Cowgirls Lose to South Dakota

The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team (4-1 overall) suffered their first loss of the season, 82-78, against the South Dakota Coyotes (3-5 overall) on Saturday afternoon.

Four of the five Cowgirl starters finished the game in double-figures led by junior Kaitlyn Mileto. She recorded a team high 21 points while shooting 9-15 from the field and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Fallon Lewis finished her night with 14 points followed by Marquelle Dent and Kayla Woodwardwith 13 and 11. Woodward led the way with a team high four rebounds while Lewis brought down three. Wyoming was 31-62 (.500) from the field but struggled shooting just 9-17 (.529) from the free throw line and turning the ball over ten times.

South Dakota was led by Lisa Loeffler with 24 points and six rebounds. Nicole Seekamp recorded 18 points followed by Polly Harrington with 11 points and eight rebounds. The Coyotes were 29-62 (.468) from the field and out rebounded Wyoming 45-24.

"It comes down to a possession or two and I talked to the team about that in the locker room. We were down 76-70 and out of a timeout, needed to get a stop or a rebound and we had our chances. We bobbled it and they hit a shot and it was an eight point contest. Despite all of that, we executed very well, especially down the stretch between changing the personnel on the floor and playing Kaylee Hoffmanat the five spot to get some more ball handlers on the court."

South Dakota jumped out quickly on the Cowgirls as they took a 5-2 early lead. A three-point field goal by Dent tied up the score which was answered with a Loeffler layup giving the Coyotes a 7-5 advantage through the first media timeout. Started by a basket by Dent, the Cowgirls would score six of the next eight points to take their first lead of the game, 11-9. USD responded with a 9-3 scoring run to regain the 18-14 lead at the second media timeout. Mileto hit a three-point shot to pull UW to within one, 18-17, and then the Cowgirls went cold. South Dakota ran off eight of the next ten points to take their largest lead of the half, 26-19. A layup by Chelan Landryended a four minute field goal drought for Wyoming and they would make a small run to close the gap to one, 28-27. The Coyotes built it back to a five point advantage, 32-27. The Cowgirls scored the last five of seven points in the final two minutes of the half, but still went into the break down by two, 34-32.

Out of halftime, Wyoming battled back going on an 8-4 run to take the lead back 40-38 off a Lewis basket with 17:34 on the clock. A three-point field goal by Tia Hemiller put the Coyotes up one, 41-40 and started a 14-4 run to make it an eight-point contest, 52-44. A basket by Woodward ended a three minute drought for UW, but five straight points by USD extended the lead to double-figures, 57-46. Landry would spark a 10-2 run for the Cowgirls to close the gap to three, 59-56, with 8:51 on the clock. South Dakota responded with six straight points to get the lead back to nine, 65-56. Four straight free throws by Wyoming made it a five-point contest, 65-60. The Coyotes scored seven of the next nine to increase their advantage to double-figures, 72-62. Wyoming tried to make one final push first closing the deficit to six, 76-70, with a three-point shot by Woodward. A layup by Loeffler seemed put the game out of reach with 45 seconds to go. The Cowgirls scored eight of the next 11 to close the gap to three, 81-78, with eight seconds on the clock. A free throw by Seekamp with five seconds remaining would seal the 82-78 win for the Coyotes.

The Cowgirls return home to host the Colorado Buffaloes, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, before traveling to the Air Force Classic, on Fri.-Sat., Dec. 6-7. They will face SIU-Edwardsville and North Dakota State in Colorado Springs.