Cowgirls put on shooting clinic in win over SJSU

"(The team) had the focus," coach Heather Ezell told KFBC Radio. "We talked about bringing our own energy, and it took nothing more than making a few early three's to get us rolling.

"You saw it in their eye. They were ready to get back in that win column and it started yesterday in shoot-around."

Junior Tess Barnes and freshman Maren McKenna combined to go 7-of-8 (87.5%) from beyond the arc in the first half. Senior Ola Ustowska filled the stat sheet with four rebounds and three assists to contribute to the lead.

San Jose State lost the rebounding battle 15-9 and trailed 51-30 going into the second half. The Spartans also failed to get to the free-throw line through the first two quarters.

The hot start continued into the second half, as UW opened the third on a 10-0 run including 3-pointers from Barnes and Ustowska. The Cowgirls entered play as the MW's worst 3-point shooting team at 28% on the season.

"They were here to accomplish something," Ezell said. "Credit to them, they came in focused and said, 'Hey, we're not gonna just throw shots up.'"

SJSU answered with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 26 after the Cowgirls missed back-to-back threes for the first time in the game. UW stayed aggressive and matched its free throw total from the first half with four in the third quarter.

With the lead comfortably in hand, Ezell rested the starters for most of the final 10 minutes. Senior McKinley Dickerson scored her first points of the night to get the scoring started for either team 1 minute, 52 seconds into the frame.

The score puts Dickerson 20 points away from 1,000 for her Cowgirls career. SJSU outscored UW 29-13 in the frame, but it wasn't enough to overcome the large deficit down the stretch.

The Spartans were led by sophomore Sabrina Ma with 17 points and a 5-of-5 mark from beyond the arc. Freshmen Sydni Summers returned from injury to give SJSU 15 points off the bench, but gingerly exited the game in the final minute.

Senior Nailea Nicholas boosted the Spartans with 11 points. San Jose State was without leading scorer freshmen Jyah LoVett, who missed the game with injury.

Barnes paced the Cowgirls with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Sophomore Malene Pedersen finished with 14, and junior Allyson Fertig collected a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Fertig was just 2-of-2 on field goals but 9-of-10 from the free throw line. UW's motion offense was in full effect, as the Cowgirls also had a season-high 24 assists on 30 made field goals.

"We talked about this being the start of our run," Ezell said. "We had to win here and then go 2-0 then 3-0. The 24 assists on 30 field goals tells me that we are playing our motion.

"We were sharing the ball, making the extra pass and finding the right person."

The Cowgirls (15-12 overall, 10-6 MW) return to Laramie against Fresno State (14-5, 7-9) on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium.

"Senior night is always an emotional start," Ezell said. "But we've got to have the focus to earn another win."

WYOMING 88, SAN JOSE STATE 73

Wyoming...... 23 28 24 13 — 88

San Jose State...... 17 13 14 29 — 73

Wyoming: Mellema 3-5 0-0 6, Barnes 8-13 0-0 21, Pedersen 6-9 0-0 14, Ustowska 2-3 1-2 7, Fertig 2-2 9-10 13, Symons 1-1 0-0 3, Savic 1-3 1-2 3, McKenna 3-6 0-0 9, Dickerson 2-4 0-0 5, Wilborn 0-1 0-0 0, Ollilainen 2-2 2-2 7. Totals: 30-49 13-16 88.

San Jose State: Moreland 2-11 0-0 4, Ma 5-8 2-2 17, Davis-Jones 2-2 0-0 0, Anderson 2-6 2-2 7, Smith 0-2 0-2 0, Kelemeni 3-7 0-0 6, Nicholas 4-8 1-1 11, Summers 6-10 0-0 15, Fluker 3-5 0-0 6, Grizelj 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 28-61 5-7 73.

3-pointers: SJSU 12-21 (Ma 5-5, Nicholas 2-4, Summers 3-4, Grizelj 1-2, Anderson 1-2); UW 15-25 (Barnes 5-8, Ollilanen 1-1, Pedersen 2-3, Ustowska 1-2-3, McKenna 3-5, Dickerson 1-2, Symons 1-1). Rebounds: SJSU 23 (Smith 5); UW 31 (Fertig 10). Assists: SJSU 15 (Summers 4), UW 24 (Ustowska 6); Turnovers: SJSU 10 (Three with 2); UW 12 (Ollilanen 4). Steals: SJSU 6 (Kelemeni 2); UW 6 (Three with 2). Team fouls: SJSU 19, UW 14.