Cowgirls ready for Pioneer Thanksgiving Classic

* University of Wyoming athletics media relations release

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirls travel down to Denver for the Pioneer Thanksgiving Classic this Friday and Saturday. The Cowgirls will face Tulane at 1 p.m., Friday and host-Denver at 3:30 p.m., Saturday.

Tournament games will be streamed live and can be found via the live coverage links on gowyo.com. Both games can also be heard across all 25 stations on the Cowgirl Radio Network with Keith Kelley on the call.

A LOOK AT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (2-2) is coming off a 71-48 victory Monday over Chadron State. McKinley Bradshaw was one of two Cowgirls in double figures with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Allyson Fertig also had the best game of her young career, tallying her first-career double-double with career-highs in both points (14) and rebounds (10).

Bradshaw currently ranks fifth in the league averaging 16 points per game this season and is second in the MW with 26 made field goals in 2021-22. In her last three games, Bradshaw is averaging 19 points per game.

The Cowgirls notched a season-high 16 assists in the win, including a season-high five from Quinn Weidemann, four from Tommi Olson and a career-best three assists from Ola Ustowska. Weidemann and Olson rank third and fifth, respectively in the league thus far this season in assist-to-turnover ratio. Weidemann has a 3.25 assist-to-turnover ratio while Olson is at a 3.20 ratio.

UW is currently holding its opponents to just under 53 points per game through four games this season. The Cowgirls are defending well without fouling opponents, averaging a national-best low mark of 8.2 fouls per game as a team.

SCOUTING TULANE
Tulane enters the tournament with a perfect 4-0 mark on the season and is receiving votes in the latest USA Today Coach’s Poll. Tulane is averaging 77.3 points per game and allowing opponents to score at under 64 per game. The Green Wave is shooting 41 percent overall from the floor and has hit nearly 31 percent from beyond-the-arc.

Moon Ursin leads Tulane averaging 16.3 points per game and is shooting 47 percent from the field. Ursin leads the squad with nine made 3-pointers and is hitting 47.4 percent from 3-point range. Ursin is one of four student-athletes averaging in double figures this season for Tulane. Krystal Freeman leads the team with 9.3 rebounds per contest and is scoring nearly 13 points per. Arsula Clark leads the team with 18 assists in 2021-22.

Dynah Jones is averaging in double-figures at 13.3 points per game and is third on the team with 11 assists. Clark is also scoring 10-plus per game at 10.8 a contest.

Tulane, who is led by head coach Lisa Stockton, who is in her 28^th season leading the Green Wave, was picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference.

SERIES AGAINST TULANE
Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

SCOUTING DENVER
Tournament-host Denver enters the tourney with a 1-3 mark. The Pioneers have faced on common opponent with the Cowgirls, a 76-61 loss to Wichita State on November 15. DU also faced MW opponents Air Force (L, 62-79) to begin the year and Colorado State (L, 43-67) last week.

Uju Ezeudu leads the Pioneers in both scoring (16.8) and rebounds (9.0). Ezeudu also leads the squad with a 56-percent field goal percentage and has made 23-of-27 at the free-throw line. No other Pioneer has attempted more than four free throws thus far on the season. Indeya Sanders leads the team averaging five assists per game.

As a team, DU is averaging 59 points per game and is allowing opponents to score at a near-71-point clip. Denver is shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 27.7 percent from 3-point range this season.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST DENVER
The Cowgirls lead the all-time series with DU, 24-5 and are 8-4 on the road against the Pioneers. Last time UW traveled to face Denver, the Cowgirls lost 71-57 in November of 2019. In two career games against Denver, Bradshaw is averaging 13 points per game to lead the current UW squad. Weidemann is averaging 10.3 points per in three games during her career against the Pioneers and is shooting 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from 3-point land.