Cowgirls hold off Nevada, move to 8-2 in MW play

"It was definitely ugly," UW center Marta Savic said. "We made some mistakes that we’ve never made before. We made some dumb mistakes, and we played some motion (offense) that wasn’t the greatest. As long as we grinded it out, that’s all that matters."

It was tough sledding offensively right out of the gate, with the teams combining for just 10 points through the first four minutes of play. Nevada used a 7-0 run to take a three-point lead, and the slim lead held at 16-13 going into the second quarter.

The Cowgirls put together separate runs of 6-0 and 6-1 in the second frame, the latter which tied the game 25-25 going into the halftime break. UW shot 11-of-25 (44%) from the field through the first 20 minutes, but finished the half 0-of-4 from 3-point range. Savic led the Cowgirls with six points, followed by four players with four.

The Wolf Pack were led by Audrey Orden with eight points. Nevada out-rebounded the Cowgirls 18-14 and went into halftime shooting 11-of-28 (39.3%) from the field and 2-of-6 (33.3%) from deep.

The defensive battle carried over into the second half, with the longest runs of the third quarter being consecutive 4-0 stretches from UW. After a costly turnover from the Cowgirls in the final seconds of the third quarter, Nevada's Natalie Lathrop cut UW's lead to 40-37 with a mid-range jumper as time expired in the third period.

UW opened the final frame with a 6-0 run, and after missing its first eight 3-point attempts in the game, Ola Ustowska put the Cowgirls up 10 points with a deep ball with 5 minutes, 52 seconds remaining. Nevada got back within five twice in the final 2 minutes, but UW was able to ice the game with eight made free throws to close out the seven-point win. 

“We got stops when we needed to get stops, there’s no doubt,” UW coach Heather Ezell said. “For the most part, we controlled that (defensive) end. We held a team to 52 points. I think that speaks volumes of itself.

"It was just going, ‘Hey, we have to be able to convert those stops and be able to get some scores.’ I think we turned the ball over and gave them easy opportunities, where we couldn’t get our defense set.”

Forward Allyson Fertig led the Cowgirls with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and two steals. Guard Malene Pedersen added 10 points and six boards.

The Cowgirls shot 22-of-51 (43.1%) from the field and 14-of-16 (87.5%) from the free-throw line while winning the turnover battle 17-14. UW was aided by 20 points off the bench, including eight from freshman guard Maren McKenna.

“I think it was nice to get that production that we got off the bench,” Ezell said. “That was really big. Twenty points off the bench was huge, and we needed every one of them.

"We shared the ball in that sense of being able to score. I just wish we would have had a few more assists on those field goals.”

The win pushes UW to second place in the MW standings. UNLV — which beat the Cowgirls last week in Las Vegas — holds a one-game lead over UW.

The Cowgirls will stay at home to host Utah State (4-17, 1-9) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Arena-Auditorium.

“It’s nice to get the win,” Ezell said. “We have to have a little bit better focus, especially for the next game coming here. We can’t think we can just show up and play the way we did tonight. It’s going to be another battle.

"We have to make sure that we have a little bit better focus on both ends, but especially the offensive end. That’s really where we just got out of whack a little bit. I’d like to see that cleaned up.”

WYOMING 59, NEVADA 52

Nevada...... 16 9 12 15 — 52

Wyoming........ 13 12 15 19 — 59

Nevada: Sullivan 4-9 1-1 10, Roden 4-10 0-2 8, Davis 1-3 0-0 3, Givens 3-3 1-2 8, Lee 5-11 0-0 10, Borden 2-5 0-0 4, Maxie 2-6 1-2 5, Giuffre 0-3 0-0 0, Lathrop 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 23-56 3-7 52.

Wyoming: Mellema 2-6 1-2 5, Barnes 2-3 2-2 6, Pedersen 3-12 4-4 10, Ustowska 2-3 1-2 6, Fertig 5-10 2-2 12, Symons 1-1 0-0 2, Savic 3-6 0-0 6, McKenna 2-4 4-4 8, Dickerson 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 22-51 14-16 59.

3-pointers: UNR 3-9 (Sullivan 1-3, Davis 1-3, Givens 1-1, Lee 0-1, Giuffre 0-1); UW 1-12 (Mellema 0-1, Barnes 0-1, Pedersen 0-4, Ustowska 1-2, McKenna 0-1, Dickerson 0-3). Rebounds: UNR 34 (Lee 6, Lathrop 6); UW 31 (Fertig 7). Assists: UNR 9 (Lee 2, Giuffre 2, Lathrop 2); UW 8 (Ustowska 3). Turnovers: UNR 17 (Roden 4, Givens 4); UW 14 (Barnes 3, Ustowska 3). Steals: UNR 8 (Roden 2, Maxie 2); UW 5 (Fertig 2). Blocked shots: UNR 1 (Maxie 1); UW 2 (Barnes 1, Ustowska 1). Team fouls: UNR 18, UW 14.

Attendance: 2,644.