Cowgirls hold on to win MWC opener

UW-UNLV stats

Cowgirl postgame quotes

If last Saturday's win over UNLV was a preview for the rematch in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, then the Wyoming Cowgirls could live with it.

As it turned out, there were a lot of similarities, as the Cowgirls blew an 11-point second-half lead before stopping the Lady Rebels 60-55 Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

With the win, the Cowgirls (19-10) will face San Diego State Wednesday night at 8 p.m. The third-seeded Aztecs drew a first-round bye. The victory was just the third win for the Cowgirls in their MWC tournament history.

Last Saturday, Wyoming lost a 13-point lead only to rally for the win. On Tuesday, the Lady Rebels tied the game two times in the later stages of the contest, but Wyoming never relinquished the lead.

Despite giving up 24 offensive rebounds and hitting just 10 of 21 free throws, the Cowgirls found a way to win again.

“We always talk about it being a 40 minute basketball game,” UW head coach Joe Legerski said. “We played UNLV the last game of the season, and it came down to the last minute of the basketball game, just like it did today.

Aubrey Vandiver scored a team-high 24 points and Jade Kennedy knocked down two late 3-pointers that put the Cowgirls back in the lead for good.

“Two players I thought were huge for us. Aubrey really carried this team for about 34 minutes, and during one timeout I talked about that other people needed to step up because we started standing around watching Aubrey trying to do everything," Legerski said. "I thought Jade had a big three, came back, and hit a nice two point shot that really gave us a lift and took a little bit of the pressure off Aubrey to be able to do what she does so well, is carry this group.

“We made big plays by grabbing offensive rebounds and coming up with the play, none bigger than what Aubrey grabbed to force another jump ball. We had the basketball again, got the ball in and back to the free throw line.”

Hillary Carlson finished with 13 points and four blocked shots for the Cowgirls, while Kennedy added 10 points.

UNLV (13-18) was led by Markiell Syles with 13 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Kelli Thompson had a team-high 15 points, while Jamie Smith recorded 18 rebounds. The Lady Rebels out rebounded the Cowgirls 53-34.

After spotting the Lady Rebels the first two points of the game, the Cowgirls would seemingly take control, capping the first half with a last-second basket by Vandiver for a 28-21 lead.

The Cowgirls jumped out to a 34-23 lead early in the second half and still led by 10, 44-34, with a little over 11 minutes to play. But UNLV once again came back and tied the game at 47-each and 51-all.

Kennedy's second 3-pointer of the second half put the Cowgirls up by three again and they held on -- despite some anxious times at the free-throw line -- for the win.

Wednesday night's game with San Diego State will be broadcast on The Mtn. The two teams split during the regular season, both winning on their home court.