Bas­ket­ball Sea­son Ends in Wyoming

Chaun­dra Sewell goes for a loose ball as it hov­ers over head. (John McKnight/LFP)

Thurs­day was a sad day in Laramie as the Cow­girl Bas­ket­ball sea­son came to an end. The Cow­girls hosted the Col­orado Buf­faloes who were a lit­tle more than Wyoming could han­dle. This sea­son had a sim­i­lar end­ing to last year when the Cow­girls fell to BYU. This was the sec­ond straight year the Cow­girls made the WNIT. In both sea­sons the Cow­girls played well in the tour­na­ment but the third round proved too much. Although the sea­son is now over the Cow­girls should have no regrets; mak­ing the WNIT is a great accom­plish­ment and mak­ing the third round is very impressive.

Col­orado star Brit­tany Spears started the game with a layup. Wyoming answered when Hillary was fouled and made both free throws. Both teams looked good and bat­tled until the mid­point of the first half. At the 10:59 mark Hillary hit a jumper to tie the game at 16. This tie lasted for a minute then Col­orado started to pull away. Spears hit a three and took the lead back and Col­orado held it for the rest of the game. Wyoming kept the deficit at nine or lower until there was just under three min­utes in the half. The half ended with Wyoming down 11 points. When the sec­ond half started the Cow­girls were ready to play. They started to eat away at the lead and a lit­tle over five min­utes into the half the Cow­girls were back within four. Both teams con­tin­ued to bat­tle and at the 8:41 mark the Cow­girls were only down three. After that point the game started to slip away as Col­orado ended the half outscor­ing the Cow­girls 17–8. Col­orado stepped up their play to end the game with a 12 point victory.

The story of this game was shoot­ing; Wyoming strug­gled to get shots to fall and Col­orado was get­ting almost every­thing to drop. Wyoming is a team the shoots well at home but in this game they had an off night. Wyoming ended the game shoot­ing only 31.5% from the field and 18.8% from deep. Wyoming is a jump shoot­ing team that relies on the three but in this game it was almost like the bas­ket had a lid when the Cow­girls shot the ball. The Cow­girls out rebounded Col­orado and recorded twice as many assists as the Buf­faloes but that was not quite enough. Wyoming matched Col­orado with four steals and also matched them with 13 points off turnovers. Points in the paint were close and Wyoming got more sec­ond chance points. These stats show that Wyoming did not play bad they just had bad luck get­ting shots to fall. It is rare for the vis­it­ing team to have a bet­ter shoot­ing night than the Cow­girls but not every game can go as planned.

Joe Leg­erski has a few choice words with a ref­eree dur­ing a media time­out. (John McKnight/LFP)

This was the last game for the four Wyoming seniors but they went out strong. All four of these girls had great careers at Wyoming and will be missed. Randi has not been known as a scorer but has been a great leader of the offence. When she was on the floor she ran the offence with her great ball han­dling skills. In this game she recorded a rebound, two points and two assists. Jade has played a few rolls dur­ing her Wyoming career; at times she was a scorer, at time she was a rebounder and at time she was one of the best defen­sive pres­ences. She has always been able to do her part for the Cow­girl team and was always reli­able to give the team what they needed. She would always fall into the roll the team needed and was always happy to do what she could. In this game she went 4–4 from the line and hit a three for seven points; she recorded five rebounds and got an assist. Hillary was a player that grew each year she played. By the end of her career she was a cor­ner stone of the team and the Cow­girls knew they could rely on her. She became one of the team’s best scor­ers and rebound­ers. She was always a pres­ence when on the floor and this game was no dif­fer­ent. She ended the game with the team’s only double-double with 11 rebounds and a 27 points; both game highs. Hillary also had five assists, two steals and a block. Aubrey has been one of the best play­ers for Wyoming and was always a local hero since she is from Laramie. Aubrey was always a leader when on the floor and the other girls looked up to her. She was always a great team player but would take the game in her hands when it was needed. In this game she had eight rebounds, 15 points, three assists and a steal.