Cowgirls, Rebels Set for First-Place Showdown Wednesday
* University of Wyoming press release
LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team heads out to Las Vegas for a first-place showdown with UNLV Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., Mountain Time in Vegas.
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network, as well as Stadium. The game can also be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (12-7, 7-1 MW) is once again looking to win its fourth consecutive game for the second time during conference play this season.
The Cowgirls are coming off a dominant, wire-to-wire win at Fresno State, 69-47 Saturday. UW hit a 3-pointer on its opening possession of the game and didn’t look back as they led for 39:48 of the contest.
Allyson Fertig recorded her sixth double-double of the season in the win, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Fertig, who also had a pair of blocks and steals in the contest, shot 8-of-10 from the floor against the Bulldogs. Tess Barnes and Malene Pedersen also had double-digit games, scoring 16 and 13, respectively. Ola Ustowska led Wyoming with five assists and had no turnovers.
Fertig, who is averaging 14.5 points and eight rebounds per game this season to lead the Cowgirls, leads the league and ranks 11th in the nation with a 62.4-percent shooting percentage. Pedersen is second on the squad averaging 10.4 points per game while Emily Mellema has a team-high 55 assists and 29 steals. Tess Barnes leads the Cowgirls with 38 made 3-pointers.
In league play, Barnes is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11 per game on 40.4-percent shooting from beyond-the-arc. Mellema, meanwhile, is at 11 points per game while Ustowska leads UW with 30 assists (3.8 APG) during MW action.
Fertig, who is averaging 14.8 points and 8.6 boards per contest in conference play, is shooting just under 70-percent from the floor.
As a team, Wyoming is shooting a league-best 46-percent from the field. That number jumps to 49.3-percent during league play. The Cowgirls are also shooting 33-percent from beyond-the-arc on 6.5 makes per game. UW is outscoring its opponents by 9.5 a game in Mountain West games and has a plus-5.5 rebound margin and nearly twice as many assists per game.
SCOUTING UNLV
The two-time reigning Mountain West champion, UNLV is once again leading the Mountain West in multiple statistical categories and ranks in the top-three in the league in most.
The Lady Rebels lead the league averaging 81.6 points per game and is shooting 45.4-percent overall from the floor and 36-percent from 3-point range. The Rebels, who have a near-plus-nine rebounding margin this season, lead the league in rebounds and assists (16.2) per game.
UNLV opponents are scoring just 61.5 points per game and are shooting under 39-percent from the field and 30-percent from beyond-the-arc. The Lady Rebels are 9-1 at home this season.
UNLV is led by 2022 Mountain West Player of the Year, Desi-Rae Young, who is second in the conference in scoring (19.7 PPG) and leads the league in rebounding (9.3 RPG). Young is shooting 57-percent this season and leads the Lady Rebels with 29 steals and 65 made free throws. Kiara Jackson also averages in double figures this season, scoring at an 11.7 point per game clip. Jackson leads the team and is second in the Mountain West averaging 5.1 assists per game.
Jackson is shooting a team-best 51-percent from 3-point range while Alyssa Durazo-Frescas leads UNLV with 49 made 3-pointers on 46-percent shooting. Durazo-Frescas is third in the MW in 3-pointers per game and third on the Lady Rebels with 9.1 points per game.
SERIES HISTORAY AGAINST UNLV
Wyoming trails the all-time series against the Lady Rebels, 29-28 after dropping all three contests against UNLV last season. The Cowgirls are 8-19 all-time in Las Vegas in the series and has dropped 4-of-5 on the road as of late in the series.
UW’s last victory against UNLV on the road came in December of 2020.