Weidemann scores 1,000th point, UW Snaps UNLV’s winning streak

* University of Wyoming Athletics media relations release

LARAMIE -- Quinn Weidemann became the 27^th member of the 1,000-Point Club in program history as the Wyoming Cowgirls snapped UNLV’s 12-game winning streak Thursday night in the Arena-Auditorium, 77-73.

Wyoming (13-11, 9-6 MW) went on an 11-0 run over a more than three-minute span late in the fourth quarter Thursday after UNLV (22-5, 14-2 MW) tied the game at 57-57. The Lady Rebels didn’t lead once in the game.

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“What I really liked was the discipline that our kids had from about the three-minute mark of the fourth,” said UW head coach Gerald Mattinson postgame. “I think from there on we were content to take our time in the shot clock and get some good action and make them guard us. During one of the timeouts we talked about taking our time and running good motion.”

After Wyoming opened the contest with a pair of Allyson Fertig layups, the Lady Rebels responded with four straight of their own early. A trio of 3-pointers from McKinley Bradshaw and then layups from both Bradshaw and Fertig opened up the Cowgirl lead to 17-8 with 4:06 to play in the first, forcing a UNLV timeout. Out of the break, Bradshaw continued her offensive tear as UNLV started to hit from outside and the Cowgirls closed a wild opening quarter with a 27-18 advantage. Bradshaw poured in 16 points and went 6-for-6 from the floor in the first.

In the second, UNLV cut into the Wyoming lead a bit to begin the frame, before seven-straight points from the Cowgirls got the lead back up to 36-24 with under four left in the half. From there, the two teams began trading baskets and UW led 41-30 with 1:41 to play at the second quarter media. Following the timeout, the Lady Rebels got back-to-back hoops to end the half, cutting the Cowgirls’ lead down to 41-35 at halftime.

The second half began with a bit of disjointed offense from both sides, but eventually, UNLV was able to go on a 7-0 run before a Tess Barnes 3-pointer halted the run and the Cowgirls were up 49-44 with 5:25 remaining in the third. Following the third quarter media, Wyoming went cold offensively, ending the third on a 4:50 scoring drought as the Lady Rebels were able to cut the deficit down to just one, 51-50 going to the fourth.

The Cowgirls began the fourth with 3-pointers from Bradshaw and Weidemann to push the lead to 57-52 with 7:24 to play.

The Weidemann 3-pointer, pushed her over the 1,000-point threshold. After the UW timeout, the Lady Rebels responded with back-to-back hoops to tie the score at 57-57 as the game went to the final media timeout with 4:56 to go.

Out of the stoppage, the Cowgirls got three consecutive baskets to go up 64-57 with under two to play and called for a timeout. Following the timeout, Fertig hit a pair of free throws which was then followed by a defensive stop. With 1:07 left, the Lady Rebels were forced to foul and Weidemann knocked down both freebies. However, the next time down the court, UNLV got a three-point play to get the deficit back down to single digits, 68-60.

Wyoming took a timeout with 53.9 left to play as UNLV played the foul game the rest of the contest. The Cowgirls made five at the line and went up 73-62 and appeared to have salted the game away.

However, the Lady Rebels hit a three and then got a steal and a bucket on the ensuing inbounds and the UW lead was down to 73-67 with 14.5 to go.

Following timeouts, Grace Ellis hit a pair at the stripe but again, UNLV came down and hit a three with 5.4 to make the score 75-70 in favor of Wyoming. After another Lady Rebel foul, Ellis again made two at the line to salt it away, despite UNLV hitting another desperation 3-pointer.

Bradshaw led the Cowgirls with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. It marks the sixth time this season that Bradshaw has scored at least 20 in a game. Bradshaw also added eight rebounds in the win.

“I thought offensively we were probably as good as we’ve been in quite a while,” said Mattinson postgame. "Obviously having McKinley start off the way she did always helps. I was just pleased, for the most part what we were trying to do tonight, especially in that first half we got that done on offense.”

Joining Bradshaw in double figures was Ellis, who scored 13 points and grabbed a trio of rebounds off the bench. Ellis went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Weidemann chipped in with 12, all of which coming in the fourth quarter while Fertig tallied her seventh double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 boards.

Fertig also had a pair of blocks on the night.

Tommi Olson and Alba Sanchez Ramos had great all-around games for the Cowgirls. The duo scored seven and six points, respectively while Olson had six rebounds and a game-best six assists. Sanchez Ramos grabbed nine boards, had three assists and a steal against UNLV.

For the game, UW shot 42.4-percent overall and went 11-of-29 (37.9-percent) from beyond-the-arc. The Lady Rebels, meanwhile, made 43.1-percent of their shots and hit 8-of-17 (47.1-percent) from 3-point range. However, the Cowgirls made 16-of-17 at the free-throw line while UNLV was 9-of-12.

Wyoming continues its three-game homestand to close the regular season as San Diego State comes to Laramie for a 2 p.m. tipoff Saturday.