Langford, Cowgirl frosh shine in debut

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming freshman Emma Langford, center, is fouled by CU-Colorado Springs' Lauren Holm Tuesday night in an exhibition at the A-A.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Joe Legerski knew it was coming. He was ready.

Legerski answered his first question comparing Hanna Zavecz and fellow Australian Emma Langford … in the first exhibition game of the season.

Zavecz, from the Australian Institute of Sport Academy, will easily go down as one of the best players in Wyoming women’s basketball history, as she ranked in the top 10 in basically every statistical category and helped lead UW to the WNIT title and first-ever NCAA bid.

Langford, also from the Australian Institute of Sport, might have had the best debut ever for the Cowgirls Tuesday night in Wyoming’s big 93-48 exhibition win over CU-Colorado Springs in the Arena-Auditorium.

Langford scored 25 points, including 19 in the first half, while dishing out six assists in not only her impressive first game in a Wyoming uniform, but a strong start for the freshmen Cowgirls as a whole.

Legerski called it an unbelievable effort from Langford.

“We knew she could play and I knew she could score,” Legerski said. “To see somebody get 19 by half and finish with 25 for the game … I thought she played extremely well. Even with that, I was just so pleased with the way she defended. We had a matchup out there where she had somebody 5-foot-5, a great deal quicker than she was, and Emma worked extremely hard. I’ll be the first to know that we’re not going always get 25 points from Emma Langford every night. It is nice to know that she has that type f capabilities. She shot the ball well, got the ball inside and she was a bright spot tonight.”

Senior forward Megan McGuffey has now officially played with both players in a game, but stopped short in comparing the two talented Aussies.

“They are both really great players, but I don’t think it is really fair to compare people like that. Emma is her own player and she is great product of Australia, just like Hanna was,” McGuffey said. “We’re happy to have her.”

The 6-2 Langford, who can score inside and outside, said she was pretty nervous going into the game. As the Cowgirls hit their first six shots in the contest, Langford nailed a 3-pointer in her first attempt, and the game and her confidence began to flow.

“As soon as I got out on the court and the tip-off went off and I started running up and down the court, that’s when it went (nerves) away,“ Langford said. “I just tried to stay relaxed and play my own game. It was fun.”

Langford was 8-of-13 from the field, including 3 of 5 3-pointers and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line in just 26 minutes.

She was a little surprised that she shot like she did, considering she hadn’t been shooting well lately in practice.

“The last few practices I had been missing quite a few, so it was good tonight to get out and make a few,” Langford said.

Legerski admitted that there are some comparisons between Zavecz and Langford. The biggest, he said, was their ability to take over and game, yet still understand that they need their teammates.

“She has the skills and the mental capabilities to play this game at a high level. I don’t think she is as athletic -- you would see Hanna makes more plays defensively,” he said. “But I believe Emma is really a very talented offensive player and a tremendous passer. When you put those things together -- not only 25 points, but she had five assists. To start the second half, she started looking around to get her teammates incorporated. I’m very pleased with her effort and I’m glad she is a freshman.”

While Langford’s star shined in her debut, it wasn‘t a bad effort from the rest of the Cowgirl freshmen, including Kristen Scheffler and Ashley Sickles.

Scheffler, from Lovell, finished with nine points, nine rebounds and one assist, while the 6-1 Sickles had 13 points, four rebounds and an assist. Other Cowgirl freshmen making their debuts were Brenna Freeze and Leah Fitzgerald.

“I thought it was a great first game for them,” McGuffey said. “I think they were nervous in the beginning. Eventually, they calmed down and I think they showed how athletic we are this year and how we have replaced some of the players from last year. I think we’re a little younger, but the athleticism is there.”

McGuffey’s words of wisdom to the youngsters?

“I just told some of them to relax and just shoot when they are open. That’s all I can do,” McGuffey said.

As well as the young Cowgirls played, it was far from perfect. Wyoming turned the ball over 19 times and missed 1o free throws. Yet, Legerski couldn’t have been much happier for just an exhibition win.

“Having eight sophomores and freshmen out there tonight, I think there were times they played very well and at times, we have a great ways to go,” he said. “I thought we got great senior leaderships from Megan (McGuffey), Rebecca (Vanderjagt) and Elisabeth (Dissen) tonight. We start out the first four minutes 15-3 and we went 6-of-6 (from the field) to open the game. It was a tremendous start and their leadership showed early in this basketball game.”

Dissen also scored 11 points for the Cowgirls, who were 31-of-65 from the field in the game. Wyoming also had a commanding 59-33 rebounding edge, with 17 offensive rebounds.
Mallory Lowe led the Mountain Lions with 12 points.

Wyoming will continue on the exhibition trail Friday night when it hosts Metro State at 7 p.m. in the A-A.
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COWGIRLS 93, MOUNTAIN LIONS 48
CU-C. SPRINGS: Ashley Miller 1-7 1-2 3, Nancy Hoist 3-4 2-4 9, Mallory Lowe 3-8, 5-8 12, Janean Jubic 1-6 0-0 3, Payden Ackerman 0-7 0-0 0, Jessica Lynch 0-7 0-0 0, Alex Shark 3-7 0-0 7, Lauren Holm 2-6 3-4 7, Karlee Gradisar 0-5 0-0 0, Jazzmin Awa-Williams 0-2 0-2 0, Alex Pitts 2-6 3-4 7. Totals: 15-65 15-24 48.
WYOMING: Rebecca Vanderjagt 2-2 0-0 4, Emma Langford 8-13 6-7 25, Elisabeth Dissen 3-4 5-7 11, Randi Richardson 0-1 2-2 2, Megan McGuffey 1-6 3-4 6, Gemma Koehler 0-3 0-0 0, Kristen Scheffler 3-10 2-2 9, Ashley Sickles 5-10 1-2 13, Jade Kennedy 4-6 0-0 8, Leah Fitzgerald 0-0 0-0 0, Brenna Freeze 0-2 3-4 3, Hillary Carlson 3-5 1-4 7, Mallory Cline 2-3 1-2 5. Totals: 31-65 24-34 93.
UC-C. Springs 24 24 -- 48
Wyoming 52 41 -- 93
3 pt. field goals: CU-CS -- 3-30 (Miller 0-1, Hoist 0-1, Lowe 1-2, Jubic 1-5, Ackerman 0-6, Lynch 0-5, Sherk 1-3, Holm 0-2, Gradisar 0-3, Pitts 0-2), UW -- 7-19 (Langford 3-5, Richardson 0-1, McGuffey 1-2, Scheffler 1-8, Sickles 2-3). Rebounding: CU-CS -- 33 (Hoist 8), UW -- 59 (Scheffler 9, McGuffey 8, Carlson 7, Dissen 5). Assists: CU-Cs -- 9 (Jubic 3), UW -- 24 (Richardson 7, Langford 5, Kennedy 3, Vanderjagt 3. Turnovers: CU-CS -- 18 (Lynch 5, Holm 3), UW -- 19 (Langford 6, Vanderjagt 3, McGuffey 3), Blocks: CU-CS -- 0, Wyoming 7 (Sickles 2, Carlson 2, Vanderjagt, Dissen, Kennedy 1 each), Steals: CU-CS -- 7 (Jubic 2, Lynch 2), UW -- 11 (Fitzgerald 3, Scheffler 2, Kennedy 2). A -- 2,839.