Cowgirls advance to WNIT third round with win over South Alabama

Erjavec scored 19 points, and Weidemann hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter that helped UW get a 78-71 victory over South Alabama in front of 3,405 Sunday at Arena-Auditorium. UW (24-8) advances to the third round, where it hosts Pepperdine (22-11) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Cowgirls advance to the third round of this tournament for the first time since 2011.

UW got a game-high 22 points from senior forward Marta Gomez to go along with six rebounds. Eighteen of her points came during the second half. Senior forward Bailee Cotton added 16 points and nine rebounds despite playing just seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

The Cowgirls led by as much as six points in the first quarter, but with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left, Cotton picked up her second foul and didn’t return the rest of the first half. Cotton made her first four shots and had two rebounds.

South Alabama outscored UW 17-5 midway through the second quarter and led by as many as eight points. A layup by Erjavec cut the Jaguars’ lead to 35-33 at halftime.

Erjavec scored seven third-quarter points, while Cotton, Gomez and junior Taylor Rusk had five apiece. UW shot 50 percent in the quarter (7 of 14) and held South Alabama (25-11) to 38.5 percent (5 of 13). The Cowgirls outscored the Jaguars 22-13 in the quarter.

“Karla Erjavec played well for 40 minutes,” 16th-year UW coach Joe Legerski said. “She had the most difficult assignment defensively, and she comes up with 19 points offensively. She stayed focused the entire game.”

Erjavec had to guard South Alabama sophomore guard Savannah Jones, who had 14 points, but nine of those came in the first half, where she was 3 of 4 from 3-point range. In the second half, Jones was 1 of 11 from the floor.

Weidemann’s second 3-pointer of the game came with 45.3 seconds to play and gave UW a 71-63 lead.

“There was not a bigger shot than that in the game,” Legerski said.

The Cowgirls made 7 of 8 free throws after Weidemann’s 3 to secure the victory. Gomez went 4 of 4 from the line; Weidemann was 2 of 2.

“In the last five minutes of the game, I am counting on two freshmen to control the game and make plays, and I felt really comfortable with them out there,” Legerski said. “That has been the case all year long. They make mistakes due to their youth, but they just keep competing.”

Added Cotton: “(Erjavec and Weidemann) have stepped up in ways that I don’t anything could have imagined at the beginning of the year. They’re playing with confidence and poise, and that’s what we need. They’re a big part in what we do.”

Cotton played all but one minute in the second half. Despite the contributions of the two true freshmen, UW was a different team with Cotton on the floor.

“We are so much better offensively and defensively when (Cotton) is on the court,” Gomez said. “When she got in foul trouble that was one of the main reasons why we struggled, and we weren’t sure what we were doing.”

Like UW, South Alabama had four players score in double figures, led by junior guard Shaforia Kines’ 15 points. Sophomore forward Antionette Lewis added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lewis had 27 points and 13 rebounds in the Jaguars’ 73-71 come-from-behind victory at Lamar on Friday.

“We knew (Lewis) was really strong, and a big part of our game plan was helping off on her,” Cotton said. “(Gomez) did a great job of that. Our guard did good on their guards. I think our defensive executed what the plan was.”

Pepperdine outscored St. Mary’s 26-14 in the fourth quarter and 38-20 in the second half for a 65-61 road victory in its second-round game Sunday.

Free throws

The crowd of 3,405 ranks as the 12th-largest in UW women’s basketball postseason history. ... UW is 16-10 in its 10th appearance in the WNIT, and 15-6 under Legerski. ... Erjavec now has the UW freshman record for assists in a season by herself with 120. ... Senior point guard Clara Tapia is now fifth in career assists for the Cowgirls with 394. ... Gomez played in her 126th game for the Cowgirls, which is second-most in school history. The record is 133 by Aubrey Vandiver (2007-11). ... Cotton has drawn a team-best 20 offensive fouls this season. ... This was UW’s first game on a Sunday this season. ... UW improved to 4-4 this season when allowing 70 points or more this season. It also won for the first time in six games when trailing at halftime.

WYOMING 78, SOUTH ALABAMA 71

South Alabama...... 14 21 13 23 – 71

Wyoming...... 18 15 22 23 – 78

South Alabama: Carter 4-9 1-2 9, Lewis 7-13 0-1 14, Kines 5-11 3-6 15, Jones 4-15 2-2 14, Sykes 0-2 0-0 0, Morrow 0-0 0-0 0, Telemaque 2-3 3-4 7, Buster 0-2 0-0 0, Centers 5-6 0-0 12, Lowe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-61 9-15 71.

Wyoming: Rusk 2-7 1-2 6, Gomez 7-12 7-7 22, Cotton 6-7 4-7 16, Erjavec 7-15 3-3 19, Tapia 0-0 1-2 1, Vitulova 0-3 0-0 0, Rakovic 2-5 0-0 5, Weidemann 2-4 2-2 8, Tucker 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 26-54 19-25 78.

3-pointers: USA 8-18 (Jones 4-9, Centers 2-2, Kines 2-4, Carter 0-1, Sykes 0-2), UW 7-18 (Weidemann 2-4, Erjavec 2-7, Ramovic 1-1, Gomez 1-2, Rusk 1-3, Tucker 0-1). Rebounds: USA 38 (Lewis 10), UW 31 (Cotton 9, Gomez 6). Assists: USA 11 (Jones 3), UW 18 (Rusk 4, Tapia 4). Steals: USA 2 (Lewis 2), UW 7 (Rusk 2, Gomez 2). Blocked shots: USA 2 (Kines, Centers), UW 2 (Gomez 2). Turnovers: USA 13 (Lewis 4), UW 9 (Erjavec 3). Team fouls: USA 20, UW 16. Fouled out: USA 1 (Centers).

Attendance: 3,405.