Bailee Cotton scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Wyoming Cowgirls past Colorado State, 53-49, Saturday in Fort Collins.

This is the fourth straight win for the Mountain West-leading Cowgirls.

UW head coach Joe Legerski said in a statement from the university on the game,

“We really showed a lot of composure at the end of the game. We talked about just believing. The crowd really energized CSU, they became the aggressor. We changed the offense a couple of different times, and there were a couple of big shots down the stretch. None bigger than Marta (Gomez) on the curl, we got her the ball and she finished the layup. The other big play, we were up two, CSU inbounded the ball, Marta got the deflection, got fouled and finished it out on the free throw line. We did just enough defensively in the last 30 seconds but CSU did not go away.”

Wyoming (11-5, 4-1) got four free throws by Cotton in the final minute to pull out the victory. Cotton was 4-5 from the field and 7-10 at the foul line. Liv Roberts added 13 points and four boards. The Cowgirls shot just 36 percent from the field, but were 13-16 (81%) at the line.

Colorado State (11-6, 3-3) was led by Jordyn Edwards with 12 points. They shot 39 percent for the game.

An 8-0 run at the end of the half put Wyoming up 22-14 at halftime. The Cowgirls made the first basket of the second half, but the Rams answered. They went on an 11-2 spurt and closed within 26-25. UW responded with an 8-0 surge for a 34-25 lead.

The Rams pulled within one point several times in the fourth quarter, but Wyoming always kept the lead. Big shots from Roberts and Gomez in the final four minutes helped the Cowgirls gain five-point leads. The foul shots from Cotton sealed UW’s first win at Moby Arena since March 6, 2013.

Legerski added, “I have great respect for their staff. I’ve known all of them for a long time. We joked at the start whoever got to 50 points can win because both teams like to defend. After the first half, I was thinking who ever got to 40 points you are going to win. That was just how tough everyone was playing and nobody was giving in defensively. I couldn’t be more proud for this group. It’s the first time the seniors have won here and that is big. It keeps us moving to the direction of you have to compete for 40 minutes and it will be tough the rest of the season.”

Wyoming returns home for their next game versus Utah State on Saturday, Jan. 20. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.

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