Cowgirl NCAA notebook

Michael Smith/Wyoming Tribune-Eagle photo

Wyoming senior Justyna Podziemska looks to get past a Pittsburgh opponent in the NCAA Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.

Cowgirl faithful led the way

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

ALBUQUERQUE -- When is it a home court advantage when you don’t play on your home court?

When the Wyoming Cowgirls are playing in the NCAA Tournament at The Pit.

The Cowgirls couldn’t quite take advantage of the situation, as Pittsburgh pulled away in the final minutes for a tough 63-58 win in the first round of the Spokane Regional.

It wasn’t from the lack of Cowgirl fan support -- from Wyoming faithful and New Mexico fans.
The announced crowd of 6,097 was about 95 percent pro Wyoming, as the Lobo fans cheered for their Mountain West Conference mates.

It didn’t go unnoticed from the Cowgirls or the Panthers.

“It was really big for us,” Wyoming senior forward Justyna Podziemska said. “It was nice into go on the court before the game and see all of the New Mexico fans cheer for us and seeing all of the Wyoming fans who came down. It boosted our confidence and made the game more fun. We want to thank all of the fans for coming and supporting us to the end.”

New Mexico coach Agnus Berenato was told that her team would be the underdog -- in fan support. Pitt‘s band easily outnumbered their fans in the stands.

“Wyoming did bring their fans,” Berenato said. “We said yesterday that we wanted a lot of fans today. I thought they were all cheering for their conference, with is awesome. We would do that in the Big East. Now that we have a game on Monday night, I hope the Wyoming fans stay and maybe they will cheer for us.”

Pittsburgh plays Baylor Monday night for the right to move into the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Wash.

Stepping up: The unsung hero for the Panthers on Saturday was guard Sophriano Sallard.
With second-leading scorer Marcedes Walker in the bench in foul trouble, and reliable scorers Mallorie Winn and Xenia Stewart struggling offensively, Sallard picked things up by hitting all six of her field goal attempts in the first half, scoring 13 of her season-high 15 points.

“When you get to this point in the NCAA Tournament, it is never about one player,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “You have special players who can make plays, but I thought Sallard was very big in this game. She really came through, 7-of-8 from the field. She really stepped up when Walker went to the bench.”

Sallard went into the game as a defensive specialist and was averaging just 2.3 points a game. Her season high was 10 points early in the season.

Winn, however, had the last laugh, as he 3-pointer -- her only field goal of the game -- gave the Panthers the lead for good at 56-54 with 2:26 left.

“Mallorie really has confidence, and the team has a lot of confidence in her,” Berenato said. “She could miss 10 in a row and I guarantee you that if she’s open, she’s still going to shoot the next one.”

No backing down: Wyoming, a known finesse team that relies on its motion, knew it would have to play physical with the likes of the husky 6-foot-3 Walker.

At times, the smaller and thinner Cowgirls held their own. Walker did finish with 13 points and six rebounds. She scored 11 in the second half.

Wyoming senior wing Hanna Zavecz said it wasn’t easy, but they did a fair job of playing with power.

“We’re not used to playing like this in the Mountain West,” Zavecz said. “The bigs did such a great job on the block-out, they constantly battled with them in the paint. I think our team did great in that aspect.”

Fun facts: There were 12 lead changes and 10 ties. …Wyoming’s largest lead was five points and Pittsburgh’s was seven (in the final seconds)…. Pittsburgh is the only Big East school Wyoming has ever played in school history. …All nine Pittsburgh players had at least two rebounds; eight of the 10 Cowgirls who played scored. The only two who didn’t score were freshman Hillary Carlson and sophomore Megan Mordecai, who played in the final seconds after Zavecz and Dominique Sisk fouled out. …Wyoming senior Jodi Bolerjack’s two 3-pointers gave her 200 for her career.

Cowgirls come up short

Michael Smith/Wyoming Tribune Eagle photo

Wyoming senior Jodi Bolerjack tries to drive against pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament in Albuquerqe, N.M.

Cowgirls take Panthers down to wire

By Richard Anderson
Wyomingsports.org

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The two teams were five seeds apart going into the game. They left The Pit on Saturday much closer.

