Cowgirls fall to Lobos

Cowgirls-Lobos stats

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Wyoming Cowgirls fell behind early and never recovered, losing to New Mexico 63-45 on Saturday in the regular-season finale at The Pit.

The Lobos, 20-9, 9-7 in the Mountain West, ran out to a big early lead and cruised to earn the season split and finish a game ahead of the Cowgirls in the league standings.

Wyoming, which knocked off BYU on he road on Wednesday, finished at 16-13, 8-8.

“New Mexico got off to a great start, hitting their first four shots and got the crowd got into it,” UW head coach Joe Legerski said. “It was a difficult learning experience for this team. The second half we played better, but the game was determined in the first 20 minutes.”

Two Cowgirls finished the game in double figures, led by freshman Emma Langford with 12 points in her 25 minutes of play. She was followed by senior Megan McGuffey with 10 points and seven rebounds. Wyoming shot just 15-of-54 (.278) from the field and didn't hit a 3-pointer in 15 attempts.

New Mexico was led by Amy Beggin and Angela Hartill with 13 points, while Eileen Weissman added 11. Amanda Best finished with a team-high eight rebounds. The Lobos were 22-of-59 (.373) from the field, while out-rebounding Wyoming 46-37.

New Mexico came out on fire to begin the first half, scoring the first 12 points, leading 18-2 before taking a 37-16 halftime lead.

The second half started off very similar to the first as New Mexico went on an 8-2 run to start things off to lad by as much as 27. The Cowgirls would score 10 of the next 14 points but would never really get back in the game.

The Cowgirls will face Colorado State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Tuesday in Las Vegas, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Cowgirls beat Cougars in overtime

BYU photo
Wyoming's Rebecca Vanderjagt and Kristen Scheffler defend BYU's Cassie King on Wednesday in Provo.

Cowgirls-Cougars stats

By Wyoming Sports.org

PROVO, Utah -- Losing a 12-point halftime lead on the road meant one thing earlier this season for the Wyoming Cowgirls: A loss.

On Wednesday, the progress the young Cowgirl team has made in the last month was evident once again, as the Cowgirls regained their momentum to edge BYU 57-55 in overtime at the Marriott Center.

Not only was it a big win for the Cowgirls, it broke a tie for fifth place with the Cougars in the Mountain West Conference standings. Wyoming moved to 8-7 in league play and 16-12 overall, while BYU fell to 7-8, 17-10.

“This is a big win for our program,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “With eight freshmen and sophomores on the roster, and this is a tremendous place to play, it is a big win.”

Wyoming was led by freshman Emma Langford, who recorded 15 points and had five rebounds off the bench. She was followed by sophomore Hillary Carlson with 12 points and three blocked shots. Senior Megan McGuffey had a career-high 17 boards in her effort.

“Emma Langford was great off the bench and really created some things for us with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists,” Legerski said. “Megan McGuffey, with her 17 rebounds, was just a great performance on the glass.”

BYU was led by Cassie King with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Shawnee Slade added 16 points in her 33 minutes.

“We had many opportunities to win the game,” said BYU coach Jeff Judkins. “Coming out of the second half, the athletes played harder and gave it a lot better effort. We were a lot more aggressive and did a better job of attacking their zone but we were just unable to win the game.”

The Cowgirls got off to a slow start, trailing 9-2, but used a 12-0 run to seemingly take control in the first half. Wyoming led by as much as 14 before taking a 30-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Playing on its Senior Night, the Cougars had plenty of fight in them in the next 20 minutes. BYU chipped away and regained the lead at 46-45 and the two teams traded leads down the stretch.

Langford hit two free throws to give Wyoming a three-point lead late, but a three-point play by King tied it up at 53 with 34.6 seconds on the clock. The Cougars had a couple of opportunities to win the game, but it would head to overtime.

Langford and King answered baskets to begin overtime, before both teams continued to struggle offensively. Free throws by Langford and sophomore Jade Kennedy proved to be the difference.

