LARAMIE — The Wyoming men’s and women’s basketball teams closed their weekends with contrasting results Saturday as the Cowboys earned an 88-78 road victory over San Jose State to finish the regular season, while the Cowgirls fell 60-53 to Air Force in the opening round of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship in Las Vegas.
Wyoming’s men finished conference play strong, winning five of their final six games after a balanced offensive performance against the Spartans. Meanwhile, the Cowgirls saw their season come to an end despite a career performance from Malene Pedersen in her final game in the Brown and Gold.
The Cowboys shot more than 57 percent from the field in the win over San Jose State and controlled the glass throughout the afternoon. Head coach Sundance Wicks said the team is beginning to settle into its style of play late in the season.
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“We are starting to dial into our identity, and we took care of the basketball in the last 14 minutes,” Wicks said. “We tied the possession game, and we want to win that, but we shot well. Our guys were ready today and the guys brought their own juice today.”
Forward Gavin Gores led Wyoming with a career-high 20 points, finishing a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Damarion Dennis added 15 points and tied a career high with six rebounds, while Leland Walker finished with 13 points and seven assists and posted a plus-26 rating. Simm-Marten Saadi added 10 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.
The Cowboys jumped out early, using a 9-0 run and a nine-point stretch from Gores to build a 16-4 lead in the opening minutes. Wyoming pushed the advantage to 47-27 late in the first half and took a 49-36 lead into the break behind dominant rebounding, holding a 22-8 edge on the glass. San Jose State cut into the margin during the second half, trimming the deficit to 10 points late, but Wyoming answered with timely baskets to secure the win and improve to 18-13 overall. Colby Garland led the Spartans with 24 points.
In Las Vegas, the Cowgirls were eliminated from the Mountain West tournament after Air Force capitalized on extra possessions in a 60-53 victory. The Falcons attempted 21 more shots than Wyoming thanks to offensive rebounds and Cowgirl turnovers.
Pedersen led Wyoming with a career-high 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting, finishing a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line while making all three of Wyoming’s 3-pointers. She was the only Cowgirl to score in double figures in the loss and concluded her career seventh in program history with 1,713 points.
Henna Sandvik added eight points, while Madi Symons and Heidur Karlsdottir contributed six and five points, respectively, off the bench. Karlsdottir also recorded three assists and three blocked shots. Wyoming shot 45.2 percent from the field but committed 19 turnovers compared to just six for Air Force, which also held an advantage in second-chance opportunities.
The Cowboys will open play in the first round of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championships on Wednesday as the No. 9 seed against eighth-seeded UNLV. The Cowgirls finished their season with a 10-20 overall record.
