Cowgirls to begin practice on Saturday

Seventh year head coach Joe Legerski and the University of Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team will practice for the first time Saturday at 9 a.m., in the Arena Auditorium. Practice is open to the public.

Legerski returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last season’s squad, including Second Team All-MWC selection Hillary Carlson, Sixth Player of the Year honoree Emma Langford, plus Kristen Scheffler and Aubrey Vandiver. Wyoming was recently picked fifth in the MWC Pre-Season Poll.

The Cowgirls will continue on Sunday at the same time while Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the following week practice will be from 1:30-4 p.m.

Wyoming will play two exhibition games on Nov. 2 and Nov. 6 before opening the regular season against the Denver Pioneers on Nov. 13, in Denver. Their home opener will be on Nov. 15 against the Montana Lady Griz. Wyoming will begin MWC play on the road Jan. 5 against the Colorado State Rams in a televised game on The Mountain Sports Network. Their first home conference game will be on Jan. 13, against the TCU Lady Frogs. In all, the Cowgirls will be featured four times on The Mtn. Sports Network.

Wyoming will hold their annual media day next Tuesday in the Arena Auditorium beginning at 1 p.m. Cowgirl players and coaches will be available.

Less of a transition expected for Cowgirls

Wyoming coach Joe Legerski

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowgirls turned a difficult transition into another successful basketball season. Knock on wood, this year’s transition looks to be much easier.

Last season, Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski began without some of the top players in the program history due to graduation. Then he lost who was expected to be the team leader – sophomore Aubrey Vandiver – because of illness.

Yet, despite a slow start, the Cowgirls finished 8-8 in Mountain West Conference play and 16-14 overall.

To say the least, last season was a big challenge for Legerski and the Cowgirls.

“You talk about the group we ended up losing, with Hanna Zavecz, Justyna Podziemska, Jodi Bolerjack and Dominique Sisk,” said Legerski on The Mtn.’s live streaming Wednesday as part of the MWC Basketball Media Days in Denver. “That was a tremendous blow to our program, but everybody goes through graduation. What you don’t count on is having an Aubrey Vandiver not being able to participate.

“I thought that was a bigger challenge because Aubrey was our leader, she was third team all conference as a sophomore. She was going to be the stability needed to make the transition. When I take a look at it now, it was a very satisfying year with a winning season… our fifth consecutive winning season for Wyoming. I’m proud of that and I’m proud of what the players on last year’s team were able to accomplish.”

With that said, the Cowgirls also had to overcome a slow start in league play, losing their first four contests. Several adjustments and just the maturation of a very young team turned things around.

“The Mountain West Conference is an extremely difficult conference to play in. We started 0-4 and that was a shock to our fan base. They were used to seeing us win and win at a very high level,” Legerski said. “We made some adjustments as a team. We started playing a little more zone, which you do not see from a Wyoming team very often. We started finding some victories down the line and were playing pretty well down the stretch. We had a .500 record within the league.”

Look for more adjustments this season, and yes, more zone defense.

“I think you’re going to see a little more from Wyoming in terms of a zone,” Legerski added. “I was happy with the way we were able to play it. You’re going to be able to see some different looks from this Wyoming team. Once again, it still comes down to playing the basics and we’ll get back to some of that.”

This season, Legerski has three starters returning, not including a healthy Vandiver, 10 letterwinners and another talented newcomer class. That has Legerski, always an optimist, excited about the possibilities this season.

“We’ve gained a great deal of experience. Kristen Scheffler and Emma Langford were two freshmen who we threw in the mix, maybe when they weren’t ready at times. We’re anxious for them to be able to participate and how they are going to play,” he said. “Then you take a look at having Aubrey back, and then in the post, having (junior) Hilary Carlson, a second-team all-conference player. She played extremely well for us and she gives us an inside presence. We are excited about what this season holds. We’re still young. We’re going to start two juniors, possibly three juniors, a couple sophomores and look out, we might have a freshman or two who see the court.”

Beginning his seventh year at the helm, Legerski has never had any problem playing freshmen. That won’t be any different this season with three promising talents in this year’s fold.

“We have Rebecca Campigli, who is a true point guard who we expect great things. Chaundra Sewell comes here from Broomfield, Colo. All Chaundra does is win. I think her high school record was 106-4 with three state championships. You put yourself around winners and they continue to win," he said. "Sara Wilson, from Nebraska, shoots the ball very well. I’m excited about this freshmen group.”

That excitement will turn into reality when the Cowgirls hit the courts officially for the first time on Oct. 16.

Aztecs voted first; Cowgirls fifth

DENVER, Colo. - As expected, San Diego State was the easy choice in the Mountain West Conference coaches and media poll released on Wednesday. Wyoming was tabbed fifth in the preseason voting.

