A strong defensive effort carried the Wyoming Cowgirls past the New Mexico Lobos 66-55 Wednesday night in Laramie.

It’s the third straight victory in conference play for the Cowgirls, who held the Lobos to 31 points below their season average.

A 9-2 surge to start the second half put Wyoming in control. It was 30-24 UW at half. The Cowgirls run made it 39-26, as Liv Roberts, Bailee Cotton, Natalie Baker and Clara Tapia all scored. The lead remained double figures until the Lobos went on a 12-3 run and trimmed the Wyoming advantage to 60-53.

With 2:19 left and the shot clock winding down, Roberts found herself open on the left wing for three and buried the shot. It put the Cowgirls back up by 10 points.

Wyoming (10-5, 3-1) was led by Roberts with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Cotton added 13 points and six boards. Taylor Rusk chipped in 10 points, while Baker finished with nine. The Cowgirls shot 43.6 percent for the game. They out-rebounded the Lobos 42-27.

New Mexico (15-3, 3-2) lost its second straight league game. They were led by senior Cherise Beynon. She scored a game-high 28 points. The Lobos shot 35.4 percent from the field. They were only 3-16, 19 percent, from the arc.

The Cowgirls return to action Saturday in the first Border War at Colorado State. The game starts at 2 p.m. KOWB will air the game live starting at 1:30 p.m.

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