Slow Start Dooms Cowgirls at Pacific

* University of Wyoming press release

STOCKTON, Calif., – Pacific shot 49.2-percent and hit 8-of-15 from 3-point range as it outpaced the Wyoming Cowgirls Friday afternoon, 67-53 in the first game of the Pacific Tiger Turkey Tip-Off.

Wyoming (2-3) got off to a slow start in the contest as the Tigers (4-2) jumped out to an early 21-4 lead after the first quarter Friday. The Cowgirls played much better in the second half of the loss, outscoring Pacific 37-33 in the final 20 minutes. Pacific led 34-16 at halftime.

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The Cowgirls shot 22-for-53 (41.5-percent) in the contest and hit 6-of-21 (28.6-percent) from 3-point range. UW hit over 45-percent of its shots in the game’s final three quarters, but the Tiger offense proved to be too in sync all day. UP hit 9-of-16 shots in the first quarter and hit 3-of-4 from beyond-the-arc to get out to its strong start.

“It was a struggle on both ends of the court to begin,” said Head Coach Heather Ezell postgame. “We didn’t do what we wanted to do in our scout early on, which is a credit to Pacific. We let them go on a run to start and it was an uphill battle after that. I do think that we responded in the second half, but in the end, we didn’t come out of the locker room ready to go. The girls did battle until the end, so credit to them late.”

Quinn Weidemann led Wyoming with 13 points in the loss. Weidemann went 5-for-10 from the floor and hit 3-of-7 from 3-point range while leading the way with three assists. Marta Savic was also in double figures with 10 points off the bench and added a team-high seven rebounds. The Tigers out-rebounded UW 33-25 in the contest and had a 15-8 edge in second-chance points. Pacific also capitalized off turnovers better than the Cowgirls as they had an 18-8 advantage on points off turnovers. Both teams had 14 turnovers in the game.

Tess Barnes and Emily Mellema chipped in with six and five points, respectively off the bench. Wyoming reserves outscored the Pacific bench 24-15 on the afternoon.

UW doesn’t have to wait long to flush this one out of the system as game two of the tournament comes against UC Davis Saturday at 2 p.m., Mountain Time.