“I thought at the end, BYU made more plays to get the game to overtime, and we are fortunate that one more shot fell for us in the end,” Legerski said.

Neither team shot the ball well, as the Cowgirls hit 21-of-54 (.389) from the field and 11-of-16 (.688) from the free-throw line, while out-rebounding the Cougars 44-42.

The Cougars were 24-of-71 (.338) from the field and 3-of-20 (.150) from beyond the arc.

Wyoming will close out the regular season at New Mexico on Saturday, with tip-off set for 2 p.m.

Challenges lie ahead for Cowgirls

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The month of January was a bit rough on the Wyoming Cowgirls. February was better. What’s in store for March remains to be seen.

One thing that Wyoming coach Joe Legerski knows if his young team is playing better. Whether that is good enough to win at BYU on Wednesday (7 p.m. ) or at New Mexico (2 p.m.) on Saturday... well, that too remains to be seen.

“We’ve really come on in February, going 7-3. We had a very difficult January, starting out 0-4 in league play,” Legerski said. “ We’ve really grown, we’ve really improved and are heading in the right direction. But these two teams at the end of the year are going to be a tremendous challenge for this young group. I’m anxious to see how they respond. I’m hoping that they respond well.”

The biggest key in the cowgirls’ turnaround? If Legerski had to pinpoint it on one area, he would say the Cowgirls have shown improvement on the boards. If fact, he said his team has been more aggressive rebounding the basketball on both ends of the floor.

“We’ve been able to win the rebounding battle over the last few games,“ he said. “We’re more active to the glass.”

It also hasn’t hurt that some of the younger Cowgirls, particularly freshmen Kristen Scheffler and Emma Langford and sophomores Hillary Carlson and Randi Richardson, are playing some of their best basketball of the season.

“For some of our seniors and having the youngsters step up, it has given us the opportunity to win,” Legerski said. “But nothing is more important than being able t win the rebounding battle.”

At 7-7 in the Mountain West , the Cowgirl shave also put themselves in position to move up in the tournament seeding by facing the team (BYU) that they are tied with.

“Right now our focus is on BYU, with both of us tied for fifth place,“ Legerski said. “The winner of Wednesday’s game is going to move forward and have the upper hand. I don’t get too involved at looking at the tie-breaker system is. We have a game that will go head-to-head that will determine how everything will play out.”

Legerski said that the Cowgirls will have to play well offensively to win in Provo and Albuquerque.

“You can sneak a game or two bye when you are not at our best, but towards the end of the season, you have to be at your best,” he said. “On the road at BYU and New Mexico, we’re going to have to be playing at the highest level to have an opportunity to win in the final minutes.”

Last Saturday was Senior Night for three Cowgirls -- Megan McGuffey, Elisabeth Dissen and Rebecca Vanderjagt. That spurned the Cowgirls on to a big 31-point win over Air Force.

Now, the Cowgirls will have to take a shot of their own medicine, as both games will be on their opponent’s Senior Night.

“That always adds a little incentive for our opponents; they’ll play at a high level and their fans will be charged up," Legerski said. “We know we have challenges ahead of us, but we’re going to have to play well, regardless.”

Richardson solid in running the show

Richard Anderson photo

Wyoming sophomore guard Randi Richardson pushes the ball against Air Force on Saturday.

Wyoming-AFA stats

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Randi Richardson doesn’t have to score a lot, just enough to make the Cowgirls’ opponents aware threat she can be a threat.

At times this season, Richardson has let the opposition dictate that scenario. In recent games, including Saturday’s 65-34 win over Air Force in the Arena-Auditorium, she has proven otherwise.

Richardson was just 1-of-3 from the field against the Falcons, but her 3-pointer got the team going midway in the second half en route to a 13-point halftime lead. Her job as a defender and as the point guard then went easier.

