By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
With the way the Wyoming Cowgirls have played this season, Tuesday night’s 68-45 win over Black Hills State might have actually been better than it looked.
Yes, the Yellow Jackets are an NAIA team, and yes, the Cowgirls struggled hanging onto the basketball.
But no, it wasn’t a bad game as far as Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski was concerned.
“I mentioned to the players at the end of the game, how proud I was of the way they fought tonight,” Legerski said. “To come up with a 23-point win, hold an opponent to under 50 points and 30 percent from the field. This was a great effort.”
The Cowgirls scored the first 13 points of the contest, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers by Emma Langford, Jade Kennedy and Randi Richardson.
And Wyoming led by 18 at halftime and 24 early in the second half.
By no means was this a blowout, though, and the much smaller Yellow Jackets at times gave the Cowgirls all they wanted.
"Our goal was to just compete for 40 minutes and that's what we did," Black Hills State coach Mark Nore said. "We came out to see what it was all about and for the first five minutes we were down 13-0. We finally regrouped, basically took a breath, and I thought we competed from that point on."
If the Wyoming faithful thought the Cowgirls would automatically blow the Yellow Jackets out, that isn’t always how it goes, Legerski said.
"At times, I think everyone thinks you should just walk in and win by 30 or 40," Legerski said. "I thought Black Hills State played extremely hard tonight. It was a great learning experience to be able to handle as much pressure as they were able to bring and it was a very difficult matchup for us."
The Cowgirls came away impressed with the Yellow Jackets and their bulldog attack.
“They were really aggressive,” Wyoming junior Aubrey Vandiver said. “They came out with a lot of energy and I think a couple of times when we were on the wing, they were able to push us back and force us into making passes that we normally don’t make, which led to turnovers.”
The quick start by the Cowgirls might have picked up the intensity for the Yellow Jackets, UW junior Hillary Carlson said.
“I think that (13-0) lead might have forced them to pick up their play; that’s when the aggression really started and that’s when we had to get ready and adjust to it,“ Carlson said.
Vandiver easily had their best game of the season, with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and a blocked shot. The same could be said for Carlson, who added 14 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals.
“I thought Hillary played excellent,” Legerski said. “Our rock was back tonight, Aubrey Vandiver. She played with so much composure, had another double-double and really was a steady influence in this game.”
The Yellow Jackets hung around in a sloppy game that saw both teams combine for 50 turnovers. Wyoming by as much as 24, but a 3-pointer by BH’s Keely Krolikowksi and two free throws by Alana Dykhouse cut the lead to 14 points with five minutes left in the game.Wyoming responded with seven straight to hold off the BHSU rally.
Krolikowski led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points.
"The second half, they beat us by five," Nore said. " Keely was really aggressive offensively and Alana Dykhouse was really physical, and she did a good job on the glass.Black Hills State forced 21 Wyoming turnovers and bothered Wyoming with the aggressive full court press throughout the game, finishing with nine steals.
The game was an exhibition for the Yellow Jackets, 5-2, and Nore said Tuesday night will prepare them for the rest of the season.
"This game scared me. It was a game where we wanted to come and just see what we were made of and compete," Nore said. "That's a great team, probably the best team that we have ever played. Just to compete like we did, I was really pleased."
For the Cowgirls, they will have a little time off before preparing for Idaho State Monday in the A-A.
Legerski said they will do some film work and treatment on Wednesday, take Thursday off for Thanksgiving and then get back at it on Friday.
“One of the things that we will definitely work on is getting the ball up the floor and get it entered into a wing catch in a position we are able to work with,” Legerski said. “Once again, 5-0 I am happy with, but we still have a great deal of work to do with this young group.”
No comments:
Post a Comment