UW Athletics Press Release
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 25, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team finishes its week of play with a Saturday matinee at Fresno State. The Cowgirls and Bulldogs tip-off at 2 p.m., Mountain Time from Fresno.
Saturday’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 (11-7, 6-1 MW) is coming off its second consecutive come-from-behind win with its 66-63 victory over Air Force Wednesday night. The Cowgirls outscored the Falcons by eight points in the second half while shooting 66.7-percent from the floor in the third and fourth quarters, while holding Air Force to just 33-percent in the second half. Allyson Fertig led all scorers with her third 20-plus point performance of the season. Fertig scored 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Malene Pedersen also scored in double figures in the win, scoring 15 points while going 11-for-11 at the free-throw line.
UW got contributions from many in Wednesday’s win. Ola Ustowska led the way with a career-high seven assists against the Falcons while Emily Mellema tied a career-best with five steals. Ustowska is now second on the team with 45 assists this season while her 25 assists (3.6 per game) in conference play leads the squad. Mellema, meanwhile, has 29 steals on the year and 10 in Mountain West action.
Through seven league games, the Cowgirls are shooting nearly 49-percent from the floor while holding their opponents to under 40-percent shooting. Wyoming has a plus-5.1 rebound advantage and is averaging seven assists more per game as a team. Fertig is up to 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in league play and is shooting 68.3-percent from the floor. For the season, Fertig’s 61.5-percent shooting leads the league and ranks 13th in the nation. Pedersen is second on the squad averaging 10.2 points per contest both overall and in MW play.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
Fresno State is led by one of the top scorers in the league this season in Mia Jacobs. Jacobs ranks fourth overall in the Mountain West in scoring with 15.1 points per game while in conference play, Jacobs’ 17.3 points a contest are fifth-best. Jacobs also leads the Bulldogs in rebounding with nearly seven boards per game. Jacobs’ 2.71 3-pointers made per game and 45.2-percent shooting from beyond-the-arc leads the conference. The Bulldogs have a trio of student-athletes who average at least 8.3 points per game. Keely Brown (9.0), Taija Sta. Maria (8.9) and Kylee Fox (8.3) all score over eight points per game.
As a team, the Bulldogs are averaging 68.7 points per game and is allowing 63.3 points per game. Fresno State shoots 41-percent overall from the field and 35.5-percent from 3-point range. Bulldog opponents are shooting nearly 44-percent from the floor and nearly 35-percent from deep. Fresno has a plus-two rebounding margin and commits nearly four games fewer per game than its opponents do. This season at home, the Bulldogs are 8-3 at the Save Mart Center.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST FRESNO STATE
Wyoming is 18-22 all-time against the Bulldogs. In road contests against Fresno, the Cowgirls are 4-11 in program history and won the last meeting in Fresno, 61-58 in February of 2022. The two teams have met just once each of the previous two seasons. The Cowgirls have won 5-of-6 of late in the series. In last season's double overtime victory over Fresno in Laramie, Malene Pedersen had 18 points and six rebounds. Allyson Fertig averages 14 points, 8.5 boards and 2.5 blocks per in two games against the Bulldogs.
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