LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowgirls will continue their postseason run Thursday, hosting Texas Tech in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) at 6:30 p.m. at the Arena-Auditorium.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call. The WBIT, now in its second year, is hosted by the NCAA. Wyoming enters as the No. 4 seed in its eight-team pod.
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About Wyoming
The Cowgirls (22-11) are coming off a 72-68 triple-overtime loss to San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament championship last week. It was Wyoming’s second appearance in the final in the past three seasons.
Malene Pedersen led UW with 19 points in the title game, while Allyson Fertig posted her fifth consecutive double-double with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Both were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Fertig, the program’s single-season and career rebounding leader, ranks in the top 10 nationally in three statistical categories and the top 20 in two others. She is fourth in total rebounds (368), eighth in rebounding average (11.5), ninth in field goals made (253), 15th in defensive rebounds per game (7.5) and 17th in field goal percentage (58.2%).
Fertig is second in Wyoming history with 1,843 career points, 760 made field goals and 47 career double-doubles.
Pedersen is averaging 14.1 points per game this season and ranks 20th on UW’s all-time scoring list with 1,201 points. She is 19th in career 3-pointers made (111) and tied for 21st in career assists (247) alongside Ola Ustowska.
Emily Mellema ranks 15th in program history with 301 career assists and is tied for 10th with 155 steals. Tess Barnes and McKinley Dickerson rank 12th and 14th, respectively, in career 3-pointers made with 153 and 138.
Six Cowgirls have played in at least 100 career games. Dickerson’s 140 games are second-most in program history, Ustowska is fourth with 131, Mellema is fifth with 130, and Fertig is sixth with 129. Barnes has played in 117 games, ranking 20th all-time, while Pedersen reached the milestone in the Mountain West title game.
Scouting Texas Tech
Texas Tech (17-16) features two All-Big 12 honorable mention selections in Bailey Maupin and Jasmine Shavers. Shavers leads the Red Raiders with 14.6 points per game, while Maupin averages 13.3. The duo also leads the team in assists, with Maupin averaging 2.2 per game and Shavers at 2.1.
Shavers has a team-high 51 steals this season. Kilah Freelon leads Texas Tech in rebounding with 4.3 per game, while Sarengbe Sanogo has a team-high 45 blocks.
The Red Raiders average 63.5 points per game and allow 63.7. They shoot 40.7% from the field and 31.4% from 3-point range while holding opponents to 42.2% shooting overall and 29% from deep. Texas Tech averages 33 rebounds per game, while opponents average 33.4.
Series History
The all-time series between Wyoming and Texas Tech is tied 2-2. The Cowgirls won the only previous meeting in Laramie, a 68-57 overtime victory in the 2010 WNIT. That was also the last time the two programs met.
