Cowgirls End Season Falling to Colorado College 

Wyoming will return every player from this year

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of Wyoming Cowgirl soccer team ended its season falling to Colorado College 1-0 on Wednesday in the Mountain West quarterfinal match in San Diego, Calif. The Cowgirls ride away with a 10-6-4 overall mark on the season.

The only goal of the match was scored by the Tigers’ Clara Richter in the 16th minute. Colorado College ultimately held on to the lead as the clock hit zeros. Wyoming had trouble getting its offense started as they tallied only five shots during the match. UW totaled three corner kicks, having two of them come in the first stanza.

The Cowgirls were led by sophomore Shaina Ashouri with two shots, both of which came on goal. Forwards Kaitlyn Lomsnes, Jessie Gentle and midfielder Annika Clayton each had one shot in the contest. Lomsnes’ and Clayton’s shot were both on goal.

The Cowgirls end the season with a lot to celebrate. Wyoming broke its single-season shutout record, posting eight on the year. They have set the longest home winning streak in history with 10, continuing from the 2014 season. Also, they have matched the top spot for tied matches with four and tied for third in wins with 10 in a single-season. UW accomplished all of these feats without having any seniors on the squad.

Individually, the Cowgirls has also had a great year. Ashouri has made her mark among the single-season record books. She tied for the most points with 25. A Cowgirl has not reached 25 points in a single season since Tamika Wilson in 2007.

Ashouri is second on the all-time shots list, accumulating 67 on the year which is the most shots for any player in one year since 2004. She is also tied second for game-winning goals, with 4. Ashouri posted seven assists which ties her for fifth and nine goals on the season, placing her in sixth place.

At this point in her career, freshman goalkeeper Cassidy Entsminger has notched the best goals against average by any Cowgirl with a .66 goals against average. She saved 41 shots on the year and accumulated 1093 minutes of playing time.

Sophomore goalkeeper Georgia Rowntree booked a 1.00 goals against average this year which tied her for third in a single season as a Cowgirl. She posted 33 saves and recorded 810 minutes of playing time.

Lomsnes ended her sophomore campaign with 12 career goals, which puts her 10th on the all-time career list. Sophomore defender Alisha Bass has also made her mark in the single-season record books by recording 1843 minutes, placing her eighth.

 

 

 

 

Cowgirls Start 2015-16 with Adams State on Thursday

LARAMIE – The Wyoming women’s basketball team will open up the 2015-16 exhibition season on Thursday when it hosts the Adams State Grizzlies.

The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. MT. Live stats, audio and video can be found on the women’s basketball Gameday Central page located on the GoWyo.com website. Fans may purchase tickets through the Wyoming Athletics Ticket Office at 877-WYO-FAN1 (877-996-3261) or online at GoWyo.com.

Wyoming returns two starters and eight letterwinners to a team that finished 16-14 overall record and had a 10-8 mark in Mountain West play. The Cowgirls were picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West preseason poll, while senior guard Marquelle Dent was selected the MW Preseason Player of the Year and to the preseason All-MW team.

An All-League selection a season ago, Dent averaged a team leading 17.7 points, six assists and 2.2 steals. Fellow senior Jordan Kelley added 7.6 points and 7.1 rebounds on her way to taking home Newcomer of the Year honors.

Other returning letterwinners who will be key in the Cowgirls success are junior Hailey Ligocki plus sophomores Natalie Baker, Marleah Campbell, Bailee Cotton, Liv Roberts and Skyler Snodgrass.

Baker played in 16 games averaging 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds while Campbell chipped in 2.3 points and 1.3 boards. Cotton played in ten games before suffering a season ending injury. Roberts saw action in 27 contests off the bench and averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds. Ligocki and Snodgrass each played in nine games.

Seven newcomers join the Wyoming program in 2015-16. Junior college transfer Kyndal Davis will look for her first action as a Cowgirl, while Marta Gomez, Daley Handy, Riikka Kujala, Coreen Labish, Tijana Raca and Rachelle Tucker come in as freshmen.

Thursday night’s game will also be the first action of the season for Adams State. The Grizzlies return two starters and three letterwinners to a team that went 5-21 overall and 5-17 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference a year ago.

The top returner for Adams State is Lena Jaycox who averaged 7.6 points and 2.8 rebounds. The two teams have met nine times during the regular season with Wyoming holding a 9-0 lead in the series. The Grizzlies are coached by Larry Joe Hunt who is in his second season with the program.

