Cowgirls stop Idaho State

Wyoming-Idaho State boxscore

POCATELLO, Idaho — The Wyoming Cowgirls won their second straight game for the first time this season, stopping Idaho State 61-55 on Saturday.

With the thrilling 78-75 comeback win at Weber State on Thursday, the Cowgirls are now 5-3 on the season.

“At the start tonight, I told them that we can’t go out there and win one and lose one, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said on the post-game radio show on the Cowboy Sports Network. “It was time to start putting some of these together. We have not played our best basketball by any stretch of the imagination. But we’ve played well enough to be in all of our games and we’ve found ways to win the last two, with the Weber State victory probably one of the most amazing comebacks that I have been involved with, and then tonight was just a hard-fought physical game.”

The Cowgirls were led by senior Megan McGuffey with 14 points and seven rebounds. She was followed by sophomore Hillary Carlson with 13 points, while sophomore Jade Kennedy had a career-high 11 rebounds. Wyoming shot 21-of-54 (.389) from the filed and 15-of-22 (.682) from the free-throw line. They out-rebounded the Bengals 38-36 and committed 15 turnovers.

Chelsea Pickering led Idaho State (3-6) with 19 points, while Oana Iacovita recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Bengals shot 21-of-60 (.350) from the field and 6-of-15 (.400) from beyond the arc.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, with Wyoming leading 19-17 at the break. The Cowgirls used a 10-1 run to overcome a three-point deficit early in the second half and never trailed again. Wyoming led by as much as 13 (52-39) before the Bengals closed the gap at the end.

“I think this game was very physical,” Legerski said. “When that happens, I think that takes away from the focus shooting the basketball and worrying about the defensive side, which showed in the shooting percentage of both teams. It shows the way people are defending, not giving up anything and it really felt like a conference game, where each possession is so important. I thought Megan McGuffey gave us a big lift today, and came out and really attacked the basket. Also, Hillary Carlson is playing extremely well with her 13 points and five rebounds, but her three blocked shots were big.”

Wyoming will host North Dakota State Saturday at the BlueCross BlueShield of Wyoming Shootout in Casper, with tip-off at 1 p.m.