Cowboys win tight home contest while the Cowgirls fall on the road

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University of Wyoming photo

January 23, 2022 — The Wyoming Cowboys won a thrilling home game Saturday night, defeating a stubborn New Mexico team, 93-91, that was looking to win their first conference game of the year. Meanwhile, the Wyoming Cowgirls lost 76-66 at Utah State, giving the Aggies their first Mountain West victory.

Cowboys vs. New Mexico

In the wild shootout, the Pokes 93-91 win over improved UW’s record to 4-0 in the Mountain West and 15-2 overall. It was also Wyoming’s sixth win in a row. New Mexico falls to 0-6 in the Mountain West and 7-12 on the season.

Both teams shot the ball very well. The Pokes made 58 percent of their shots from the field with the Lobos shooting 54 percent.
 
“Our guys keep finding ways to win,” Wyoming Head Coach Jeff Linder said. “They stuck together. There are some things we’re going to have to take from tonight and learn from them. You’re not going to win a lot of games if you allow teams to shoot 66 percent in the second half like we did tonight. Luckily, we shot 72 percent in the second half and did a good job of following the game plan of getting the ball inside to Maldo (Hunter Maldonado) and Graham (Ike). They both started out a little slow but did a really good job to close.”

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Ike led the Pokes with 29 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Maldonado added 25 points, along with seven assists and six rebounds.

The difference in the games was Wyoming outscoring the Lobos 27 to 9 from the free-throw line. Wyoming shot a season-high 35 free throws, while New Mexico shot just 11 free throws.  

A tightly contested first half ended with Wyoming holding a 41-34 lead. The Cowboys would increase the lead to 10 points, 59-49 with 12:44 to play, but New Mexico would cut that lead to 59-55 with 11:36 to go. The Pokes would then get the lead back up to nine points, 69-60, at the 8:39 mark. Again, the Lobos would respond with an 8-0 run and trail only 69-68 with 6:39 to play.

While UW never gave up the lead, the game would remain close the remainder of the way.

Wyoming heads to league-leading Boise State (6-0 MW, 15-4 overall) Tuesday evening. The Broncos are coming off a 42-37 win at San Diego State Saturday night, marking their twelfth straight win. Game time is 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 99.7 JACK-FM and 99KSIT.com beginning at 6:30 p.m.

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Cowgirls at Utah State

Utah State had arguably its best offensive and shooting game of the season Saturday afternoon as the Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team dropped its contest in Logan, 76-66. The Aggies got off to a fast start, leading the Cowgirls 23-12 after the first quarter of play.

While UW would cut that lead down to 42-35 by the end of the first half, Utah State would win the third quarter, 17-12, to keep the Cowgirls at bay.

The loss drops Wyoming to 2-4 in Mountain West play and 6-9 overall. Utah State improved to 1-7 in conference and 6-12 overall.

Allyson Fertig led the Cowgirls with 17 points and 12 rebounds. McKinley Bradshaw added 15 points.

UW will return home to play Boise State on Wednesday night against Bosie State (3-4, 7-11 overall). That contest will be broadcast on WyoRadio’s 1360/103.5 KRKK and at 1360KRKK.com beginning at 6 p.m. with tip-off at 6:30 p.m