the field in the first half and were 1-of-7 from behind the arc. Williams would make it a 10-point contest at 45-35 with his first triple of the game with 14:26 left in the contest.
The Pokes would make it a nine point contest thanks to Marble II and junior Drake Jeffries with 13 minutes left in the game. Jeffries added a triple with Marble II adding a layup. But the Pokes could not break anymore into the lead, as Fresno State moved the contest back to double-digits.
Fresno State built the lead to 41-27 in the opening minutes of the second half. Maldonado would make it an 11-point game at 41-30 with an and-one play with 12:25 left in the game.
The Bulldogs would push the lead to as much as 18 points with 4:06 left in the game. Wyoming cut the deficit to 14 points with a three-pointer from Jeffries to make it a 72-58 contest with 3:17 remaining. Williams made it an 11-point game with 2:18 left, but the Pokes could not break through anymore falling 81-61
The Bulldogs were led by Robinson with 33 points, as he added 13 rebounds on the night. He was 12-of-16 from the field for Fresno State. Christian Gray added 17 points and nine rebounds on the night.
The Cowboys return to action next Monday hosting Boise State in the Arena-Auditorium at 7 p.m. in a contest on CBS Sports Network.