Cowgirls start quick for a change

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming's Jade Kennedy is fouled by a pair of North Dakota State players on Saturday.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

CASPER -- The Wyoming Cowgirls didn’t have to worry about a slow start this time against North Dakota State.

On Saturday at the BlueCross BlueShield Wyoming Shootout at the Casper Events Center, the Cowgirls got up big early before having to close strong for the 68-51 victory at the Casper Events Center.

“We knew we couldn’t have starts like we had against Weber State, especially,” Wyoming senior Megan McGuffey said. “We just tried to pick up the intensity, especially on the defensive end. That really helped out a lot.”

Wyoming used a 12-0 run for a 25-8 lead 13 minutes into the game.

“We talked being aggressive and getting to the basket and we talked about the aggressor wins,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “I thought Emma Langford just really came out on the block. That was about as quiet of a 21 points that you will ever see out of player. Emma was solid, she got to the basket tonight.”

Langford led all scorers with her 21 points, including 6 of 8 shooting from the field in the first half for 13 points.

“We started hitting some layups and that helped us get going,” Langford said.

Along with freshman guard Kristen Scheffler’s late-game shooting heroics, Legerski said it was a total team effort on Saturday.

“Rebecca Vanderjagt has nine rebounds tonight, Emma Langford has 21 points, Megan McGuffey was solid throughout the whole evening,” he said. “Elisabeth (Dissen) just battles. Nothing bigger than Jade Kennedy rebounding (seven rebounds). I can go on and on with this team with tributes and that was what we talk about in a team effort.”
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As well as the Cowgirls played early and late, there was a mid-game lull that saw North Dakota State battle back. The Bison pulled within five before Wyoming closed on a big run.

“When you play at the high level we’re playing at, you can build big leads but you can never really be happy with them or feel comfortable with them,” McGuffey said. “We let them have their runs, but fortunately they never got it too close.”

Added Legerski: “You’re not going to be able to play for 40 minutes at our highest level and I know that. But I think we’re able to do that in more segments than fewer segments.”
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Wyoming (6-3) returns to the Arena-Auditorium next Saturday against Saint Louis on a three-game win streak. It took a while, but it’s the consistency the Cowgirls and Legerski have been looking for.

“We’d win a game, lose a game, win a game, lose a game,” McGuffey said. “These three wins in-a-row really help us out. We’re a little ways over .500, so that gives us some breathing room and we’re happy to play at home next week.”

Legerski said he has talked to his young team about putting some wins together to build some confidence. It especially helps that they were able to do that away from home.

“Getting two big wins on the road last week, especially with comeback at Weber State,” he said, “what a confidence builder. We changed some things with our pre-game warm-up. I don’t know if that helped a lot, but I liked the way we came out tonight.”
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Despite the loss, former Cowgirls assistant and current North Dakota State head coach Carolyn DeHoff was pleased with how her team came back.

“We were back on our heels defensively and they got up on us, and we challenged our kids,” DeHoff said. “We said, ‘Let’s pick it up full court and get the tempo in our favor,' and for the most part, we did that. We created 22 turnovers, 14 I believe in the second half. I commend our kids for getting after this and giving themselves a chance.”

Inger Hodgson led the Bison with 17 points and nine rebounds.