Cowgirls Get Big Win, While Cowboys Lose at Boise State

An 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter helped the Wyoming Cowgirls rally and beat the Boise State Broncos 73-68 Wednesday night in Laramie.

Wyoming (7-5, 3-0) remained undefeated in Mountain West Conference action and topped the team picked to win the conference in the preseason.

Quinn Weidemann scored 19 points to lead three Cowgirls in double figures. Alba Sanchez Ramos and Jaiden Vaifanua added 10 points apiece.

Wyoming trailed 56-50 at the start of the final quarter. A three-pointer by Tereza Vitulova was followed by a steal and layup from Karla Erjavec and another Vitulova layup. That put the Cowgirls in front 57-56. A layup from Taylor Rusk pushed it to 59-56 and a Boise State timeout. The Broncos got two free throws before another layup by Erjavec made it 61-58. Boise State came back and tied the game at 61-61 with 2:36 left.

A driving layup from Vaifanua put Wyoming ahead to stay with 1:45 remaining. The next trip down the floor for the Cowgirls saw Sanchez Ramos knock down a key 3-pointer from the right corner for a 66-61 lead. Free throws closed out the UW victory.

The Cowgirls trailed by as much as 15 points in the first half. A pair of triples from Weidemann before halftime cut it down to 38-37, Boise State.

Wyoming shot 42 percent from the field. They went 8-15 (53%) from deep and 17-22 (77%) at the free-throw line. The Cowgirls out-rebounded the Broncos 39-38. They also got 22 points off their bench.

Boise State (10-5, 2-1) shot 41 percent for the game. They were 5-17 (29%) from beyond the arc. Mallory McGwire led the Broncos with 18 points.

Wyoming returns to action Saturday when the Cowgirls host rival Colorado State at 2 p.m. from the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.

Wyoming Cowboys

The Wyoming Cowboys lost their first road game in MW conference action at Boise State Wednesday night, 65-54.

Jake Hendricks scored 16 points, while Hunter Maldonado added 14 points.

Wyoming (5-10, 0-3) hurt themselves with 22 turnovers in the game. That led to 26 points for the Broncos.

The Cowboys got out to an early 8-2 advantage. They maintained their lead until Boise State tied it at 15-15 with just under six minutes left in the half. It was 27-24 in favor of the Broncos at the break.

UW trailed by five early in the second half but rallied and tied it at 30-30. A dunk by Brandon Porter gave the Pokes a 41-37 lead with 14:27 left. Boise State responded with nine straight points for a 46-41 lead. After a Hendricks three-pointer made it 51-46, the Broncos score five straight to push their lead to double figures, 56-46. Wyoming got within five, at 56-51, but it’s as close as they would get.

The Cowboys shot 42 percent from the floor. They went 8-22 (36%) from three.

Boise State (10-5, 2-1) was led by Justinian Jessup with 20 points. They shot 39 percent in the game.

Wyoming heads to Fort Collins for their next action against rival Colorado State. The Border War starts at 11 a.m. Saturday from Moby Arena.