by staff–2 Mar ’16
The Wyoming women’s basketball team (13-15 overall, 6-12 MW) closed out its conference season with a 65-51 loss against the San Jose State Spartans (13-15 overall, 11-6 MW) on Tuesday night.
“To begin the third quarter, we flipped back to how we played early on in the game. I think we thought we could go up and down the court and match them shot for shot,” UW head coach Joe Legerski said. “We weren’t making shots and down early. In the second half, we went back to the zone, play at our pace and execute our offense. San Jose State wants to take a lot of shots and get up and down the court. We got by in the first half, but gave up two quick three out of the break. Also, when we got down we missed some easy opportunities.”
Freshman Marta Gomez led all scorers in the game with 16 while shooting 6-of-13 from the field. Sophomore Natalie Baker recorded 10 points and a team-high nine boards, while junior Hailey Ligocki chipped in nine points and three assists. The Cowgirls were 18-of-58 (.310) from the field for the game but just 7-of-28 (.250) in the second half.
San Jose State was led by junior Dezz Ramos with 15 points and four assists. Senior Nyre Harris recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on the night. The Spartans shot 27-of-62 (.435) for the game, including 6-of-10 (.600) in the fourth quarter and out rebounded UW, 40-34.
Out of the break, the Spartans used a 13-4 run to regain a 42-33 advantage. A basket and free throws by Ligocki closed the gap to five, 42-37. SJSU answered by outscoring Wyoming 8-3 to take a 50-39 lead. The Cowgirls shot 3-of-11 (.273) from the field and 0-2 (.000) from three for the quarter. UW managed to make it a ten point contest, 54-44, with 7:42 left in the game. A 9-0 run and three minute scoreless stretch helped San Jose State build the lead to 19, 63-44. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough possessions as the Cowgirls dropped the game 65-51.
San Jose State built a double-digit lead 16-5 through the first seven minutes of the contest. The Cowgirls scored the final six of eight points but trailed 18-11 after the first quarter. UW shot 4-of-15 (.267) from the field and 1-of-6 (.167) from three. A 15-2 run including eight points from Gomez gave Wyoming its first lead of the game 26-20. Out of a Spartan timeout, they would close out the quarter outscoring the Cowgirls 9-3 to make it a tie game headed into the locker room.
Gomez led all scorers with 13 followed by Baker and sophomore Liv Roberts with four. Roberts also brought down six rebounds. UW shot 11-of-30 (.367) from the field including 7-of-15 (.467) for the quarter and 5-of-16 (.313) from three. The Spartans were led by Ramos with nine points while Byrd and Smith each added four. SJSU shot 12-of-35 (.343) from the field and 3-of-14 (.214) from beyond the arc.
Wyoming will be back in action on Monday to begin the 2016 Mountain West Championships in Las Vegas. The Cowgirls opponent will be determined following the games on Friday night.