“We have talked to Randi that she is a good shooter,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “ She has struggled some this season, like all of the young players have. She started deferring all of the time, not to shoot. She’s really taking a great deal of pride in defending. She got the assignment to guard Raimee Beck and she is 4-of-14, so that is a tribute to Randi.

“I just have to reign her in now and then because she just wants to make every play. I keep telling her that some of these plays are made for you, and she stepped up and knocked down a 3.”

Richardson also finished with eight assist and three steals in running the show. Legerski said that any time a player gets a chance to make a shot or two, it improves their all-around confidence. That is what is happening for Richardson, the redshirt sophomore transfer from Arlington, Wash.

“When you start believing what you are doing, then all of the sudden the defense becomes easier and assists become easier,” Legerski said. “When Randi shoots better, it becomes easier for Hillary Carlson, because then they can’t double down on her.”

Wyoming senior Megan McGuffey credited Richardson for getting the Cowgirls going on their 17-4 run and stabilizing the offense in the second half.

“Randi did a great job and she hit some great passes there,” McGuffey said. “She was pushing the ball at the opportune times. That was needed at that point of the game.”

After a seven-minute scoreless span in the first half, the Cowgirls closed on a 17-4 run for a 30-17 halftime lead. Wyoming put the game away early, scoring 13 of the first 14 points.

McGuffey finished with a game-high 24 points and freshman Kristen Scheffler also had a big game, with 22 points, including 6 3-pointers, while Carlson added 12.

Kim Kreke led the Falcons, 4-23, 0-14 in the Mountain West, with 10 points. Air Force shot just 25 percent from the field (13-of-52).

The Cowgirls, 15-12, 7-7, will close the regular season next week at BYU and New Mexico.

“We’ve won seven out of the last 10, 70 percent, which is tremendous," Legerski said. “We’ve found ways to win and our young kids have grown up. They are playing better and better.

“You take a look tonight at Kristen Scheffler, getting 22 points and shooting 50 percent from 3. Hillary Carlson is basically played half of the game, sharing minutes with Elisabeth Dissen. She gets 12 points and eight rebounds. That just shows you the dominating player that Hillary is becoming. I think this it the growth that you see in young teams. It doesn’t get any easier from here on our, but we’re going to enjoy it today.”

Timely timeout gets Cowgirls going; Scheffler makes Falcons pay

Wyoming freshman Kristen Scheffler

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Less than two minutes into the second half, it was time for a little attitude adjustment for the Wyoming Cowgirls.

Wyoming overcame a scoring drought midway through the first half with a late rush for a comfortable 13-point halftime lead against Air Force on Saturday. But a last-second bucket by the Air Force to close the opening half and five straight points to begin the second half got Wyoming coach Joe Legerski’s attention.

The Cowgirls responded with a 13-1 run and never looked back in routing the Falcons 65-34.

“We talked about coming ready to go at the start; I knew that Air Force has no quit in them, they'll compete for 40 minutes,” Legerski said.

Legerski called a quick timeout and although it was a full timeout, he kept his team on the floor. The Cowgirls responded with a steal and 3-pointer by freshman Kristen Scheffler and the Wyoming defense held the Falcons to just one point over an eight-minute span.

“There was no need to sit down, nobody was tired yet,” Legerski said. “We discussed what we wanted to get done as a team and where we are at as a team, and they are not doing what we asked. When I got that message across, we went right back out and Kristen Scheffler hit a 3 and we made another play. That is what I was hoping to see at the start at the half. It took a timeout to get that done.”

Wyoming senior Megan McGuffey said the Cowgirls couldn’t afford to give up any more points in that run.

“He (Legerski) had to just get up in our faces and get us going again," McGuffey said. “Sometimes we unfortunately have those lapses right after halftime. After he did that, the team came out and Kristen hit a couple of big shots there.”

For Scheffler, it was just a matter of taking what the defense gives you. The Falcons gave her open 3-point looks and she made them pay.

“Teams can make mistakes and you get freed up, so it is really important to make those shots when you get a chance,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points in her best scoring night as a Cowgirl. She also had 21 points against Gonzaga and 21 in the first game against Air Force.

