Cowgirls host Boise State

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming senior Elisabeth Dissen goes up for a shot against Gonzaga on Sunday.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowgirls just finished playing a strong Gonzaga team on Sunday and head coach Joe Legerski could only look forward and scratch his head.

No breather here. In fact, another tough matchup as the Cowgirls host Boise State Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

It’s a schedule that ,if it doesn’t damage the young Cowgirls’ psyche, will only make them battled tested for the Mountain West Conference season.

After an opening win over Denver, the Cowgirls went to Missoula and played a good Montana team before falling in the final minutes by seven. Next was North Dakota at home against a coach who has won 86 percent of his games -- the Cowgirls won 100-75.

Gonzaga is the defending West Coast Conference champs and 5-0 this season and the Cowgirls fell behind big early before losing by 10.

Boise State is the defending WAC champions and favored to win this year.

“The challenge for us right now is we are in a section of our schedule where Boise State is the two-time defending Western Athletic Conference champ and they have been picked to win it again this season,” Legerski said. “We ended up finishing a game with Gonzaga, which is in the same situation. We’re playing high level, high quality teams. The biggest thing is that we have to be able to move forward as a group and just worry about getting better ourselves and making sure that we get good play from our seniors and then our freshmen continue to grow.”

Then, there is Pac 10 Oregon on the road on Saturday.

The Broncos are currently 2-2 overall this season. Marisa Stotler leads the way, averaging 11.5 points and eight rebounds per game, while Ja'Lara Walker is adding 10.3 points and five rebounds. They return three starters and eight letterwinners to a team that went 24-9 overall and 12-4 in the Western Athletic Conference a year ago.

Legerski said the Broncos’ depth will be hard to match.

“They are going to play 10 players double-digit minutes,” Legerski said. “When you have that, it makes the scout a little more difficult because you cannot zero in on one person. They’ll have six or seven different players take anywhere from five to eight shots. What we have to do is approach this game where we’re going to try to contain them, keep them in front of us and challenge shots.

“I was pleased with the rebounding that we had against Gonzaga. We’re going to need that kind of effort against Boise State, to get to the glass really strong. They are going to end up having a little more quickness that we do. The defense as a team is going to be very important.”

The Cowgirls are led this year by a pair of freshmen -- guard Kritsen Scheffler and wing Emma Langford. Both are averaging 15.5 points a game.

On Sunday, Scheffler had a career-high 21 points and Langford, who scored 26 against North Dakota, struggled with just five points and 10 turnovers.

Senior Megan McGuffey is averaging 10.5 points and 7 rebounds a game.

Legerski said that Scheffler will start again at the point guard position, with sophomore Randi Richardson continuing to recover from a knee injury that she suffered against North Dakota.

“We’re going to be able to bring Randi back,” Legerski said. “It is so early in the season. She could have played more on Sunday, but that was just the decision. Kristen was playing very well and we just decided to go that way. Randi will be a big part of our rotation.”

Junior guard Aubrey Vandiver, who would have been the starting point guard, is still struggling with mononucleosis. Legerski said there is no time table for Vandiver’s return.

“I spoke to Aubrey on Sunday before the game and she even went home then to rest some more,” he said. “I think we just want Aubrey to get healthy and then we’ll worry about basketball.”
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WYOMING COWGIRLS (2-2 overall)
Probable Starters
12 Kristen Scheffler G 5-11 Fr. 15.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg
24 Megan McGuffey G 5-11 Sr. 10.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg
33 Elisabeth Dissen C 6-1 Sr. 8.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg
10 Rebecca Vanderjagt F 6-3 Sr. 3.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.0 aspg
21 Emma Langford F 6-2 Fr. 15.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 aspg
Off The Bench
3 Randi Richardson G 5-7 RSo. 4.5 ppg, 2.0 aspg
4 Gemma Koehler F 6-1 Jr. Has not played this season
13 Ashley Sickles F 6-1 Fr. 4.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg
14 Jade Kennedy F 6-1 So. 6.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
15 Leah Fitzgerald C 6-2 Fr. Has played in one game
20 Aubrey Vandiver G 5-11 Jr. Has not played this season
22 Brenna Freeze G 5-11 Fr. Has played in one game
41 Hillary Carlson F 6-3 So.3.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg
45 Mallory Cline C 6-4 Jr. Has played in one game
BOISE STATE BRONCOS (2-2 overall)
Probable Starters
13 Jamia Malone G 5-7 Sr. 4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
20 Jenna Galassi G/F 5-10 Sr. 2.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg
22 Brittany Moore G 5-7 Sr. 2.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg
34 Janie Bos F/C 6-1 So. 3.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg
42 Ja’Lara Walker C 6-4 Jr. 10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg
Off The Bench
2 Heather Pilcher G 5-8 Fr. 6.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg
3 Courtney VanBrocklin G 5-7 Fr. 3.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg
12 Tasha Harris G 5-7 Sr. 17.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg
15 Jessica Thompson G 5-9 Sr.Has not played this season
21 Melissa Rima F 6-2 So. 3.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
23 Marisa Stotler F 6-1 So. 11.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg
24 Stacie Gross F 6-0 Fr. 2.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
25 Ainsleigh Sanders F 6-1 So. RHas not played this season
32 Sierra Moeller F 6-1 So. 1L 4.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg
50 Rebecca Kepilino F 6-0 Jr. Has not played this season