Cowgirls Open WBIT Thursday Against Texas Tech

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirls continue their postseason with another appearance in a national tournament.

Texas Tech pays a visit to the Arena-Auditorium Thursday night in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). Tipoff is slated for 6:30.

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Thursday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN Plus and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call. WBIT, which is in its second year of existence, is hosted by the NCAA. The Cowgirls are the No. 4 seed in their eight-team pod in the bracket.

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (22-11) is coming off a heartbreaking 72-68 triple overtime loss to San Diego State in the championship of the Mountain West Tournament last week. It was UW’s second appearance in the final in the last three seasons.

Malene Pedersen led the Cowgirls with 19 points in the loss while Allyson Fertig recorded her fifth consecutive double-double as she finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Both Fertig and Pedersen were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Fertig, who is now the program’s single-season rebounding leader, in addition to having the career mark at UW, is in the top-10 nationally in three statistical categories and is in the top 20 in two others.

Fertig ranks fourth in the country in total rebounds with 368, eighth in rebounding average (11.5), ninth with 253 made field goals, 15th in defensive rebounds with 7.5 a game and 17th in field goal percentage, shooting 58.2-percent. In Wyoming career ranks, Fertig is now second all time with 1,843 career points, 760 made field goals and 47 career double-doubles.

After a stellar three games in Las Vegas, Pedersen is now averaging 14.1 points per game on the season. Pedersen is 20th on the program’s career scoring list with 1,201 and is 19th all-time with 111 career made 3-pointers and is tied for 21st along with Ola Ustowska with 247 career assists.

Emily Mellema is up to 15th in program history with 301 career assists and is tied for 10th with 155 steals at UW. Tess Barnes and McKinley Dickerson rank 12th and 14th, respectively in career 3-pointers made with 153 and 138. A total of six Cowgirls now have played in 100-or-more games with the Brown & Gold.

Dickerson’s 140 career games played are the second-most all time. Ustowska is fourth with 131 games, Mellema is fifth with 130 appearances and Fertig is sixth with 129 games. Barnes is 20th all time playing in 117 contests while Pedersen hit the triple figures mark in last Wednesday's championship game.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders are led by a pair of All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selections in Bailey Maupin and Jasmine Shavers. Shavers and Maupin are the only Red Raiders scoring in double figures, averaging 14.6 and 13.3 points per game, respectively.

The duo also leads Texas Tech in assists as Maupin is averaging a team-high 2.2 a game with Shavers averaging 2.1. Shavers also has a team-leading 51 steals this season. Kilah Freelon leads TTU averaging 4.3 rebounds per game while Sarengbe Sanogo has a team-high 45 blocks in 2024-25.

Texas Tech averages 63.5 points per game and is allowing 63.7 a contest. TTU is shooting 40.7-percent from the floor overall and 31.4-percent from 3-point range. Red Raider opponents shoot it at a clip of 42.2-percent but are shooting just 29-percent from beyond-the-arc.

Texas Tech averages nearly 1.5 more assists per game than its opponents do and it also averages fewer turnovers per contest. The Red Raiders average 33 rebounds per game while opponents average 33.4 per.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST TEXAS TECH
The all-time series with the Red Raiders is tied 2-2. The Cowgirls won the lone meeting in Laramie, 68-57, in overtime in the 2010 WNIT. That was also the last time the two teams met.

TICKETS
Tickets are currently on sale for the first round of the WBIT. Tickets can be purchased online at gowyo.com/tickets, over the phone at 307-766-7220 or in-person at the Wyoming Ticket Office.

Prices:
Courtside $40 each
Adult: $15
Youth (3-12 years old): $10
UW Student: $10

University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

During the summer of 2021, 7220Sports.com counted down the Top 50 football players in University of Wyoming history, presented by Premier Bone & Joint Centers, Worthy of Wyoming.

The rules are simple: What was the player's impact while in Laramie? That means NFL stats, draft status or any other accolade earned outside of UW is irrelevant when it comes to this list.

This isn't a one-man job. This task called for a panel of experts. Joining 7220's Cody Tucker are Robert Gagliardi, Jared Newland, Ryan Thorburn, and Kevin McKinney.

We all compiled our own list of 50 and let computer averages do the work. Think BCS -- only we hope this catalog is fairer.

Don't agree with a selection? Feel free to sound off on our Twitter: @7220sports - #Top50UWFB

Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players