LARAMIE – It is Border War night as both the Wyoming Cowboys and Wyoming Cowgirls will be facing Colorado State. The Cowgirls are at home while the men hit the road.
The Wyoming women’s basketball team will host its regular season finale on Tuesday against the Colorado State Rams. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. MT tip time at Arena-Auditorium. Live stats, video and audio can be found on the GoWyo.com website. It will also be the final home game for senior Hailey Ligocki who will be honored prior to the contest.
The Cowgirls enter the contest with a 19-8 overall record and are 11-5 in league play after a 60-58 win against New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Selale Kepenc finished the day with a career-high 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. She was 4-8 from the field and 4-7 beyond the arc in 15 minutes of play. Sophomores Marta Gomez and Clara Tapia each added 12 points followed by freshman Taylor Rusk with nine points. Junior Natalie Baker tied her season-high with 11 rebounds. The Cowgirls were 20-52 (.385) from the field and 12-28 (.429) from beyond the arc. UW recorded 15 assists on 20 field goals and had 26 points off the bench.
UW is shooting 630-1442 (.437) from the field and 201-540 (.372) from beyond the arc. The Cowgirls are also outscoring opponents 65.3-54.0 and out rebounding teams 35.9-32.2. Wyoming ranks first in field goal percentage as well as three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and assists.
SU enters the game 22-6 overall and 14-2 in MW play. Last time out, the Rams defeated San Diego State, 80-46. Senior Ellen Nystrom leads the way with 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. Fellow senior Elin Gustavsson follows with 13.5 points and 6.4 boards. As a squad, the Rams are shooting 676-1582 (.427) from the field, averaging 65.5 points and 36.7 rebounds per contest.
This will be the 98th meeting between the two schools. CSU leads the series 49-48. The last time the two teams met was February 15, 2017 with the Rams earning a 61-54 win in Ft. Collins. Colorado State is coached by Ryun Williams who is in his fifth season with the program.
Wyoming Cowboys
The Cowboys head to Colorado State on Tuesday for the second edition of this season’s “Border War”. The contest is set for an 8 p.m. start in Moby Arena. Both teams earned wins on their home floors on Saturday with the Pokes downing New Mexico and CSU defeating San Diego State.
The game will broadcasted on ROOT SPORTS, as Drew Goodman will be on the play-by-play with Sed Bonner on color commentary and Jenny Cavnar on the sidelines. The game will be broadcast live on radio over the 25 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network. Fans can follow live stats and listen to the contest on GoWyo.com.
The Cowboys (17-12, 7-9 MW) offense is averaging 78.0 points per game for second it the MW. Defensively, the Pokes rank third in the MW and No. 23 in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 39.9 per game. The Cowboys have held opponents to under 40 percent from the field 13 times this season. UW is hitting 9.4 three pointers per game to lead the MW and rank No. 26 in the nation. The Cowboys have hit double-digit threes in six straight games. The Cowboys lead the MW and rank No. 26 in the nation in rebounding averaging 39.5 per game. UW grabs 30.5 defensive rebounds per game, which is No. 4 in the nation.
The Rams (20-9, 12-4 MW) have won six-straight games and are tied for first in the MW. Colorado State is second in the league in scoring defense allowing 66.7 points per game. They also rank second in the MW in field goal percentage defense at 39.9, which is the same as the Cowboys. The Rams and Cowboys also both shoot 42.3 percent from the field this season. CSU is tied for second in the league behind the Cowboys in rebounding grabbing 38.8 per game.
The Cowboys are led in scoring by sophomore Justin James, as he pours in 15.3 points per game ranking seventh in the MW. He has scored 20 or more points in eight games this season after scoring 22 points on Saturday with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Junior forward Hayden Dalton is adding 12.3 points per game with a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game, which is fourth in the MW. He has 241 total rebounds this season ranking fourth in the MW and No. 79 in the nation. Senior guard Jason McManamen adds 12.1 points per game. He has 192 three pointers for his career, ranking second all-time at UW. He is two threes away from being the Cowboys all-time three point leader. Junior Forward Alan Herndon adds 11.0 points per game and leads the team with 2.1 blocks per game, which ranks No. 39 in the nation. He is grabbing 6.8 defensive rebounds per game for third in the MW and No. 34 in the nation.
The Rams are led in scoring by senior guard Gian Clavell, as he is averaging 18.9 points per game. He is also adding 6.5 rebounds per night. He is shooting 42 percent from the field and recorded 24 field goal attempts on Saturday against San Diego State. Senior forward Emmanuel Omogbo adds 14.3 points per game and leads the league averaging 10.9 rebounds per game. Guard Prentiss Nixon adds 12.2 points per game to round out Ram players in double-figures.
The Cowboys lead the all-time series 133-93 and are 53-55 all-time on the road against CSU. UW has won two-straight games in Fort Collins. The Rams took the first meeting this season in Laramie 78-73 on Valentine’s Day.
The Cowboys close out the regular season hosting San Jose State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.
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