STOCKTON, Calif. — The Wyoming Cowgirls basketball team started off strong and only got stronger as the game went on Saturday in a 67–48 victory over UC Davis.
Cowgirl veterans Grace Ellis and Quinn Weidemann took over in the game’s final four minutes, combining to score Wyoming’s final 15 points and ultimately stretching an eight-point lead into the eventual 19-point victory.
After a pair of missed free throws from Weidemann, Ellis was able to get the offensive rebound and kick it back out to Weidemann for a 3-pointer to push the Cowgirl lead to 55–44 with just over four minutes remaining. Weidemann then would get a driving layup and hit a pair at the free throw line to make it 59–44. After that, a pair of Ellis 3-pointers made it 65–48 with roughly a minute and a half to play. Weidemann would then seal the win with another layup with 46 seconds left for the game’s final bucket.
Unlike in Friday’s loss to Pacific, the Cowgirls came out strong, hitting 50% of their shots and leading by as many as nine in just the game’s first 10 minutes.
UW led 19–14 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Aggies would cut the deficit down to 25–21 with four minutes left in the half, but a 7–0 Wyoming run gave the Cowgirls what would be their biggest lead of the game until the final push in the fourth quarter, at 32–21.
In the third quarter, the Aggies continued to cut into the Wyoming lead but could never tie it up or take the lead, as the Cowgirls led from start to finish Saturday. The Aggies would trim the deficit to just 40–37 heading into the fourth quarter. UW responded to begin the fourth, scoring the first two baskets, and then never looked back.
“I have to give the girls a lot of credit for getting off to a fast start today and the way we came out to begin,” said head coach Heather Ezell.
“I was proud with the effort they played with to open the game. We talked about it yesterday; we knew we would have a quick turnaround and we talked about responding. We worked as a team really well on defense; it was a total team effort. The big thing today was, we had that toughness in our eyes.”
Weidemann and Ellis led the way for what was a balanced offensive attack. Weidemann scored a game-high 18 on 6-of-11 shooting and 3-for-6 from the 3-point range. Ellis, meanwhile, had 17 and hit 6-of-10 from the field and made a career-best three 3-pointers, going perfect from beyond the arc.
Off the bench, Marta Savic gave the Cowgirls a boost as she finished in double figures with 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Allyson Fertig pulled down nine rebounds and had nine points, while Ellis added seven rebounds.
For the game, the Cowgirls shot a season-best 46.2% and went 6-of-17 from behind the 3-point arc. UC Davis was held to just 31% for the game. The Cowgirls also held down one of the nation’s best scorers, UC Davis’s Evanne Turner. Turner entered the contest averaging 22 points per game this season and was held to just 11 against the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls now return home for their second three-game homestand of the season. Wyoming welcomes in Montana State for a Friday, Dec. 2 contest in Laramie.
