After struggling for three quarters, a rally by the Wyoming Cowgirls fell short, and they lost to Fresno State, 58-48, at the Mountain West Tournament Tuesday night.

Wyoming (21-9) scored 24 points through three quarters. The Cowgirls doubled that in the final period, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Bulldogs in Las Vegas.

UW head coach Joe Legerski said in the post-game press conference,

“First of all, congratulations to Fresno State. I thought they were the aggressor tonight, right from the start. Had us back on our heels and always in short shot clock situations. And I thought that offensively we really struggled to get a good look at the basket. And that's a credit to Fresno State. I'm pleased with the way we ended up competing right through to the end. When you get down the way we were, things aren't going your way for three quarters, some teams will just have a tendency to just finish out the night and we weren't going to let that happen. To get it close back down to seven points is a testament to the fight these kids have had all year. There's a number of people that really wondered”

Fresno State (17-14) improved to 3-0 all-time against UW in the MW Championships for women’s basketball.

The Cowgirls shot just 25 percent in the first half. That led to a 26-15 deficit by halftime. The 15 points was a season-low for points in the first half. Wyoming went scoreless for six minutes in the third quarter. The Bulldogs built a 46-22 lead at the end of the period.

After Fresno State scored to open the fourth, Wyoming went on a 22-4 run over a 7:28 span. The Cowgirls closed the deficit to six, at 52-46, with just under a minute left. The Bulldogs made just enough foul shots to prevent the comeback.

Wyoming shot 39.6 percent from the field for the game. They were 29 percent through three quarter, and then shot 71.4 percent in the fourth. Marta Gomez led UW with 14 points. Taylor Rusk added 10.

Fresno State was led by Bego Faz Davalos with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Candice White also scored 19. The Bulldogs shot 43.6 percent from the field and out-rebounded UW 35-19.

The Cowgirls fell to 7-18 all-time in the MW Tournament.

As for post-season play, Wyoming won’t find out that news until Monday, March 13.

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