Wednesday turned out to be a tough day for Wyoming basketball, as both the Cowboys and Cowgirls lost on the road.

Cowgirl Basketball

The Cowgirls lost their third straight in a day game at Montana State, 50-46. For a second consecutive game UW got down by 18 points before fighting back and falling short.

Head coach Joe Legerski referenced the deficit in a release from the university.

“I applaud the team’s effort, but I told them at the end of the game we can’t keep digging ourselves in to that hole to keep fighting out of it. It requires too much energy. In the second quarter, Montana State got on a roll and it seemed everything they put up went in. We missed tough shots, easy shots, really all the shots in that quarter. Mentally we need to be ready from the start. This is a concern with it being the second game in a row. We may need to look at shuffling the line-up to get different combinations, but we’ve got to do something.”

Wyoming (4-3) was tied with the Bobcats at 11 after the first quarter. Montana State opened the second with 18 straight points and led 29-11. It was 31-16 at halftime. The Cowgirls held the Bobcats to five points in the third and trailed 36-27. Wyoming began the fourth on a 13-6 run and pulled within 42-40. Marta Gomez and Taylor Rusk hit three-pointers that got the Cowgirls within one, at 47-46, with 14 seconds left. Three free throws by Montana State sealed their victory.

Bailee Cotton led the way with 11 points. Gomez added 10 points. Wyoming shot 33 percent for the game.

Montana State (4-2) was led by Hannah Caudill with 17 points. The Bobcats shot 38 percent from the field.

The Cowgirls return home Sunday against Idaho State at 1 p.m.

Cowboy Basketball

The Wyoming Cowboys lost for the second time in the last three games, as they were beaten by the Denver Pioneers 88-78 at Magness Arena in Denver.

The Pioneers shot 56 percent from the field and held UW to 34 percent. They also out-rebounded the Pokes 42-27.

Head coach Allen Edwards was not pleased with his team’s defensive effort in the game.

“What I addressed with the team is the 88 points we allowed. You’ll have nights where you shoot it the way we shot it tonight. At the end of the day, our golden number in terms of defending is about 65 points. It’s about giving ourselves an opportunity. If the defense was the way it was supposed to be, offensively we still would’ve had a chance to win the game.”

Denver (3-4) went on a 15-0 run after UW made a three-pointer to start the game. The closest the Cowboys got in the first half was nine points. They trailed 43-30 at halftime. The Pokes got within five points midway through second half, but a 5-0 run by the Pioneers pushed it back to double figures, and Denver held off any challenge by UW.

Wyoming (5-2) was led by Justin James’ 17 points.

Daniel Amigo scored 22 points to pace the Pioneers.

The Cowboys return home for the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge game versus Drake Saturday at 4 p.m.

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