The Aztecs, after sharing the 2008-09 MWC regular-season title and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, received 25 first-place votes and 240 total points. TCU collected three first-place votes and finished second with 216 points, followed by Utah with 185 points. New Mexico (168 points) placed fourth, followed by Wyoming (121 points), BYU (109 points), UNLV (97 points), Colorado State (57 points) and Air Force (31 points).

Last year's all-MWC first-team member, San Diego State senior guard Jené Morris, earned Preseason Player of the Year honors, while teammate Jessika Bradley was named Preseason Newcomer of the Year. Utah's Taryn Wicijowski was tabbed Preseason Freshman of the Year.

Four of the nine MWC teams were represented on the all-conference team, including three seniors and two juniors. Morris is a two-time all-MWC selection and earned WBCA State Farm Honorable Mention All-American accolades last season. She is joined on the preseason all-MWC team by teammate Paris Johnson, New Mexico's Amy Beggin, TCU's Helena Sverrisdottir and Utah's Kalee Whipple.

Cowgirls release basketball schedule

Five teams that competed in post-season play will be featured on the 2009-10 Wyoming Cowgirl basketball schedule, announced on Wednesday. Montana, San Diego State, TCU and Utah all competed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, while New Mexico was a participant in the WNIT.

The Cowgirls open the regular season with three out of their first four games on the road. They will start it off against the Denver Pioneers on Nov. 13, before returning home for a one-game showdown with the Montana Lady Griz on Nov. 15. They head back out for a two-game road stretch against North Dakota, Nov. 18, and North Dakota State, Nov. 20.

UW will return home to the friendly confines of the Double A, as they host Black Hills State prior to Thanksgiving on Nov. 24, and then resume play against the Idaho State Bengals on Nov. 30. It will be back out on the road for a three-game stretch beginning with Idaho on Dec. 3, Washington State, Dec. 5, and Dakota State, Dec. 12, at the Wyoming Shootout in Casper. The Cowgirls will close out play before the Christmas break by hosting Weber State, on Dec. 18 and the Oregon Ducks on Dec. 20.

Wyoming will finish out the non-conference schedule with one final game on the road before the MWC begins with a match-up against the Boise State Broncos on Dec. 31 in Boise, Idaho.

“Once again, we have put together a tremendous schedule for our young team,” said head coach Joe Legerski. “Our non-conference schedule will be challenging with the first several games on the road, but it should help prepare us for the MWC. The conference will be as difficult as ever with our first five of eight games on the road. Overall, we are excited about our home schedule and the quality teams we are bringing into Laramie. It should be exciting for our fans.”

Mountain West Conference women’s games will be played primarily on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with one Sunday and three Tuesday games added in to the schedule. Wyoming will begin MWC play on the road Jan. 5 against the Colorado State Rams in a televised game on The Mtn. Sports Network. Their home opener will come on Jan. 13, as they welcome the TCU Horned Frogs. Other MWC televised games for the Cowgirls will be Jan. 19 against the BYU Cougars, UNLV on Feb. 2, and the Utah Utes on Feb. 28. The BYU and Utah games will be featured on The Mtn. in Laramie, while the UNLV game is set to be played in Las Vegas.
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2009-10 Wyoming Cowgirl Basketball Schedule
November
Mon., Nov. 2 -- Adams State (Exh.), 7 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 6 -- CSU-Pueblo (Exh.), 7 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 13 -- at Denver, 5:30 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 15 -- Montana, 2 p.m.
Wed., Nov. 18 -- at North Dakota (Grand Forks, N.D.), 6 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 20 -- at North Dakota State (Fargo, N.D.), 5 p.m.
Tues., Nov. 24 -- Black Hills State, 7 p.m.
Mon., Nov. 30 -- Idaho State Laramie, 7 p.m.
December
Thurs., Dec. 3 -- at Idaho (Moscow, Idaho), tba

Sat., Dec. 5 -- at Washington State (Pullman, Wash. ), 3 p.m.
BlueCross/BlueShield of Wyoming Shootout (Casper)
Sat., Dec. 12 -- Dakota State#, 1 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 18 -- Weber State, 7 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 20 -- Oregon, 2 p.m.
Thurs., Dec. 31 -- at Boise State (Boise, Idaho), 2 p.m.
January
Tues., Jan. 5 -- at Colorado State* (Ft. Collins, Colo.), 6 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Sat., Jan. 9 -- at San Diego State* (San Diego, Calif.), TBA
Wed., Jan. 13 -- TCU* 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 16 -- at New Mexico* (Albuquerque, N.M.), 2 p.m.
Tues., Jan. 19 -- BYU*, 6 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Wed., Jan. 27 -- at Utah* (Salt Lake City, Utah), 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 30 -- Air Force*, 2 p.m.
February
Tues., Feb. 2 -- at UNLV (Las Vegas, Nev.), 9 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Sat., Feb. 6 -- Colorado State*, 2 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 10 -- San Diego State*, 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 13 -- at TCU* (Ft. Worth, Texas), tba.
Wed., Feb. 17 -- New Mexico*, 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 20 -- at BYU* (Provo, Utah), TBA
Sun., Feb. 28 -- Utah, 2 p.m. (The Mtn.)
March
Wed., March 3 -- at Air Force* (Colorado Springs, Colo.), tba
Sat., March 6 -- UNLV, 2:00 p.m.
MWC Tournament (Las Vegas, Nev.)
March 9-13 -- tba
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*Mountain West Conference Games
#game played in Casper, Wyo. (Wyoming Shoot-Out)
All games and times are subject to change
All times listed are Mountain Time

