LARAMIE — A dominant second quarter by Texas Tech proved to be the difference Thursday night as the Wyoming Cowgirls fell 65-48 in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. The Lady Raiders outscored the Cowgirls 17-6 in the second quarter and maintained control from there.
Wyoming started strong, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to take an early 6-2 lead. The Cowgirls led 9-6 at the first media timeout, but Texas Tech responded, closing the quarter on a strong run to trim Wyoming’s advantage to 18-17 after one. Emily Mellema scored the final five points of the quarter for the Cowgirls.
The Lady Raiders took their first lead early in the second quarter and continued to build momentum. Their defensive pressure and size began to disrupt Wyoming’s offense, extending the Texas Tech lead to 29-22 at the media timeout. The Cowgirls struggled with shots rolling off the rim, while Texas Tech capitalized on backdoor cuts to push the lead to 34-24 at halftime.
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Texas Tech continued its surge after the break, scoring the first five points of the third quarter. Four consecutive points from Malene Pedersen helped Wyoming trim the deficit to 40-30, but the Lady Raiders maintained their lead, taking a 45-32 advantage into the fourth. The Cowgirls played solid defense late in the third but struggled to convert on key scoring opportunities.
Allyson Fertig opened the fourth quarter with an and-one layup, securing her sixth consecutive double-double. The basket gave Fertig her 48th career double-double, tying the program record. A Pedersen 3-pointer brought Wyoming within seven points at 45-38 with 8:44 remaining, forcing a Texas Tech timeout. However, the Lady Raiders answered immediately with a three of their own, and Wyoming never got closer than nine points the rest of the way. Texas Tech stretched the lead in the final minutes as the Cowgirls were forced to foul late.
“A lot of credit to Texas Tech,” Wyoming head coach Heather Ezell said. “I thought they came in and played hard and executed their game plan really well. Thank you to the WBIT; I thought this was an awesome tournament and setup. It was a pleasure to be a part of it. You always hate to have your season end. We can sit here and think about our last two games and how the season ended, but what we did this year was special.”
Fertig led the Cowgirls with 17 points and 15 rebounds. She ends her career as Wyoming’s and the Mountain West Conference’s all-time rebounding leader with 1,216. Her 1,860 career points and 766 made field goals both rank second in program history, while her 210 career blocks are third.
Pedersen also scored in double figures with 13 points, while Mellema added eight. Mellema and Tess Barnes each recorded a team-high four assists. Defensively, Mellema had two steals, finishing her career ninth in program history with 157. Her 305 career assists rank 15th all-time at Wyoming. Fertig added two blocks and three steals in the loss.
Wyoming shot under 35% from the field and went 4-for-15 from 3-point range. Texas Tech shot 48% overall and hit 6-of-17 from beyond the arc. The Lady Raiders held a slight edge in rebounding and outscored the Cowgirls 36-26 in the paint, also holding an 8-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Wyoming concludes the season with a 22-12 record.
