FORT COLLINS, Colo. — It was a battle until the very end, but the Wyoming Cowgirls came up just short Saturday on the road at Colorado State, falling 75-70 to the Rams.
The two teams started the game evenly matched, trading baskets for the first few minutes. As the first quarter wore on, though, Colorado State began finding an edge. And as the period neared its end, CSU led 18-8.
Hurting the Cowgirls was a slew of costly turnovers that led to fast break points for the Rams.
Early in the second quarter, Wyoming managed to shave the deficit to five, still trailing Colorado State 20-15. Minutes later, with a 3-pointer by Emily Mellema, the deficit grew even smaller to 22-20.
Heading into the halftime break, CSU led 28-24.
The two teams traded 3-pointers back-and-forth to open the second half, with Tess Barnes hit both of Wyoming’s. The Rams didn’t allow the Cowgirls to get over the hump though, and extended their lead back up to 41-35 as UW struggled to slow CSU’s fiery offense.
Following a media timeout, the Cowgirls hit back-to-back 3-pointers and immediately tied to game up at 41-41. After that, Wyoming took its first lead since the game’s opening quarter, as the hot shooting from the outside continued. Mellema’s third three of the game pushed the Cowgirls in front, forcing a Ram timeout.
The timeout worked wonders for CSU, and the Rams returned to the game and immediately went on an 8-0 run.
CSU came out swinging after the timeout though, scoring the next eight points and surging in front. Headed into the final quarter, the Cowgirls clung to a slim 51-49 lead. And though the quarter ended with Colorado State holding the momentum, it was still Wyoming’s highest-scoring quarter of the season, as they scored 27 in the period.
UW grew its lead to five points, but soon lost the lead as their defense again stumbled against CSU’s efficient offensive attack.
The majority of the fourth was neck-and-neck, and with barely 30 seconds remaining, a layup from Cowgirl Allyson Fertig cut the Rams’ three-point lead to one, 71-70.
That was as close as Wyoming would get, though, as they never managed to tie it or take the lead in the final seconds.
The game serves as some revenge for CSU, who lost the first rivalry game by four.
Mellema led all scorers with 25 points, hitting four 3-pointers on the day. In two games this season against CSU, Mellema is averaging 26 points. Barnes finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, with five 3-pointers of her own. The duo become the first Cowgirl teammates since Alba Sanchez Ramos and Quinn Weidemann to score 20-plus in the same game two years ago.
Fertig finished with eight points and eight rebounds.