 

 

 

 

Cowgirl Swimmers Set to Host CSU on Senior Day

Will be final meet in Corbett Pool for nine seniors

LARAMIE – The Cowgirl swimming and diving teams will return to the pool Friday evening to host Border War rival Colorado State. UW will dual with the Rams as both the swimming and diving events will be at Corbett Pool beginning at 5 p.m., MT.

Cowgirl seniors Kari Campbell, Keara Chang, Molly Coonce, Emma Dow, Sarae Dydo, Nicole Hlavacek, Lauren McClure, Emily Ridout and Emily Stucky will be honored before the racing begins.

UW holds a 42-8 overall record against Colorado State after a 183-110 win over the Rams last season. Wyoming won 15 of the 16 events in last year’s dual. Ridout and Maria Harutjunjan combined to win seven events a year ago.

The Cowgirls hold multiple top-five times in the Mountain West this season. Freshman Isobel Ryan sits at the top of the 500 freestyle event with a mark of 22.87, while Abby Sullivan is fourth in the 100 backstroke with a season-best time of 56.38.

Emily Stevens has the fifth fastest time in the 200 backstroke, as Ridout is fourth in the 100 breaststroke. Molly Coonce swam the seventh-fastest time in school history in the 100 butterfly at 55.52. It is fourth best in the MW this season and her 2:04.37 in the 200 butterfly is fifth best in conference.

Most recently, CSU fell to Denver on Oct. 16 by a score of 189-111. CSU swept both diving events against the Pioneers and Jess Shepard claimed a victory in the 50 backstroke. The Rams have four of the top-10 times in the 1,650 freestyle this season.

Hailey Spratte has the fourth best time in the MW, while teammate Mackenzie Halligan is one spot behind. Toni Thomas is the leader in the 200 backstroke for CSU. She is sitting in seventh in the league. Allie Jacobs has the MW’s fourth-best time in the 400 IM, while Ariana Milone holds the second-best score in both the 1 and 3-meter springboard events.

 

 

 

 

 

Cowgirls to Tangle with New Mexico and Air Force

UW enters weekend leading NCAA in blocks

LARAMIE – Coming off two straight-set victories, the Cowgirl volleyball team will embark on its final two-match road trip to square off against New Mexico and Air Force this weekend.

Wyoming will continue its Mountain West slate by taking on the Lobos at 7 p.m., MT on Thursday before an 11 a.m. matchup with Air Force on Saturday.

“We are continuing to prepare to make sure that we will be ready to execute at a high level on the road this weekend. Teams in the Mountain West have played great at home this season and we know how athletic and talented both of these teams are. We have a lot of respect for the two of them and know they typically do well at home.” – UW Head Coach Chad Callihan.

The Cowgirls continue to play solid defense in MW action and not only lead the nation in total blocks, with 272 on the season, but also rank 16th nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.156). The duo of Reed Copeland and Laura Beach lead Wyoming at the net, with both of them ranked nationally in blocks per set and total blocks.

Copeland is tied for second in the NCAA with 141 total blocks and third with 1.64 per set. She is one of two freshman in the top-10 in each category. Beach has 105 total blocks for 1.18 per set and is also leading the Cowgirls with a .348 hitting percentage.

Courtney Chacon has for the most part orchestrated the offensive attack for the Cowgirls. She has led the team in assists 19 times this season and has a team-high 477 total assists. Bridget Shanahan is five kills from becoming just the 12th Cowgirl in school history to record at least 1,000 career kills.

Shanahan is one of six Cowgirls with triple-digit kills on the season. Kayla Slofkiss leads UW with ten double-doubles and 230 kills. Allison Waldvogel has been nothing short of steady in the back row. She has 398 digs this season, seventh best in single-season history for Wyoming.

New Mexico has won five-straight matches and seven of the last nine at home. Devanne Sours averages 3.01 kills per set, which is ninth best in the MW, while Simone Henderson is fifth in the league in hitting percentage. Hannah Johnson is third with 869 assists on the season, as Skye Gullatt has 106 blocks on the year, an average of 1.28 per set.

Wyoming has won 22 of the last 23 against Air Force, including four straight. Akokwe Clement has 377 kills this season and the second best per set average in the MW with 3.81. Taylor Parker is eighth and ninth in the conference for hitting percentage and blocks per set, respectively. Rebecca Bates has 329 digs on the year.