Legerski said that shooters shoot and that is exactly what the Lovell freshman did. Scheffler bhit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the second half.

“During a timeout, I said to Kristen, 'The basket must look about as big as this arena right now,’” he said. “She walks out there and knocks down the next 3 and I turned to Gerald (Mattinson), and said, ‘It may be as big as this state.’ When shooters get on a roll, the basket looks big to them.”

McGuffey closes on a special note

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming senior Megan McGuffey, left, gets a hug from teammate Hillary Carlson Saturday after being take out of her final home game.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Cowgirl basketball fans wouldn’t let one of their own -- Cheyenne native Megan McGuffey -- leave her final home game without an extra special memory.

After scoring 15 points in the first half and needing 23 to become the 17th Cowgirl to score 1,000 career points, McGuffey was silent offensively for much of the second half. She would get to the milestone in the 65-34 win, but not without a little help.

McGuffey scored her first points of the second half at the 3:25 mark and then hit another layup. Winning easily, the Cowgirl crowd wanted more. Four points away, McGuffey hit a pair of free throws. Two points away with just over a minute left, she then missed the first of two from the charity stripe.

“When she missed that first one, you felt the crowd, the air was taken out of them,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said.

McGuffey made the second free throw, but time appeared to be running out. Suddenly, freshman reserve guard Brenna Freeze stole the ball at midcourt and led McGuffey on the break. She got the ball to the Cowgirl senior and she was fouled once again.

This time, nothing but net.

Legerski called time out for PA announcer Geoff Mack to acknowledge the accomplishment and then took McGuffey out to a standing ovation after she made the second free throw.

“I sure didn’t want to end on 999,” McGuffey said. “Luckily, I got fouled again.”

McGuffey couldn’t help but know how close she was in the final minutes. She had a little help from the Cowgirl fans, the UW coaches and players.

“I kept hearing shout outs from the crowd, ‘Come on, eight more points to go...,’” McGuffey said with a laugh.

The announced crowd (3,816) was also there to honor fellow seniors Elisabeth Dissen and Rebecca Vanderjagt and see one more win on the home court. They got their wishes in both cases.

“It makes it nice that it was here and I got the response that I did,” McGuffey said. “But as far as the season goes, it didn’t really mean much for our team. More so, it was just getting another win. I think we’ve won seven out of our last games, so that is really positive for us right now.”

Legerski said it was a special moment for McGuffey.

“It is special that Megan could get it here, not only in front of her family, but in front of all of the Wyoming fans,” he said.

Averaging 10.3 points a game this season, McGuffey had scored just nine points in her last two games, hitting 2-of-19 from the field. On Saturday, she finished 8-of-16 from the field, including 3 of 8 3-pointers. The blue-collar McGuffey also grabbed nine rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

“I’m not averaging anything near 20 points, so going into the game, I didn’t expect to get it at all,” McGuffey said. “If I wouldn’t (have scored 15 in the first half), I probably wouldn’t have thought about it. Who knows?”

Freshman Kristen Scheffler, who otherwise would have been the story of the game with 22 points on six 3-pointers, was asked about the celebration for McGuffey and the rest of the UW seniors in the media room after the game.

The Lovell native said he couldn’t help but be in a little awe.

“It gives me something to look forward to, just the support here … the crowd, the team and everything,” Scheffler said.

The consummate team player, McGuffey and the rest of the Cowgirl seniors were asked this year to help transition this young team to the future. McGuffey closed her big night by deflecting the attention back to Scheffler.

“She’ll get 2,000 (points),” McGuffey said with a smile.

Cowgirl seniors revel in success and friendship on and off the court

Richard Anderson photos

From left, Wyoming seniors Elisabeth Dissen, Megan McGuffey and Rebecca Vanderjagt.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Success followed seniors Megan McGuffey, Elisabeth Dissen and Rebecca Vanderjagt around for their careers with the Wyoming Cowgirls. In their first three years with the program, the trio enjoyed a WNIT berth, WNIT title and then NCAA Tournament berth in that order.

