Cowgirls Outlast New Mexico

A career high 21 points and seven rebounds from sophomore Marquelle Dent led the Cowgirl basketball team to a 79-75 victory over the New Mexico Lobos. The Cowgirls are now 14-6 overall on the season and 5-4 in the Mountain West while the Lobos drop to 8-13 overall and 3-7 in league play.

Out of the halftime break, the Cowgirls built the lead 13, 52-39, with 15 minutes left in the game. A basket by Antiesha Brown ended a three-minute drought for the Lobos and would start a 10-0 to pull them to within three, 52-49. A free throw by Lewis stopped a five minute skid for Wyoming, but Vaughn hit a three to close it to one, 53-52. Chelan Landry hit two free throws followed by a Kayla Woodward basket put the Cowgirls back up by six, 58-52. UNM quickly tied it up at 58, but five straight points from Dent increased the lead back to 63-58. The Lobos would pull to within three, 65-62, with 3:29 left in the game with a 4-2 run. The Cowgirls went on an 8-2 run to extend the lead back to nine, 73-64. The Lobos chipped away at the lead with free throws and layups to make it a four-point contest, 77-73 with 27 seconds remaining. UW kept their composure and sank two free throws to hold onto the 79-75 win.

Four of the Cowgirls five starters finished the night in double-figures. Besides Dent, Woodward recorded a team high 22 points along with four rebounds in her 38 minutes of play. Fallon Lewis had 16 points and five boards followed by Kaitlyn Mileto with 16 points and a career high nine rebounds. Wyoming shot 24-46 (.522) from the field and 24-38 (.632) from the free throw line.

“Marquelle is very difficult to handle in the open court. We were able to get her to the basket tonight and she delivered. She’s been working on a 12-15 foot jump shot and is a weapon to getting the ball in any transition.”

New Mexico had two players in double-digits led by Antiesha Brown. She recorded 22 points and six rebounds while Deeva Vaughn chipped in 16 points and brought down six boards. The Lobos were 214-67 (.358) from the field and 21-23 (.913) from the free throw line.

The two teams traded baskets in the early going of the game until four straight from UW gave them an 8-5 advantage heading into the first media timeout. Out of the break, the Cowgirls went on a 7-2 run to build a six point lead, 13-7. Wyoming maintained a three to four point lead over the next several minutes until a three-point field goal by Bryce Owens pulled the Lobos to within one, 18-17. Wyoming responded with another 11-5 run to extend the lead back to seven, 29-22. Four straight free throws by New Mexico made it a three point game, 29-26. Following that both teams went several minutes without scoring until baskets by Vaughn and Woodward ended the drought. The Cowgirls ended the half on a 10-7 run to take a 41-35 lead into the locker room.

Woodward led all scorers with 12 points while shooting 4-8 from the field. Mileto followed with 11 and five rebounds followed by Dent with nine points. The Cowgirls shot 15-26 (.577) from the field and 5-9 (.556) from beyond the arc.  New Mexico was led by Vaughn with 11 points while Owens added six points. The Lobos shot 10-31 (.323) from the field and 10-10 (1.00) from the charity stripe.

Wyoming returns to action on Saturday, February 8, against the UNLV Lady Rebels. The game is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.