Legerski signs another Australian

Courtesy photo
New Wyoming recruit Rebecca Campigli, playing with Victoria.

The Wyoming Cowgirls stayed on their Australian pipeline, signing Melbourne point guard Rebecca Campigli to a letter of intent for the fall of 2009.

“Rebecca Campigli is the first true point guard that we’ve had at Wyoming,” Cowgirls head coach Joe Legerski said. “She likes to distribute the basketball and push the ball in transition, while being an outside shooting threat. She completes this recruiting class as she joins Chaundra Sewell and Sara Wilson as future Cowgirls.”

Campigli, at 5-foot-10, is a two-time member of the U20 Victorian team that won an Australian National Gold and Silver medal and the U18 and U16 Victorian Metropolitan team. For two years, she was a development player for the Dandenong Rangers with the WNBL and a member of the Australian Schoolgirls team. During her time at Wesley College, she was selected Girls First Team (2006-08) and a two-time captain, while being named MVP for the McDonalds Cup Tournament (2007) and the Wesley Team (2007-08). Campigli was also a juniors player with the Nunawading Spectres and helped them to four gold medals and one bronze medal at the National Junior Classic.

She has been coached by Lori Chizik. Campigli is the daughter of Peter and Vicki Campigli. She has two siblings, Sarah and Todd.

Campigli is the third student-athlete to sign a letter of intent with the Cowgirls, as they inked two during the early signing period. The other signees include Sewell (6-1, forward, Broomfield, Colo.) and Wilson (5-9, guard, Grant, Neb.).

Rams surprise Cowgirls in tourney opener

Cowgirls-Rams stats

By Wyoming Sports.org

LAS VEGAS -- The third time was a charm for the Colorado State Rams on Tuesday in the first round of the Mountain West Conference women’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Once again, tournament play for the Wyoming Cowgirls was a major disappointment.

Colorado State jumped out to a 20-point first half lead and never really looked back, thumping the Cowgirls 64-56. It was the first win over Wyoming in three games and it also broke a nine-game skid to the Cowgirls dating back to the 2004-2005 season.

Wyoming, meanwhile, fell in the first round for the second straight year and is now 2-19 in combined play of the MWC and Western Athletic Conference tournaments.

“I think in general today, Colorado State came out with a great deal of energy early,“ Legerski said. “I thought they really attacked the basket. They were quicker in transition. We just had to respond from that.”

When the Cowgirls, 16-14, struggle, they usually do some offensively and fall behind early. That was the case against the Rams.

“It's very difficult to continually battle from behind,” Legerski said. “I thought that as far as Wyoming is concerned, we left too many plays out there on the floor today that in tournament play you need to make - none bigger than about 1 minute 40 to go. I believe we're down six and we don't come up with a rebound off a missed free throw, then we don't foul again and come up with the second one.

“Those are plays that you have to make to be in basketball games. But I thought the theme today was CSU's energy and how much they attacked the basket.”

For the Rams, 10-21 and the No. 8 seed, it was the second straight year that they struggled in the regular season, but opened the tourney with a bang. Last year, after a winless MWC regular season, Colorado State won its first two games, including a shocking win over No. 1 seed Utah.

CSU basically dominated all aspects of the game. Amaka Uzomah, Bonnie Barbee and Zoi Simmon all finished with 11 points for the Rams while Uzomah also led the way with nine rebounds. The Rams were 23-of-56 (.411) from the field, 14-of-21 (.667) from the free-throw line and out-rebounded the Cowgirls 39-29.

"I'm extremely proud of my team,” first-year CSU coach Kristen Holt said. “Going into this game, we talked a lot about dictating the tempo. I felt like the first two times we played Wyoming, they dictated the tempo of the game. Our tempo is to try to pick it up and run as much as we can. We pressed a little bit, obviously, today.

“So that's what we wanted to do. We felt that that would play to our advantage. I think it did. So I really liked the start that we had. My team was as focused as they've been in any game this year. It's a good time to be focused. We had good practices leading up to today's game. Zoi took care of the ball very well. I thought she did a great job in the press. Amaka was huge on the boards and made some shots that sometimes I don't let her shoot."

