Big Second Half Nebraska Run Costs Cowgirls in Lincoln

* University of Wyoming press release

LINCOLN, Neb., -- The Wyoming Cowgirls’ four-game winning streak was snapped Sunday afternoon as Wyoming was defeated on the road by Nebraska, 66-39.

The Cowgirls hung tough for the first two-plus quarters before a 20-4 Cornhusker run spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning the fourth quarter ballooned a four-point UW deficit to 20 points. Nebraska continued its run the rest of the game as it outscored Wyoming 20-5 in the fourth.

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The Cowgirls (6-4) were stifled by Nebraska’s (9-3) defense for much of the game and shot just 30.8-percent overall from the floor and went 5-for-21 from 3-point range. UW also committed a season-high 21 turnovers in the loss.

The Cornhuskers shot an even 50-percent from the field. NU had a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint and scored 25 points off turnovers. Nebraska also had an 8-2 edge in second-chance points.

Wyoming trailed 14-11 after the first quarter and was down 27-20 at halftime. The Cowgirls trailed 34-30 with 5:31 left in the third quarter on Quinn Weidemann’s second 3-pointer of the game before the Cornhuskers closed the rest of the game on that big run.

“I’m really proud of the women, I am,” acting head coach Ryan Larsen said postgame. “Two of the things we wanted to take away from them, we got accomplished today. We held them to five 3-pointers. Nebraska had just six offensive rebounds today and they came into the game averaging 12 a game. I’m really happy about that. That tells me we played our tails off. We’ve got to get better with turnovers, obviously. Their points off those was the difference. I thought we had a lot of good shots and good looks on offense, unfortunately they didn’t go in and that led to us pressing a bit I thought. You can’t have 21 turnovers and beat a Big Ten team. But I thought we really guarded them and executed defensively.”

Larsen is filling in for head coach Heather Ezell who is on a leave of absence because of the birth of her child.

Weidemann led the way offensively for the Cowgirls as she finished with 10 points and added two assists and a steal. Grace Ellis had six points in the loss while Tommi Olson and Malene Pedersen chipped in with five each. Pedersen led UW with a pair of steals in the contest.

Allyson Fertig added four points, five boards and a block while Emily Mellema led the Cowgirl reserves with four points as well.

The Cowgirls will have a chance to rebound quickly as they close-out non-conference play Tuesday night at Wichita State. Tip-off with the Shockers is set for 5 p.m., Mountain Time.

- Wyoming At The Turn Of The Century Through The Eyes Of Lora Webb Nichols