It remains to be seen if they can close their Wyoming careers with postseason play. Regardless, it has been a ride they will never forget.

“It’s like one of the best times of my life here,” Vanderjagt said, as the Cowgirls and the three seniors will prepare for the final home game Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host Air Force. “It is something that I will never forget. Every experience that I have had here has exceeded any expectations that I had.”

Has it hit them yet? Yes and no.

“I’m excited, but I am trying to look at it like a normal game and just play normal and not get too amped up for it,” Dissen said.

McGuffey, a Wyoming girl all of the way around as a Cheyenne native, said it will be pretty emotional on Saturday.

“It is always sad to end your career, but we’ve had a great run here,” McGuffey said. “It’s just been an honor to play for this program.”

Added Vanderjagt: “It’s been great playing here for four years. Having the last game here hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m sure it will by the end of the game. It will be sad knowing that it was our last game here.”

Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said it has been a tremendous run for his three seniors, having an opportunity to play in postseason play for three years.

“Being able to get to the NCAA Tournament and winning the WNIT championship, it is just a tremendous run,” he said. “They had to change their roles this season. We’ve looked upon Megan and Elisabeth to be able to score more on the inside and that has been important. With Rebecca, her role has basically been the same whether she has coming in as a starter or coming off the bench just to provide some leadership out there. I’m excited about what has happened to the three of them. We still have a great deal of basketball to play and I think they want to go out playing very well at the end.”

Saturday’s game could be the final time the three jog down the ramp together in front of their fans unless a big run at the end of the season and in the Mountain West Conference Tournament lands them into more postseason play, specifically the WNIT.

The Cowgirls, 14-12, 6-7 in the Mountain West, still have a lot to play for.

“I don’t feel like it is the end of anything at all, we still have a lot of plays after this. I’m just excited to get to postseason and see what we can do,” Dissen said.

The Cowgirls have three of their last four and six of their last nine games. They want to keep that momentum as long a possible.

“We’ve been playing a lot better the second half of this conference season, so it has been a maturation process for this team,” McGuffey said. “I think things are looking up right now and knock on wood, hopefully we can get a win over Air Force and continue it through the next few games.”

A quick start on Saturday will make the final game go much easier.

“It will be nice to have a comfortable game for our last game,” Vanderjagt said.

Winning the WNIT title and advancing to the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament is a memory that will never be taken lightly.

“We’ve had a lot of great experiences, winning the WNIT and playing in the NCAA Tournament,” Dissen said. “I think we have done a lot of cool things while we have been here; it’s been really fun.”

McGuffey said that just making the NCAA tournament was pretty much the ultimate goal, especially for any college athlete at this level.

“It was pretty amazing. It was like a dream come true,” McGuffey said. “Not only that, the WNIT as well, playing in front of a sold-out crowd. Not too many women athletes can say that.”

When they all stepped onto the court for their first practice as freshmen, that was probably the WNIT and NCAA Tournament were likely the furthest things from their mind.

“I don’t think that as a freshman, I ever imagined the things that I would get to do, and it has been great,” Dissen said.

Vanderjagt came to Wyoming from Australia and said she had no idea what she was getting into.

“I wasn’t sure at first if I would last all four years,” she said. “I thought I would do it for a year and see if I would like it. But I really enjoyed it and stuck it out. I have no regrets.”

Talent certainly has been a springboard for their success. Chemistry and friendship has been what sprung them as players on and off the court.

“They are two of my best friends. We’ll be best friends for life. With them, it is more about friendships than anything,” Vanderjagt said.

Dissen and McGuffey echoed Vanderjagt‘s feelings.

“They are like my best friends, on the court and off the court. We get along so well and it has been good,” Dissen said.

“I’ve had so much fun this year. I love my teammates, I love the seniors I will be leaving with,” added McGuffey.