AUSTIN, Texas -- Gerald Mattinson was asked late last week by the media how deserving Quinn Weidemann was of being named the Mountain West Tournament MVP.

Wyoming's second-year head coach didn't get into actual numbers during the Cowgirls' four-game run through Sin City.

We will.

The junior guard from Omaha led Wyoming with 54 points, netting double-digits against Utah State, UNLV, Boise State and Fresno State. She also added 15 assists in that time frame to go along with 12 makes from beyond the arc.

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Those number are impressive, but check out these ones:

* Utah State: Starting guards - 13 points

* UNLV: Starting guards - 22 points

* Boise State: Starting guards - 8 points

* Fresno State: Starting guards - 39 points

Weidemann's offensive outburst, along with the Cowgirls unprecedented run to the tourney title, would've likely landed her in the MVP running, but the lockdown job she did on Shyla Latone, Bailey Thomas, Jade Loville, and to a degree, the high-scoring Cavinder twins of Fresno State, is what caught her coach's eye.

"She had the task of guarding the best perimeter players on all of those teams," Mattinson said of Weidemann. "You know, just in our normal rotation, she had to play the two guard and score. She had to play the point guard when the rotation went around with (Tommi) Olson in.

"I thought she had an excellent tournament."

 

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It's that overall game Mattinson will be looking for tonight when the No. 14 Cowgirls take on third-seeded UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Austin, Texas.

Weidemann was second on the team in scoring during the regular season, averaging 11 points per outing, just .7 behind Lyman's McKinley Bradshaw. She also leads the team in free-throw shooting (24-27), minutes per game (34.7) and points with 252. The Nebraska product is second in three-point shooting, netting 48-of-117 from beyond the arc.

Her best game in the MW tourney came against No. 2 UNLV. Weidemann led the team with 18 points and connected on 4-of-7 triples in the 72-56 upset of the Rebels. She also held Nia Johnson, UNLV's second-leading scorer, to just three points on 1-of-9 shooting.

So, do you think she earned the title of MVP?

"I thought she deserved it," Mattinson said. "When you put together four success games like she had, that's pretty amazing."

Wyoming and UCLA will tip off tonight at 8 p.m. MST on ESPN.

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