Ducks smother Cowgirls early for win

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowgirls dug themselves a hole that they couldn't get out of, falling to a talented Oregon team on Sunday, 78-66 in the Arena-Auditorium.

The Ducks (9-2) bothered the Cowgirls with a smothering full-court press and scored the game's first 11 points, leading by as much as 22 in the first half. Oregon forced 26 Wyoming turnovers in the game, including 21 in the first half.

The first 10 minutes told the story of the game.

"With today's game, I was very pleased with the effort that we gave," Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. "To dig yourself such a big hole to begin with, we're down 20-24 points early. It jut became an issue for us to have to fight from that far back."

Oregon led 45-28 at halftime and was back up by 21 in the second half. The Cowgirls battled back to make it a nine-point game with 11 minutes left, only to see the Ducks answer with a 10-0 run for some breathing room.

"It's very difficult in practice to try to simulate the speed of the game and what is going to happen with the pressure," Legerski said. "I thought we got better as the game when along, but the game was determined in the first eight minutes."

Wyoming junior Aubrey Vandiver, who led the Cowgirls with 19 points and 10 rebounds, said the start was obviously disappointing for the team.

"We just didn't come out prepared and their pressure got us with so many turnovers," Vandiver said. "It was a real disappointing first half."

It was a matter of the Cowgirls coming back and doing what they do well, and at times, they were able to do that in the second half. While not into moral victories, they felt better about things after making a game of it in the second half.

"If we wouldn't have gotten ourselves in the hole at the very beginning, we would have been right in there or we could have even come out with the win," Wyoming sophomore guard Kristen Scheffler said. "It's kind of a learning experience for us, to know that we can lay at that level. We just have to calm down and play like we know how."

Even when the Ducks weren't forcing turnovers with their press, they were taking valuable time off the clock for Wyoming to set up its offense.

"We're a very patient team, waiting for the best shot possible, and when you only have about 10 seconds left, you're probably not going to get the best shot and that's what happened," Vandiver said.

Hillary Carlson and Scheffler finished with 15 points each for the Cowgirls and Emma Langford added 12 points. Carlson also had 13 rebounds for UW.

With their press, the Ducks were also able to play more physical than the Cowgirls. Once Wyoming started to push back a little, they were also able to get back in the game.

"We're going to see teams that are going to push us like that, so we definitely can learn from this and be a better team from it," Carlson said.

Micaela Cocks led Oregon with 17 points. Taylor Lilley and Nia Jackson scored 14 points each for the Ducks, followed by Amanda Johnson 10.

"We played exceptionally well in the first half ... the only thing that you worry about is, 'Can we do it for 40 minutes?" Oregon coach Paul Westhead said. "They shot the ball much better in the second half, which we knew they were going to do. We wanted to keep them in control and not let them get too hot."

The Cowgirls will return to action on Dec. 31 at Boise State.