The University of Wyoming women’s basketball team accomplished something Wednesday that no other team in program history can claim.
Not the 2007-08 team that earned the program’s first and only NCAA Tournament bid.
Not the 2006-07 team that won the program’s first and only Women’s National Invitation Tournament title.
No Cowgirls team had ever won three straight conference games by 20-plus points — until now.
Wyoming used a huge second half — outscoring Utah State 38-21 — to pull away for a 71-48 victory in Logan, Utah
The 23-point win follows a 79-57 win over UNLV and a 70-48 victory over Fresno State last week.
The Cowgirls (12-3 overall, 4-0 Mountain West) have now won six straight overall and their 4-0 start to MW play matches the 07-08 team for the best conference start in program history. That team started MW play 5-0, something this year’s squad can match with a road win at Nevada on Saturday.
“You’re seeing the confidence that this team is playing with really continue to grow, no matter if we’re at home or on the road,” Cowgirls coach Joe Legerski said. “They’ve really bought in on the defensive end and we have the philosophy on offense to make the next pass and find the best shot and we did that tonight.”
The Cowgirls beat Utah State (8-8, 1-4 MW) by owning the first few minutes of the second, third and fourth quarters.
Wyoming used a 9-0 run to start the second stanza for a 27-18 lead. Leading 33-27 at the half, UW used an 11-4 run to push out to a 44-31 lead midway through the third quarter.
And the Cowgirls again had a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter for a 57-39 lead to kill any Utah State hopes of a comeback.
“Coach really talks about winning four-minute segments, even when we’re ahead,” Wyoming junior forward Natalie Baker said. “Especially on the road, we know that (the opposing) teams play with more confidence so we just wanted to come out each quarter and take it to them.”
Wyoming was led by Baker and sophomore forward Marta Gomez, who each totaled 17 points.
Baker — who also added a team-high 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season — did most of her work on the inside. Baker was 7 of 12 from the field with most of her makes coming in the paint. Her 17 points were a season high and two off her career mark, while the 11 rebounds tied her season best.
Gomez did her damage from behind the 3-point arc, going a perfect 5 of 5 on treys.
As a team the Cowgirls were 11 of 19 on 3-pointers.
“We knew there would be some gaps in their zones if we worked the ball around,” Baker said. “The drive was open and Clara (Tapia) did a great job finding me and everybody for open shots and we just knocked them down.”
UW junior Liv Roberts added 14 points — her 10th straight game of scoring at least 14 points — and had five rebounds and four assists and Tapia chipped in 10 points and four assists.
Wyoming totaled 21 assists in the game on 28 made baskets; the third straight game UW has accumulated 20-plus assists.
Defensively, Wyoming limited Utah State to 30.6 percent from the field (19 of 62) and 26.3 percent from the 3-point line (5 of 19).
The Cowgirls also forced 16 turnovers, compared to only six for UW.
The Aggies were paced by freshman forward Shannon Dufficy with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Coupled with New Mexico’s loss at UNLV on Wednesday, the Cowgirls are now the only undefeated team left in the Mountain West and alone in first place.
“We all love playing with each other and enjoy each other’s company on the bus and on these road trips,” Baker said. “We’ve just got to keep going and continue to make the plays that we know we can.”
Free throws
Wyoming improved to 17-10 all-time against Utah State. Gomez’s five 3-pointers now gives the sophomore 97 on her career, moving her past Ashley Sickles and Krista Treide for the No. 14 spot all-time at Wyoming. … UW improved to 11-1 this season when leading at the half, 8-1 in night games and 3-0 in games played Wednesdays.
Cowgirls 71, Aggies 48
WYOMING: Natalie Baker 7-12 2-2 17, Bailee Cotton 1-6 0-2 2, Liv Roberts 6-15 1-2 14, Clara Tapia 4-7 0-0 10, Hailey Ligocki 2-5 0-0 4, Daley Handy 0 0-0 0, Taylor Rusk 1-3 0-0 3, Rikka Kujala 0 0-0 0, Selale Kepenc 1-1 0-0 3, Marta Gomez 6-8 0-0 17, Skyler Snodgrass 0 0-0 0, Tijana Raca 0 0-0 0, Marleah Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Rachelle Tucker 0-0 1-1 1. TOTALS: 28-58 4-8 71.
UTAH STATE: Shannon Dufficy 4-11 2-2 12, Hailey Bassett 2-3 0-0 4, Eliza West 1-8 0-0 2, Jessie Geer 0-4 0-0 0, Rachel Brewster 4-14 0-0 9, Olivia West 4-4 0-0 9, Dee Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Katie Toole 3-4 0-0 7, Lizzy Klinker 0-3 3-4 3, Angelica De Paulo 0-3 0-0 0, Deja Mason 1-5 0-0 2. TOTALS: 19-62 5-6 48.
Wyoming 19 14 15 23 — 71
Utah State 17 10 12 9 — 48
3-pointers: Wyoming 11-19 (Gomez 5-5, Tapia 2-2, Kepenc 1-1, Rusk 1-2, Baker 1-3, Roberts 1-5, Cotton 0-1 ); Utah State 5-19 (O. West 1-1, Toole 1-1, Dufficy 2-6, Brewster 1-3, E. West 0-1, Klinker 0-1, De Paulo 0-1, Mason 0-1, Geer 0-4). Rebounds: Wyoming 31 (Baker 11, Roberts 5, Cotton 3, Gomez 3, Tapia 2, Campbell 2, Ligocki); Utah State 42 (Dufficy 16, E. West 5, Brewster 5, Mason 5, Moore 3, Klinker 2, De Paulo 2, Bassett, Geer). Assists: Wyoming 21 (Roberts 4, Tapia 4, Ligocki 4, Rusk 4, Gomez 2, Cotton, Handy, Campbell); Utah State 9 (E. West 3, Geer 2, Brewster 2, Dufficy, O. West). Turnovers: Wyoming 6 (Ligocki 4, Tapia, Gomez); Utah State 16 (Dufficy 5, Geer 3, O. West 3, Moore 2, Bassett, Brewster, De Paulo). Blocks: Wyoming 0; Utah State 8 (Dufficy 3, Toole 2, Mason 2, E. West). Total fouls: Wyoming 8; Utah State 10. Fouled out: none. Attendance: 528. Referees: Michael Price, Penny Davis, Jack Jones.
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