(Laramie, WY) – The Wyoming Cowgirls were able to overcome a sluggish first half shooting the ball Thursday night in Laramie, thanks to a big second half on their way to a 54-36 win over San Diego State in game one of the series with the Aztecs.
Wyoming (7-7, 5-6 MW) was powered by its two posts, Dagny Davidsdottir and Marta Savic in the win, as the duo combined for 31 points and 10 rebounds. Both recorded career-highs on the night as Davidsdottir scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting while also grabbing eight boards and recording a pair of steals. Savic meanwhile, went a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, scoring 12 points off the bench in replacement of Davidsdottir. As a team, the Cowgirls outscored SDSU 44-8 in the paint.
“For one, I’m pleased that we won, I’m happy for the kids,” said Head Coach Gerald Mattinson postgame.
“I told them after last week, it breaks my heart we lost both of those games, they played so hard at Nevada and played well enough defensively to let those slip away, that’s heartbreaking for me on behalf of them. But for us to come out and put together another great defensive effort today and then to be able to finally open it up a little bit and make some baskets, I thought our fives played really well, it feels really good.”
The Cowgirls held San Diego State (5-9, 3-5 MW) to just 30.2 percent (13-43) shooting for the game and allowed just 13 points in the first half. Wyoming shot nearly 37 percent (24-65) from the floor in the win, but shot 55 percent in the second half, including going 10-of-15 from the field in the third quarter and out-scoring the Aztecs, 22-11 to open the second half.
Both teams struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes as the Cowgirls held just a 19-13 lead going into halftime. UW shot 8-of-36 in the first half while the Aztecs went 5-of-21. Wyoming’s struggles from 3-point range lasted the whole 40 minutes as the Cowgirls shot just 1-of-21 from beyond-the-arc on the night.
Wyoming’s lone made 3-pointer was timely however, and helped spark a big run in the third quarter for the Cowgirls. Leading 24-17 with 6:29 to play in the third, Tommi Olson drained a 3-pointer to put the Cowgirls up by 10 and began a 13-3 run that lasted the next 4:14 of the quarter. A Savic layup capped the run and forced an SDSU timeout with 2:15 left in the quarter and Wyoming up 37-20. The Cowgirls led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter and carried a 41-24 lead into the fourth quarter. Davidsdottir was able to beat the buzzer on a layup set up nicely from Ola Ustowska to end the quarter for the Cowgirls.
In the fourth quarter, the Cowgirls led comfortably the whole way, leading by 16 to 18 points most of the final 10 minutes. SDSU got to as close as 46-32 with 3:45 to play, but from there, UW lengthened its lead to 20 points, 54-34, thanks to an 8-2 stretch with a pair of buckets each in the paint from both Savic and Ustowksa.
“It was a good night, it was good that we won, it was good that we played as well defensively as we did. We still have a ways to go offensively, but we played well enough tonight. It was also great playing in front of fans again. It was really nice to have them there and to have their encouragement, especially when they really got into it,” said Mattinson.
Davidsdottir and Savic were the only two Cowgirls in double figures but the rest of the scoring was very balanced. Ustowska added six points and a pair of assists while Olson and Alba Sanchez Ramos each added five points apiece. Olson tied for the team lead with eight rebounds while also dishing out a game-high six assists while Sanchez Ramos pulled down seven boards and tallied a block and a steal in the win.
The Cowgirls also got after it on the glass on the night, out-rebounding the Aztecs 44-34 and had a 15-5 advantage on offensive rebounds, leading to a 13-2 margin on second-chance points. SDSU had the slight edge on points off turnovers, 11-9, despite committing 11 more turnovers (19-8) than UW.
The two teams will return to action Saturday afternoon to close the series as UW looks for the sweep. The action tips off at 1 p.m.
—- COWBOYS —-
The Wyoming Cowboys saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Thursday evening falling to San Diego State 87-57 inside Viejas Arena in San Diego, Calif. SDSU held the Pokes to 30 percent from the field and shot 55 from the field themselves on their way to the win.
“San Diego State is the standard of the league and it starts on the defensive end of the floor,” UW head Coach Jeff Linder said. “With as young a team as we have, we are competing against one of the oldest in the country. It is good to experience that, but when you play against a team of their caliber and get their best shot it is tough. We dug a deep hole and we will take things away from this and be ready for Saturday.”
The Cowboys were led by sophomore Kwane Marble II added 15 points for his seventh game in double-figures this season and his third-straight. He also tied a career high with nine rebounds. Freshman forward Graham Ike with 10 for his second-straight game in double figures since debuting last weekend. He also added six rebounds. Freshman Marcus Williams did not reach double-figures for the first time this season, but did added seven assists for the night.
Wyoming allowed 11 three pointers on the night, as Wyoming had allowed 11 total makes in the last three games combined. The Aztecs were lethal in transition in the contest scoring 17 points and adding 15 points off turnovers.
Both teams opened the contest going 2-of-3 from the field with a triple for a 5-5 contest in the opening two minutes of action. The Aztecs would go on an 8-0 run with a pair of three-pointers to build a 19-7 with 15:06 remaining in the first half.
San Diego State added to its lead at 26-11 hitting three-straight field goals at the 12:45 mark of the half. SDSU added a 10-0 run for a 36-13 lead halfway through the frame opening the game 15-of-21 from the field for 71 percent.
The Aztecs would build a 46-18 lead with under seven minutes left in the half opening the game 6-of-8 from behind the arc for 75 percent, as Wyoming was held to 2-of-12 from deep. Ike would get to double-figures to close the half, but SDSU finished the frame hitting 6-of-8 from the field to take a 63-30 lead at the break.
Both offenses started slow in the second frame with each team going scoreless for nearly three minutes with San Diego State maintaining a 67-33 lead. The Aztecs defense held the Pokes 1-of-7 from the field over three minutes to make it an 82-43 game with under seven minutes remaining.
Wyoming held the Aztecs scoreless for over four minutes forcing five turnovers to make it an 82-49 game with under four minutes remaining. But the Aztecs first half was too much to overcome taking the first contest of the series.
The Aztecs, who scored 63 points in the first half for the most in the first frame in MW history had x players in double-figures. Jordan Schakel added 16 points and six rebounds. Matt Mitchell added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Wyoming and San Diego State wrap up their season series on Saturday in a contest on CBS Sports Network slated for an 8 p.m. MT start.