Fired up off their first loss in Mountain West Conference play Wednesday in Albuquerque, the 8-7, 2-1 (MWC) Wyoming Cowgirls took to the Arena-Auditorium Saturday to battle the 13-4, 2-2 (MWC) San Diego State Aztecs.
Behind blazing defense, including six steals and a double-digit point output from Senior Emily Mellema, the Cowgirls improved to 2-2 in conference play with a 78-71 win.
Mellema drained a 3-point basket with 24 left in the contest to put the nail in the coffin for the home team, putting Wyoming up by 5. She finished with 18 points and added five assists.
Mellema commented,
“I wasn’t super pleased with our last game (New Mexico)…I didn’t need to necessarily go prove myself, but I let it come to me a little bit more, and I kinda found myself in the right spots on offense and defense, and it was a really great win for us.”
With one minute left in the fourth, Mellema missed two free throws at the line.
She added, “It’s never good to miss two in a row, it’s kind of a bummer, but I had to move on because we had lots of game left, and I hit the one I needed after that.”
Head coach Heather Ezell praised Mellema,
“Everyone is going to remember that three in the corner, which was huge and big time, but I thought it was there in the middle in that second half where she got to the free-throw line or got an easy bucket that really got us going. That was the difference in the game.”
“Playing Emily and Kati (Ollilainen) at the same time, that’s two point guards on the court, got (Mellema) in some different positions that maybe was beneficial for us…that’s a senior right there. That’s understanding the moment and knowing my team needs me, I’m going to make a play.”
Almost lost in the excitement of the win, Senior Allyson Fertig added a game-high 21 points and nine assists.
Ezell added,
“I thought the biggest thing she (Fertig) did, is she didn’t get frustrated. She kept battling and battling and finding different ways to get production. She is going to back you down and it might be me versus three, but I am going to finish.”
Tess Barnes was playing under the weather in the game. Ezell talked about her Senior.
“I was trying to get whatever I could out of her just to have her presence out there. There were times I honestly thought she might be up the tunnel in the trash can. Credit to her…that’s another Senior that understands the bigger picture. Just being on the floor and being a part of it puts confidence in everybody else.”
Junior Malene Pedersen contributed 13 points for Wyoming as well.
San Diego State was led by Senior Cali Clark with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Two other Aztecs finished with 15 points each.
The Cowgirls out-rebounded SDSU 28-26 in the win.
Wyoming is back home Wednesday night in the AA against Nevada. Tip-off is 6:30.