Pittsburgh made the plays down the stretch and had enough to keep its season alive with a 63-58 win over the Wyoming Cowgirls in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Pittsburgh, 23-10, will face Baylor Monday night for the chance to move on to the Sweet 16, while Wyoming’s first-ever NCAA Tournament and season ended with the loss. The Cowgirls finished at 24-7.

“You can’t ask anything more than maybe a W,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “It’s what we talk about in our program, that we want to go out in four minute segments and try to win as many as possible. We had a chance within the last minute of the ballgame and sometimes you make shots and sometimes you don’t.”

One of Wyoming’s made shots was a big 3-pointer by senor forward Justyna Podziemska with 4:03 left in the game. It gave the Cowgirls a 54-53 edge. Unfortunately for Wyoming, it was its last lead, as Pittsburgh countered with 2:26 remaining on a 3-pointer by guard Mallorie Winn.

Wyoming senior Hanna Zavecz was a little strong on a runner in the paint and the Panthers came down and got a pair of free throws by 6-foor-3 senior post Marcedes Walker. The Pitt defense then forced UW into a shot clock violation, but the Cowgirls had another solid opportunity on a fast break. UW senior guard Jodi Bolerjack, however, missed a 3-pointer (38 seconds left) that would have cut the lead to one if successful.

Winn added a pair of free throws to make it a six-point game (60-54) with 33 seconds left. Wyoming did get two late baskets from senior guard Dominique Sisk and junior wing Megan McGuffey, but Pittsburgh hit three free throws to keep Wyoming at bay.

Legerski said the Cowgirls had their chances, with Bolerjack’s miss a key possession in the game.
“She was on the far left side and had a great look at the basket … we were down four. We pushed the floor and just came up short,” Legerski said. “That would have brought the game to one and now you can play the possessions out. Missing that one, now we have to make a stop.”

The Cowgirls had a few key turnovers in the second half, including two attempts to get the ball out of bounds underneath the basket by passing to the top of the key. Both times Pittsburgh was there to get the steal, including the second one with five minutes left for a layup by Shavonte Zellous.

“Every game comes down to the last four minutes,” Podziemska said. “They made more plays than we did. They got a big shot from number zero and then we missed one after that. That kind of tipped the game in their favor.”

“They are a talented team; you can tell they have been in that situation before and they knew what to do,” Zavecz added. “They made some big plays.”

Winn’s shot was her only field goal of the game and the basket not only gave her team the lead, but it put her over 1,000 points in her career.

Zellous also came up big for the Panthers, as the talented guard scored a team-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half. With Walker in foul trouble in the first half, Sophronia Sallard scored 13 of her season-high 15 points. Sallard went in averaging just 2.3 points a game.

“The first half ended in a tie and we thought it would be OK because Marcedes and Xenia (Stewart) didn’t get a lot of minutes,” Pittsburgh coach Agnus Berenato said. “Phronia (Sophronia Sallard) really stepped up in the first half. Shavonte really stepped up in the second half.”

Walker did have her moments with 13 points, 11 in the second half. Pittsburgh was fortunate in the first half, rallying to tie the game at 28-each at halftime as Walker played just eight minutes.

“I knew that Walker would come back in and be rested,” Legerski said. “I thought she really started out in the first 2½ minutes to be a force in the game. We ended up getting a quick timeout. When you have the ability to score on the inside and you start surrounding people around that post player with Zellous, Winn … it puts a great deal of pressure on you defensively because you cannot worry about doubling down, trying to take away one player, because they are going to hurt you somewhere else. Pittsburgh is very talented and they can beat you on a number of spots on the floor.”

Podziemska closed her Cowgirl career with one of her best performances of the season, with a game-high 23 points. She finished 8-of-17 from the field, including 5 of 12 3-pointers.

“We were really confident as a team,” Podziemska said. “We had nothing to lose tonight. We talked in the locker room before the game about confidence. We just went out and competed for 40 minutes.”

Zavecz and Bolerjack finished with 10 points each. Wyoming shot 40 percent from the field (20-of-50 and hit 8 of 27 3-pointers.

