Cowgirls Face Winner of No. 6 Boise Vs. No. 11 Utah State In MW Tournament

Cowgirls Open Mountain West Championship Monday Night

Wyoming faces winner of No. 6 Boise State and No. 11 Utah State

LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 9, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team opens postseason play at the Mountain West Basketball Championship Monday at 8:30 p.m., Mountain Time.

The Cowgirls, who are the No. 3 seed at the championship, will face the winner of No. 6 seed Boise State and 11th-seeded Utah State, who play Sunday night. Monday’s game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS

Wyoming (16-13) is 17-23 all-time at the Mountain West Tournament and has one tournament title (2021). The Cowgirls have made the finals of the championship in two of the previous three seasons. UW is coming off a 58-55 loss in the regular season finale Tuesday night at San Diego State.

Allyson Fertig recorded her third consecutive double-double in the contest as she led the Cowgirls with 19 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Fertig also had two blocks and a steal in the contest. Malene Pedersen also finished in double figures with 12 points while Ola Ustowska recorded six assists.

Fertig paced the Cowgirls this season with 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game on a league-leading 59.7-percent shooting from the floor. Malene Pedersen also closed the regular season in double figures averaging 10.6 points a contest. Emily Mellema led the team with 41 steals and was second with 83 assists. Ustowska led the way in 2023-24 with 84 assists and has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The Cowgirls are in search of their sixth trip to the Mountain West Championship semifinals in the last seven seasons with a win Monday.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE

Boise State is the No. 1 scoring defense in the league this season, allowing opponents to score just under 58 points per game. The Broncos allow opponents to shoot just 36.5-percent from the floor in 2023-24 and under 29-percent from 3-point range. Boise State is second in the league in rebounding at just under 40 boards per game and is also second-best with a plus-4.7 rebound margin. Offensively, the Broncos average 63.2 points per game and are shooting just under 40-percent from the field and 34.4-percent from 3-point range. BSU is averaging just over 14 assists per game.

Natalie Pasco leads the team and is the only Bronco averaging in double figures this season with 13.4 points per game. Pasco leads the league with 75 3-pointers this season on just under 40-percent efficiency from beyondthe-arc. Mya Hansen is second on the team in both scoring (9.3 PPG) and in assists (3.0 APG). The reigning MW Defensive Player of the Year, Abby Muse, is second in the league in rebounding with 8.5 per contest and leads the Mountain West with 87 blocks this season. Mary Kay Naro averages 4.4 assists per game, which ranks third in the conference.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST BOISE STATE

Wyoming is 16-19 all-time against Boise State as the two teams split this season’s meetings, with both winning at home. Monday would be the fifth time the two have met at the Mountain West Tournament, with the Cowgirls going 2-2 in the previous four meetings. Last time in Las Vegas against the Broncos, UW won 53-38 in the semifinals of the 2021 tournament.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE

Utah State is led by the league’s third-leading scorer in Cheyenne Stubbs, who averaged 15.9 points per game this season. In Mountain West play, Stubbs was even better, averaging 16.7 a contest. Stubbs also leads the Aggies in rebounding (4.0 RPG), assists (55), steals (48), 3-pointers made (56) and free throws made (103). Gracie Johnson led USU with 32 blocked shots in just 19 games of action thus far in 2023-24.

As a team, Utah State scores 56.5 points per game while allowing 73.6 a contest. The Aggies shoot it at 37-percent from the floor and nearly 29-percent from beyond-the-arc. Utah State opponents shoot the ball at 43.2-percnet overall and 33.4-percent from 3-point range. USU averages 6.6 steals per contest and forces opponents into over 13 turnovers a contest.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST UTAH STATE

Wyoming won both meetings this season with the Aggies and is now 31-10 all-time in the series. The Cowgirls are 3-0 all-time at the Mountain West Tournament against Utah State and met USU three consecutive seasons at the championship from 2019 to 2021.