Back to basics is where the Cowgirls are headed.

Written by Lindsey Korsick

Saturday, 20 December 2008 22:29

Lindsay Kowalski The Cowgirls took a 74-59 loss to visiting St. Louis on back end of a Wyoming basketball double header on Saturday.
A team who is usually consistent free throw shooters hit just seven of 14 and a group who has been hot from the 3-point line only managed six of 24. With the offense unstable, Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said he would have liked the defense to be better, but it also contributed to the loss.
“The foul count was even, but the free throws weren’t,” Legerski said. “That shows me that we were using our feet, we weren’t getting into defensive positions and we were fouling the shooters.”
“I think this is the first game I have ever been involved in a where you did not make a free throw in a half. It magnifies it because we were missing the front end of one and ones. When you get the lead cut down to eight, now those free throws are really big in this game.”
After trading baskets for the first three minutes of the game, St. Louis went on a 12-0 scoring run midway through the first half giving the Billikens 20-11 lead. The lead pushed up to 40-26 at halftime, the third time this season the Cowgirls have finished the first half down by double digits.
“I think we dug ourselves in a huge hole in the first half,” Megan McGuffey said. “We came out on our heels and they were out there ready to attack us.”
The Billikens worked the Cowgirls on every part of the floor knocking down 3-pointers, hitting hook shots and staying consistent from the charity stripe.
Their lead did not dip below eight after the half.
Cowgirl freshman Kristen Scheffler tried to swing Wyoming back into the lead by hitting three 3-pointer and a lay-up in a five-minute period near the middle of the second half. Her quick scoring brought the deficit to ten points, 64-54, and Megan McGuffey hit a lay-up to bring the score within eight, but that was as close as the game got.
Elizabeth Dissen led the Cowgirls with 15 points followed by McGuffey and Scheffler with 14. Freshman Emma Langford grabbed a team high seven rebounds.
St. Louis was led in scoring by Theresa Lisch with 22 points and Amanda Kemezys with 20.
The Cowgirls head on the road for a game at Gonzaga at 7 p.m. on Monday. Gonzaga is a team Legerski said he predicts will be a top 25 team. These teams met in Laramie back on Nov. 23 when the Bulldogs took a 68-58 win over Wyoming in the Arena-Auditorium.
“We can’t afford to get behind with Gonzaga,” Legerski said. “Possession by possession will be very important.