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Following a tough loss to TCU Saturday the Cowgirls bounced back against Utah Wednesday night in Laramie.

Cowgirl sophomore guard Bec Campigli moves past Utah's Allison Gida toward the basket during last night's win over Utah. Campigli finished with nine points. (Photo: Zach Spadt)

Wyoming (19-6, 9-3 MWC) beat Utah (12-14, 5-7 MWC) 59-50.

It was a sluggish start for the Cowgirls, scoring just four points in the first six plus minutes. Two free throws from sophomore forward Chaundra Sewell, solid defense and a pumped up crowd got the adrenaline pumping for Wyoming and resulted in a 5-0 run to tie it up at 9-9 midway through the half.

A 3-pointer from senior guard Randi Richardson with just over seven minutes to play in the first half gave Wyoming their first lead of the game at 16-15.

The basket sparked the beginning of a 7-0 run for the Cowgirls and lead to a 20-15 lead with five minutes to play in the first half.

At the half, the Cowgirls led 28-23. They shot 40 percent from the field, 44 percent from 3-point range, and made all eight of their free throws.

The Utes shot 37.5 percent from the field, 29 percent from 3-point range and 75 from the charity stripe in the first half.

The second half got off to the same sluggish start that the first did, but after four minutes of play Wyoming still had a five-point lead at 35-30.

A 3-pointer by Richardson gave Wyoming a 42-35 lead with 11 minutes left in the game. A layup by senior forward Jade Kennedy just over a minute later gave the Cowgirls an eight-point lead at 44-36—their largest lead of the game at that point.

“I thought Jade Kennedy was big for us tonight,” head coach Joe Legerski said. “She hit a big three down the stretch, again, and played 40 minutes. Ashley Sickles gave us a big lift in the first half. Hillary [Carlson] missed practice yesterday with the flu and I though Ashley did a good job of spelling her in the first half.”

Free throws and stout defense down the stretch sealed the deal for the Cowgirls. It wasn’t pretty but at the end of the day the Cowgirls grinded out their ninth conference win of the season. 

The final stat sheet saw the Cowgirls shoot 39 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point range, and 95 percent (20-21) from the free throw line.

“One of the things I’ve always been a big believer in is making more free throws than our opponents shoot,” Legerski said. The Cowgirls certainly accomplished that goal tonight, making 20 free throws to Utah’s nine free throw attempts.

The Utes shot 34.5 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point range, and 67 percent from the free throw line.

Carlson, Kennedy, and senior guard Aubrey Vandiver were the three Cowgirls in double figures with 13, 13, and 12 points, respectively.

Carlson added 10 rebounds and six assists and made all ten of her free throws.

Utah’s lone player in double figures was redshirt sophomore guard Iwalani Rodrigues with 21 points. Senior forward Michelle Harrison added six points and 11 boards for the Utes.

“Tonight’s game was a conference basketball game. It was a gutty effort by the women on my team. Every possession was difficult, it was difficult to move, shots were tough to find, and yet we needed everybody tonight,” Legerski said. “When someone is having an off night, somebody else is there to pick it up.”

The Cowgirls next game won’t be until next Wednesday when they take on the Air Force Academy at 7 p.m. in Colorado Springs. 

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