Pittsburgh shot 43 percent from the field and had a 35-27 rebounding edge.

“I thought we had some exceptional performances by the entire team,” Berenato said.
Despite the loss, Legerski said he was proud of the way his team hung in there and competed for 40 minutes.

“We knew it would be a 40-minute game,” Legerski said. “I’ll take my chances in the last four minutes, whether you make shots or don’t make shots, as long as you have that opportunity when it is worth something on the line. I thought we did that today.”

NCAA will help Cowgirls

AAron Ontiveroz photo

Wyoming sophomore Aubrey Vandiver drives against CSU.

Cowgirls look to build upon experience

By Richard Anderson
Wyomingsports.org

The Wyoming Cowgirls were disappointed to be left out of the NCAA Tournament last season, but in the end agreed that it was a blessing in disguise when they played and won six games to capture the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

For the non seniors on the team who will return next season, earning the NCAA bid is a blessing without the disguise.

“It will definitely be an eye-opening experience for every player in our program, from top to bottom,” Wyoming junior wing Megan McGuffey said. “To play in this tournament, the level of basketball is a huge step up. It can only be beneficial from next year, too.”

McGuffey is one of three underclassmen who will likely get plenty of playing time, along with sophomore guard/forward Aubrey Vandiver and junior post Rebecca Vanderjagt. Junior post

Elisabeth Dissen and freshmen Hillary Carlson, Jade Kennedy and Paula Elam could also see some time off the bench. Regardless of playing time, all of the younger Cowgirls will benefit from the tournament.

“It will give the people returning next year great experience,” Vandiver said. “What the WNIT did for us this year, the NCAA Tournament will do for us next year.”

Added Vanderjagt: “It’s definitely going to be a great experience for everyone who is returning, to play against a higher level. It will make us more competitive for next year; we’ll see what is ahead for us.”

Although the Cowgirls go into the game as an 11 seed against sixth-seed Pittsburgh in The Pit Saturday at Albuquerque, there were some tense moments Monday night during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN.

If the Cowgirls wouldn’t have received the call, would they have been able to play through the disappointment of the WNIT again after winning the tournament the previous season?

Yes, no, maybe.

“It’s hard to say if we would have hated a NIT bid for what it did for us last year, but really the ultimate goal is to make it to the NCAA Tournament,” McGuffey said.

“It would have been disappointing,” Vandiver added. “It’s great to play in postseason, but you always want to play against the best teams and you can only do that in the NCAA Tournament.”

The Cowgirls agree that it would have been a major disappointment of not playing in the NCAA. Yet, they said they would have given it their all in the WNIT again.

“I think it would have been disappointing, but we would have motivated to win the WNIT again,” Vanderjagt said.

Of course, the Cowgirls got the bid and there has been very little talk of last year’s WNIT. Wyoming is preparing for the future, not looking back at the past.

“It’s so exciting to play at this level,” Vanderjagt said.

The Cowgirls will go into Saturday’s game as the underdog, as Pittsburgh goes in with the experience and reputation of playing in what is considered the second best conference in the country.

“I don’t know if Wyoming has played a Big East team in its history,” McGuffey said. “It’s always fun to play others teams from bigger conferences. We really have no pressure on us right now, we’re the underdog. It’s fun to play in that position.”

Vandiver said the Cowgirls know they will have their hands full with the Panthers.

“They’re going to be athletic and they have played in a very tough conference; they have a lot of experience,” Vandiver said. “We’re just going to go in and play it like every other game, although the level of competition is up a little bit.”

Despite the odds, Wyoming will go into the tournament with the idea of winning, something that took it to the WNIT title last season.

“I think you always have to believe that you can win,” McGuffey said. “We’re going to go in there and with an underdog mentality. We think we’re just as talented, we’re a hard-working team and we play well together. We just have to take it to the next level.”

Regardless of the outcome, next year’s Cowgirl team will be better for the experience.

“This is very important for them because they will get a taste of the tournament and it will motivate them to really do good things next year, which I know they can do,” Wyoming senior Hanna Zavecz said.