LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowgirls will wrap up their exhibition schedule Friday when they host South Dakota Mines at 6 p.m. in Laramie, their final tuneup before opening the 2026-27 regular season.
Wyoming opens the regular season Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. against Santa Clara. Friday’s exhibition will be broadcast across the Cowgirl Radio Network, with Logan Hunter handling play-by-play.
The Cowgirls enter Friday’s matchup following a 75-50 exhibition victory over Colorado Christian on Monday. Wyoming limited the Cougars to 13 second-half points while shooting 46% from the field in the contest, including a 16-for-30 performance after halftime.
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Norah Clark and Taylor Donaldson led Wyoming in scoring against Colorado Christian, with both finishing in double figures. Liv Blomkvist came close to a double-double and led the Cowgirls in rebounding, while Kati Ollilainen paced the team with five assists in just 16 minutes.
Wyoming used all available players in the exhibition, giving its newcomers an opportunity to contribute. The Cowgirls have nine new faces on the roster this season, including six transfers and three freshmen. The transfer additions have combined for 287 collegiate games played and 169 career starts at their previous schools.
Ollilainen is also returning after missing the entire 2025-26 season because of an injury. Two seasons ago, she averaged 3.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while serving in a reserve role.
The Cowgirls return two starters from last season in Payton Muma and Jane Rumpf. Rumpf, a member of the 2025-26 Mountain West All-Freshman Team, was also named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team earlier this month.
Rumpf averaged 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. She ranked second on the team with 53 3-pointers and led Wyoming with 38 blocked shots. Her production increased in conference play, when she averaged 10 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She also led the Mountain West in blocks per game at 1.60 and 3-pointers per game at 2.35 during league action.
Muma averaged 3.8 points per game in 2025-26 and led the Cowgirls with 79 assists.
South Dakota Mines enters the exhibition following a 9-19 season in 2025-26, including a 7-13 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
The Hardrockers return Addison Miranda, the 2026 RMAC Freshman of the Year. Miranda started all 28 games last season, averaging 9.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. She shot nearly 35% from 3-point range and led South Dakota Mines with 67 made 3-pointers. She also ranked third on the team with 34 steals.
South Dakota Mines will need to replace its two leading scorers from last season, Savea Mansfield, who averaged 15.8 points per game, and Morning Grace Spotted Bear, who averaged 12.4. Carolina Ruiz Molina also returns after leading the Hardrockers with 2.6 assists per game.
The Hardrockers averaged 62.8 points per game last season while allowing nearly 68. They shot 39% from the field and 30% from beyond the arc. Opponents shot just over 40% overall and 30.2% from 3-point range against South Dakota Mines.
South Dakota Mines averaged 13 assists per game and forced more turnovers than its opponents but struggled on the boards, finishing with a minus-6.7 rebounding margin.
Wyoming holds a 2-0 advantage over South Dakota Mines in regular-season meetings between the programs. Both games were played in Laramie, where the Cowgirls won by an average margin of 42.5 points. Wyoming last hosted the Hardrockers in December 2014.
Friday’s exhibition will be Wyoming’s final opportunity to prepare before the regular season begins Nov. 2 against Santa Clara.
