Cowgirls fall to Ducks

EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon took advantage of 22 Wyoming turnovers to hold off the Cowgirls 51-45 on Saturday.

“We gave the other team too many opportunities with our turnovers,” said UW head coach Joe Legerski. “Oregon has great size, which we had a difficult time handling. We went to the zone, which really got us back in to the game. I attribute some of it to our youth, but at some point we need to get over those growing pains and move forward as a group.”

Freshman Emma Langford led the Cowgirls with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Hillary Carlson added eight points and three other players had six points. Senior Rebecca Vanderjagt finished with a team high six rebounds. As a team, Wyoming shot 18-of 50 (.360) from the field and 5-of-13 (.385) from beyond the arc.

Oregon was led by Amanda Johnson with 13 points and seven rebounds. Micaela Cocks and Ellie Manou each finished with 12 points each. The Ducks shot 17-of-52 (.327) from the field and 13-of-14 (.929) from the free-throw line.

The Cowgirls got off to a slow start, but battled back with seven straight points to cut the Oregon lead to 25-22 at halftime.

The Ducks would come out in the second half and lead by as much as 14 (47-33), before the Cowgirls made a late push.

Wyoming continued to try and chip away at the lead as they went on a 7-2 run to make it a 49-40 game with just over four minutes left in the game. Langford and freshman Ashley Sickles would hit a couple of baskets to pull them to within four, 49-45, with 51.7 seconds remaining in the game. That was as close as Wyoming would get as Oregon hit a pair of late free throws to close the scoring.

The Cowgirls continue on the road next week, facing Weber State on Thursday and Idaho State on Saturday.