Wyoming senior Megan McGuffey said the Rams were the aggressor the entire game.

“It’s hard to play on your heels when they're playing on their toes the whole game,” McGuffey said. “Yeah, unfortunately, we couldn't come back.”

Three Cowgirls finished the game in double figures, led by sophomore Hillary Carlson, who had 17 points and four rebounds. Freshman Emma Langford followed with 16, while McGuffey added 13 in her final game as a Cowgirl. Freshman Kristen Scheffler had a team high six rebounds.

Wyoming shot 19-of-54 (.352) from the field, 1 of 14 3-pointers (.071) and 17-23 (.739) from the free-throw line.

“You take a look at the last two games, we're 1-of-29 from 3-point range,” Legerski said. “You're not going to win very many games, if any, shooting 1 of 29 from 3. You have to be able to use that. I think, you know, we get players in position to make plays. I came into this game knowing that Colorado State had more tournament experience than we did on the floor with their victories last season. We're out there with a couple of freshmen -- Emma and Kristen -- that I thought did a great job. This is Hillary's first time to step out on tournament play. Those are some challenges for those kids.”

Cowgirls open tourney with CSU

Richard Anderson photo
Hillary Carlson drives to the basket past a CSU player earlier in the season.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

For a team that has been on the road more times than not in the last few weeks, the new format of the Mountain West Conference women’s basketball tournament doesn’t do the Wyoming Cowgirls too many favors.

For Utah, San Diego State and TCU, that’s a different story.

The Cowgirls, 16-13, 8-8 in MWC and the fifth seed, will open the tournament on Tuesdays by facing rival Colorado State, 9-20, 4-12 and the eighth seed. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

To win the tournament, the Cowgirls will have to win four games in five days.
For Utah and San Diego State, which tied for first in the regular season, both teams don’t even play until Friday’s semifinals.

The new format has the top two teams receive byes until the semifinals, and the No. 3 seed, TCU, earning first-round bye. Wyoming, like CSU, New Mexico, BYU, Colorado State and UNLV, are in it for the long haul.

The Cowgirls are also coming off of two road games last week where they played at BYU, came back to Laramie, traveled to New Mexico, then came home again, before leaving Monday for Las Vegas.

“One of the biggest concerns that I have right now is how tired we may be,” Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said. “We’ve traveled five of the last seven days, and that is always a concern, whether we are going to have fresh legs.”

CSU, meanwhile, played its last two games at home.

Even with the odds stacked against them, Legerski said that the new format protects the teams that are the best teams in the league. It came about after last year’s top seed, Utah, was upset in the opening round and didn’t get a favorable draw for the NCAA Tournament.

“They (Utah, SDSU, TCU) have proven over time that they are the best teams,” Legerski said. “The rest of us have some challenges ahead of us, to be able to play for four days. But we had some challenges ahead of us as it was. CSU would have opened up with an 8-9 game, then faced No. 1. We would have faced No. 4. Those were tough challenges in the old format. The challenges have just changed. It will still be very difficult if you are in the bottom half of the league.”

When asked if his Cowgirls would have the legs to play four games in a week, Legerski said he was just worried about having enough legs to play on Tuesday.

“That will be something that we have to wait and see on,” Legerski said. “That is one of the biggest challenges for anybody who starts play on Tuesday.”

The Cowgirls will look for their third win over CSU this season, although both victories were far from easy. Wyoming beat the Rams 64-61 in Fort Collins and topped them again 71-62 in Laramie.

“I look at CSU as a team that ended up winning two games last year in the tournament, and they have a high percentage of those players back who experienced some success,“ Legerski said. “The two previous games were just games played throughout the league. We played well at times and CSU played well at times. I think what it is going to come down to is maybe a longer run together. When the new format, the first round games have really tightened up a bit where you have 5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7, teams I always figured to be very comparable. It should be a close game.”

The Rams are led by Britney Minor, who is averaging 7.8 points along with 4.2 rebounds. Senior Kandy Beemer is adding 7.6 points, while Amaka Uzomah is leading the way with 6.6 rebounds per game.

Four Cowgirls are scoring in double figures this season, led by sophomore Hillary Carlson, who is averaging 11.6 points, while senior Megan McGuffey is adding 10.6 points. Freshmen Kristen Scheffler and Emma Langford follow closely with 10.4 and 10.3 points respectively.

Legerski said his biggest worry is just winning in the MWC Tournament, something the Cowgirls haven’t had much luck at. In his tenure, Wyoming is just 2-6 in the tourney, and 2-18 overall in the MWC and WAC tournaments combined.

“We have to show up and get a tournament victory. At this time of the year, either you win or you go home,” Legerski said.