Cowgirls return home with BYU

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowgirls have had to play beyond their years, so to speak, opening Mountain West Conference play with three of four games on the road against three of the top programs in the league.

That won’t change in many ways Tuesday night when the Cowgirls host Brigham Young, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

The pesky Cougars are suddenly on top of the league at 3-0 (12-3 overall), thanks to ball-hawking pressure defense that could spell trouble to a young squad.

For the Cowgirls, 2-2 and 11-5, head coach Joe Legerski’s biggest concern is his team keeping its emotions in check.

“BYU is very talented. They are going to come out and press us, which is something different for a BYU team,” Legerski said. “They have made some changes fundamentally with how they are playing this season, and playing very well. We have to keep our composure to attack their pressure and not let their pressure frustrate us into more turnovers than what we are used to doing.”

On the season, the Cougars are averaging 10.6 steals a game and holding their opponents to just 54.8 points a game.

BYU is showing improvement this season, coming off last year’s 8-8 and 18-11 season, The Cougars are led by Mindy Bonham, who is averaging 11.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. She is followed by Coriann Wood with 10.9 points and a team-leading 5.9 rebounds.

Legerski said that they have some challenges defensively, but he thinks the team is buying into playing as a group.

“When I talk about challenges individually, we may not be the quickest on the floor, but as a team, we’re starting to rotate, challenge shots, and more importantly, give teams one shot and out,” he said. “We need to concentrate winning the rebounding battle every night out, just to give us a better chance to come away with the victory.”

A 2-2 league start isn’t bad for a young team that spent most of its time on the road to begin league play. In fact, Wyoming and BYU lead the league with total road games to date with nine each.

“You take a look at this young team and they keep getting better each and every night out,” Legerski said of the Cowgirls. “We do stumble along the way, but I think that is more to the opponent that we are playing rather than to what we may not be able to do. This conference is just loaded with talented teams, so every night when you step out on the court, you have to play at your highest level just to be at your basketball game. It will be no different with BYU coming to Laramie.”

Junior Hillary Carlson leads the Cowgirls at 14.4 points and 2.1 blocks per game. She is followed by junior Aubrey Vandiver with 14.2 points and a team-leading 9.2 rebounds, while sophomore Emma Langford is adding 12.0 points and 3.6 assists a game.

Balanced scoring has been, and will always be, the key for the Cowgirls, Legerski said.

“We keep talking that Hillary, Aubrey and Emma cannot carry this team to victory; they can get us there, but they are not going to push us over the top,” he said. “In the TCU game, I thought Kristen Scheffler was excellent in that two-minute span where she made three 3-pointers. You out in a layup by Aubrey and all of the sudden you have an 11-point lead, which is what we needed.

“It is very important for Jade (Kennedy) to step up … I liked the way Jade shot the ball in New Mexico. We need Randi (Richardson) to step up. We need everyone to help contribute. When you take a look -- even with BYU coming in -- their players average between 8-to-12 points. A very balanced team. I think with the more balance you have with your team, you’re not concerned with somebody having an off evening.”　

Game notes: Tuesday’s game is the lone contest this week for the Cowgirls, who return to action Jan. 27 at Utah … Carlson ranks first in blocks and sixth in scoring while being ranked second in field goal percentage and third in free-throw percentage in the Mountain West Conference. Vandiver ranks among the Top 15 in points, rebounds, steals, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage, while Langford is ninth in assists and 14th in scoring ... This is the 67th meeting between the two teams. BYU leads the series 46-20. The last time the two teams met was March 4, 2009, as the Cowgirls defeated BYU 57-55 in overtime