Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming senior Rebecca Vanderjagt goes up for a shot against Utah.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
It’s pick your poison for Wyoming women’s basketball coach Joe Legerski when trying to come up with a plan to defend San Diego State.
The Cowgirls will hit the road to San Diego for Wednesday’s matchup (8 p.m.) with the talented Aztecs knowing one thing: San Diego State is loaded.
“San Diego State is a complete team,” Legerski said. “Morris (Jené) is as good of a two-guard that there is out there, Davis (Quenese ) is now in her third year of being a starter at the point and Johnson (Paris), you have to account for her each and every time down the floor. When you look at it, they are very strong at the perimeter with a great inside presence. That creates some problems for some teams.”
The Aztecs, 1-1 in Mountain West Conference play and 10-4 overall, may be coming off a loss (58-52) at Utah on Sunday, but the Aztecs are generally playing as well as anybody in the league. Wednesday’s 51-point win overAair Force just shows what type of game they can play on their home court.
“They are a great defensive team and being a great defensive team, you sometimes create some offense through your defense,” Legerski said. “If you allow them to get into transition, up and down the floor, create turnovers, it is going to be a long night. (Against Air Force), it was a situation where they created turnovers. Against Utah, they forced 22 turnovers, but they just were not able to take those turnovers and convert them quickly into baskets.”
For the young Cowgirls, 0-1, 8-6, Legerski said they absolutely cannot turn the ball over at an alarming rate against the quicker Aztecs.
“We may turn it over at times, but we just cannot turn it over with our guard line. If we turn it over there, it is going to result in easy layups,” he said.
The Aztecs are led by Morris, who is averaging 15.3 points a game and the 6-foot-4 Johnson, who is averaging 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest. Davis is at 11.1 points a game, followed by Jennifer Layton-Bailes at 8.1 points per game.
Veteran head coach Beth Burns returned to the Aztecs four years ago and has quickly turned the once down-ridden program into title contenders. They began to make their move last year, especially during the MWC Tournament where they turned some heads and won their way into the title game before falling to New Mexico.
In fact, SDSU thumped the Cowgirls, who went on to its first ever NCAA Tournament, with a 66-54 win.
It’s a difficult beginning in league play for the Cowgirls, as they opened last Wednesday against Utah, falling to the Utes 70-52. Now they have to turn around and face a very good San Diego State team on the road.
Legerski said it was an eye opener for his young players -- the difference between non-conference and conference action.
“The intensity level in conference play picks up; the level of play is just tremendous,” Legerski said. “We’re going to have another one against San Diego State. It’s unfortunately where our team sits right now, playing young guards. That’s never a good situation in basketball.”
Legerski is going with a starting lineup of two freshmen (Emma Langford and Kristen Scheffler) and a sophomore (Randi Richardson), with two seniors (Megan McGuffey and Elisabeth Dissen).
The Cowgirls have been inconsistent, at best, with the play from their young players.
“One of the big things is I have more confidence in the players than usually they have in themselves,” Legerski said. “They are very critical in themselves; they want to succeed each and every trip down the floor. Trying to get them to match the confidence I have in them is sometimes very difficult.”
Wyoming comes back home on Saturday when it hosts UNLV.
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Wyoming Cowgirls (8-6 overall, 0-1 in the MWC)
Probable Starters Pos. Ht. Yr. Exp. Hometown 2008-09 Stats
3 Randi Richardson G 5-7 RSo. TR Arlington, Wash. 3.1 ppg, 2.4 aspg
12 Kristen Scheffl er G 5-11 Fr. HS Lovell, Wyo. 10.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.4 aspg
24 Megan McGuffey G 5-11 Sr. 3L Cheyenne, Wyo. 11.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.7 aspg
33 Elisabeth Dissen C 6-1 Sr. 3L Hillsboro, Ore. 8.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg
21 Emma Langford F 6-2 Fr. HS Arthurton, Australia 11.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.2 aspg
Off The Bench
4 Gemma Koehler F 6-1 Jr. 1L Geelong, Australia Has played in one game
10 Rebecca Vanderjagt F 6-3 Sr. 3L Townsville, Australia 2.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.2 aspg
13 Ashley Sickles F 6-1 Fr. HS Cresco, Iowa 2.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg
14 Jade Kennedy F 6-1 So. 1L Cairns, Australia 4.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg
15 Leah Fitzgerald C 6-2 Fr. HS Colorado Springs, Colo. Has played in three games
20 Aubrey Vandiver G 5-11 Jr. 2L Laramie, Wyo. Has not played this season
22 Brenna Freeze G 5-11 Fr. HS Albuquerque, N.M. 2.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg
41 Hillary Carlson F 6-3 So. 1L Cheyenne, Wyo. 8.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg
45 Mallory Cline C 6-4 Jr. 2L McClave, Colo. Has played in two games
Head Coach: Joe Legerski (Wyoming, ‘79), Sixth Year
Assoc. Head Coach: Gerald Mattinson (Weber State, '81), Sixth Year
Assistant Coaches: Kristin Becker (Vanderbilt, ‘90), Third Year; Katie Kern (New Mexico, ‘99), Third Year
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San Diego State (10-4 overall, 1-1 in the MWC)
Probable Starters Pos. Ht. Yr. Exp. Hometown 2008-09 Stats
2 Coco Davis G 5-9 So. 1L Sacramento, Calif. 3.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg
3 Quenese Davis G 5-9 Jr. 2L Sacramento, Calif. 11.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg
5 Jené Morris G 5-9 Jr. 1L San Francisco, Calif. 15.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg
24 Jennifer Layton-Bailes F 6-1 Sr. 1L Sacramento, Calif. 8.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg
32 Paris Johnson C 6-4 So. 1L San Diego, Calif. 15.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg
Off The Bench
4 Kim Spinardi G 5-8 Jr. 2L Merced, Calif. 1.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg
15 Lindsay Leo F 6-2 Fr. HS San Jose, Calif. 1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg
20 Adrienne Vita F 6-0 Fr. HS Marin County, Calif. Has played in four games
21 Jerica Williams G 5-8 So. RS San Diego, Calif. 7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg
22 Gabrielle Clark F 6-1 Fr. HS Los Angeles, Calif. 2.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg
23 LaSandra Dixon G 5-7 Sr. 3L Azusa, Calif. 2.7 ppg, 0.8 rpg
34 Allison Duffy F 6-2 So. 1L Lakeside, Calif. Has played in one game
40 Candace Chambers F 6-1 Fr. HS Seattle, Wash. 1.0 ppg,1.6 rpg
55 Kalena Tutt C 6-2 Fr. HS Long Beach, Calif. 1.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg
Head Coach: Beth Burns (Ohio Wesleyan, '79), 4th/12th season at SDSU; 17th overall
Assistant Coaches: Jualeah Woods (USC, '94), Shanele Stires (Kansas State, '95), Fred Chmiel
Dir. of Operations: Tammy Stephens (CS Fullerton, '81)
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