Wyoming's Season Comes to an End at Home

Photo by Troy Babbitt, UW Athletics

The three overtime loss against San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference tournament championship game stung…a lot.

The chance to heal those fresh wounds came for Wyoming tonight inside the Arena-Auditorium when the 17-17 Texas Tech Lady Raiders visited for Round One of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.

After four hard fought quarters, the sting was still there. Texas Tech had three players finish with double-figure scoring and took the win 65-48 over the home team Cowgirls.

The Lady Raiders shot 48% from the field and held the Cowgirls to just under 35% in the game.

Coach Heather Ezell said the message after the game was simple, “We said, what we did this year was special, don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened because this was a special group.”

The Cowgirls would end their season with 6 seniors saying goodbye one more time.

“I am really proud of this group. When I look at the last 3-4 games of the conference season and the run we went on going into the (Mountain West) tournament, and then to battle like we did in the tournament, and have a chance to play in the postseason…it’s just an incredible ride and I’m really proud of those six and everything they have given us.” Ezell said.

The Cowgirls focused on rest and attitude after the Championship game loss in Vegas. When asked about how hard it was to adjust the mindset of the team going into the WBIT, Ezell fought back tears and said, “It was tough…um…it was tough for all of us, there’s no doubt.”

Senior Allyson Fertig added, “I think for me and most of the girls, we didn’t know if it was our last one, so just go out and give it everything you have…and lay it all on the court.”

Fertig scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the contest.

She added, “It was nice to play with the girls one more time, especially at home. We’ve done something really special this season and I am so proud of them.”

Junior Malene Pedersen contributed 13 points. Senior Emily Mellema finished with eight points and four assists in her final game in the Brown and Gold.

With the win, the Lady Raiders move on to face Virginia Tech on Sunday the 23rd in the second round of the WBIT