Wyoming Cowgirls Move To Semi-Final Game
The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team (24-6 overall, 12-4 MW) came back from a 14-point second half deficit and pulled out a 60-58 win over the Colorado State Rams (11-19 overall, 7-9 MW) in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Reese's Mountain West Tournament on Thursday night.
Then when we tied it up, in fact, went ahead, we talked about we had one four minute segment left, we've been here a number of times this year, it's time to make some plays.
Kayla Woodward executed a play, buried a big three, then Chelan Landry got to the basket at the end. Kaitlyn Mileto ignited us in that run to be able to get back into the basketball game."
Two Cowgirls finished the night in double-figures led by sophomore Kayla Woodward. She finished the night with 17 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Katilyn Mileto followed with 14 points while Chaundra Sewell recorded a game-high 11 rebounds. Wyoming shot 22-60 (.367) from the field and 11-23 (.478) from beyond the arc. They out rebounded the Rams 45-26 and had 17 second chance points.
CSU was led by junior Sam Martin with 14 points and six rebounds. LaDeyah Forte followed with 12 points while Meghan Heimstra finished with 10. The Rams shot 22-55 (.400) from the field and 7-16 (.438) from beyond the arc.
Sam Martin scored first for the Rams to begin the game which was answered by a free throw by Alison Gorrell and basket by Chaundra Sewell to put Wyoming up 3-2. Colorado State ran off the next seven points to regain a six point lead, 9-3. A three-point field goal by Kaitlyn Mileto ended a four minute scoreless stretch for Wyoming. Fallon Lewis followed that up with a basket to pull them to within one, 9-8. The Rams responded by scoring 10 of the next 11 to extend the lead to double-figures, 19-9. Finally a basket by Ashley Sickles would end a field goal drought of five minutes. The next time down the court, she hit another to pull the Cowgirls to within five, 20-15. Alicia Nichols hit a three to stop the run which was followed by four points by the Cowgirls to make it 23-19 with 4:30 left in the half. Over the next two minute stretch, the Rams made another 9-2 run putting them up by 11, 32-21. Baskets by Woodward and Sickles made it an eight point contest, but a late basket by LaDeyah Forte gave CSU a 36-36 lead heading into the locker room.
Wyoming was led by Sickles with nine points followed by Woodward with six and Lewis with four. Sewell had a team high six rebounds. They were 9-30 (.300) from the field and 4-13 (.308) from beyond the arc. CSU was led by LaDeyah Forte with ten while Alicia Nichols added nine. The Rams were 15-29 (.517) from the field.
Woodward would hit a shot right out of the break to cut into the lead making it 38-29. Two straight baskets by Martin and Heimstra increased their advantage back to 12, 41-29. A three-point play by Woodward got the lead down to single digits, 41-32, with 17 minutes on the clock. A basket plus three free throws for the Rams got the lead to 14, 46-32. Sparked by a three-point field goal by Marquelle Dent would start a 10-3 run for Wyoming to close the gap to 49-42. After a couple of scoreless trips down the court for both teams, a jumper by Woodward kept their run going as a Mileto three-pointer gave them their first lead of the game 52-49. Sam Martin finally hit a three to end a nine minute scoring drought to even things up at 52 all. Chelan Landry answered with a three-point field goal giving the Cowgirls the 55-52 advantage, which was was answered with a three-point by Duffy evened it up at 55 all with 4:10 left in the game. Mandy Makeever hit a shot for the Rams to put them ahead 57-55. A huge three-pointer by Woodward with a minute to go in the game made it 58-57. Heimstra hit one of two free throws to even it up at 58 all with 44.9. After a 30-second timeout by Wyoming, Chelan Landry drove down the lane and hit a jumper with 19 seconds to go to put the Cowgirls ahead 60-58. Colorado State had one final opportunity with a Sam Martin jumper with two seconds remaining and Wyoming rebounded the missed shot as they held onto the 60-58 victory.
The Cowgirls will now move onto the semifinals today against the Fresno State Bulldogs. The game is set for 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT and can be heard on AM 1030 KTWO.