Cowgirls fall to Gonzaga

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming's Jade Kennedy loses the basketball as she collides with Gonzaga's Kelly Bowen on Sunday. Kennedy was called for an offensive foul on the play.

Wyoming-Gonzaga box score

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Joe Legerski knew that these kind of days were out there. He just hopes that they are far and few between.

Sunday was one of those days. The young Cowgirls showed their youth and inexperience, falling to a veteran Gonzaga team 68-58 in the Arena-Auditorium.

The Cowgirls fell behind early, by as much as 16 points, and trailed by 12 at halftime. Wyoming made a couple of pushes in the second half, but could get no closer than four points. The Bulldogs, now 5-0 on the season, took control down the stretch to remain unbeaten.

“I thought tonight we played as freshmen at times,” Legerski said. “Gonzaga is very talented. They came out very aggressive, and I think we tried to make plays that were not there. When you try to do that against a very talented team, the rotations take passes away. At times we did not adjust.”

Wyoming senior post Elisabeth Dissen said they just got behind against a good team and could not quite come back.

“We picked it up a lot in the second half and played very hard,“ Dissen said. “We got down to (four), but just couldn’t get it any closer.”

While the Cowgirls (2-2) had problems hanging on to the basketball (20 turnovers), they also had troubles shooting, especially in the first half (25 percent from the field). Wyoming missed several close-in shots that would come back to haunt them.

“We missed a lot of easy shots and I give Gonzaga credit for that,” Legerski said. “They really made it a situation where we were starting to rush everything. I thought they rotated tremendously on defense. Now all of the sudden when we have some draw and kicks, we’re looking for defenders instead of looking for the basket. When you shoot poorly from the free-throw line and you miss as many bunnies as we missed tonight, that tells me we are looking for things instead of focusing on shooting the basketball."

Freshman wing Emma Langford and senior Megan McGuffey combined to make just 4-of-25 from the field in the game.

One Cowgirl who didn’t have problems shooting the ball was freshman guard Kristen Scheffler, who led the way with 21 points, including hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers. It was Scheffler’s first start of her college career, as she replaced sophomore Randi Richardson, who is struggling with a slight knee injury.

“I was nervous. But once you get out on the court you do what coach taught us. It wasn’t too bad once we got started,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler and Langford are tied with the team lead in scoring at 15.5 points a game.

“Coach gave me the green light. In practice one time, I actually had to sit out because I didn’t shoot. I just don’t hesitate and shoot when I am open,” Scheffler said.

Legerski said that Scheffler is a player who coaches often describe as having “it.”

“She plays with a great deal of confidence She is a tremendous shooter and she does not get rattled,” Legerski said. “She plays way beyond her age. We’re excited to be able to see that.”

Dissen, who finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, said that although they were sluggish on offense, they learned from their mistakes and it will benefit the team down the stretch.

“We need to be tougher and not be afraid to take the same shots that we always take, even though they are a good defensive team,” Dissen said.

The Cowgirls had problems against the hawking Gonzaga defense, with Langford guilty of 10 of those miscues. While Langford has shown an unique offensive ability as a freshman (26 points last Thursday), she has also been prone to turn the ball over at times this season.

“We try to talk to Emma about not trying to make something happen on every catch. It’s OK to make a pass and allow somebody else to make something happen,” Legerski said. “Emma is going to grow. I think we all just got used to seeing Emma make shots and make plays and think that she was never going to have an off night. I know tonight, she had a difficult evening. Emma will come back in practice and get right back at it and work extremely hard. She’ll have very few of these games.”

The Cowgirls chipped away at the Gonzaga lead in the second half and moved within four points with 6:18 left on a basket by Dissen.The Bulldogs, however, got 11 points by Heather Bowman in the final minutes to preserve the win.

“Positively, there was no give up with this team. To be down 13 at halftime, as many as 16 in the first, to fight back and get it as close as five, I thought it showed a tremendous amount of determination. I was pleased with the way we played,” Legerski said.

Bowman led the Bulldogs with 28 points, followed by Courtney Vandersloot with 18. Gonzaga is the returning West Coast Conference champions with four starters back from that team.

The Cowgirls won’t have much time to dwell on the loss, as they host Boise State Tuesday at 7 p.m. After Thanksgiving, Wyoming hits the road for the first of three games away form the A-A when they take on Oregon. The Cowgirls will also face Weber State and Idaho State in early December on the road.

“I think sometimes it makes it easier to play right away because we start concentrating on that game,” Dissen said. “We’ll go in tomorrow with the normal practice time and look at that game, with this game behind us. We’ve learned from it and we’ll move on.”