Cowgirls Championship Dreams Dashed in Triple Overtime

LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- The Cowgirls championship dreams were dashed in triple overtime.

Second-seeded Wyoming lost a 72-68 heartbreaker to No. 4 San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament title game on Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"What I told my team is, it wasn't short of toughness," head coach Heather Ezell said postgame. "We just came a play or two short."

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The Cowgirls (22-11) had a chance to tie the score in the closing seconds of the third overtime, but Emily Mellema's jumper rimmed out.

Mountain West Player of the Year Allyson Fertig finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds, Malene Pedersen scored a team-high 19 points and McKinley Dickerson added 10 to lead UW.

Veronica Sheffey had 24 points, including two free throws to ice the game, to lead the Aztecs (25-9).

UW held SDSU to 37.5% from the field but only shot 36.9% in the heavyweight defensive fight. Ezell's squad, however, turned the ball over 25 times in the setback. They made just 24 shots through 55 minutes of game time.

"I think there was a lot of nerves today, of course, so it was about getting a rhythm at the beginning," Pedersen said. "It was back and forth the whole game. It's just mentally trying to stay together as a team.

"We got some runs, and then they got some runs. It was just about who made their shots at the end."

After Pedersen made a 3-pointer to get UW within 61-59 with 57.9 seconds left in the second overtime, Dickerson appeared to take a charge on the other end.

The officials called a block, and Naomi Panganiban made two free throws.

Pedersen scored with 19.6 seconds left and the Cowgirls forced a turnover. Mellema was fouled and made one of two free throws to make the score 63-62 with 11.3 seconds left.

Sheffey also went 1-for-2 at the line after being fouled, which gave the Cowgirls a chance to tie the score on the final possession.

Fertig was fouled with 6.2 seconds left and made both pressure attempts to tie the score 64-64 and force a third overtime as Sheffey's shot at the horn rimmed out.

SDSU scored the first five points of OT, which was the largest deficit (52-47) either team faced in the game.

Dickerson made a 3-pointer to get UW within 52-50. After a jumper by Sheffey, Fertig scored to make the score 54-52.

Mellema tied the score 54-54 with 6.3 seconds left. UW had a chance to win the game with 1.7 seconds left after a stop and timeout, but Mellema's desperation shot was blocked.

Both teams ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter.

The Cowgirls only had one field goal in the frame until Fertig tied the score 47-47 with 1:26 remaining. Mellema missed a contested layup in the final minute, and the Aztecs called timeout with possession and 25.0 seconds left.

UW was able to get a stop as Fertig dove to the floor to secure the rebound after a missed shot by Panganiban.

"We just had a few go in and out," Dickerson said. "That happens in basketball. We ran our offense just like we've always run it. We were getting to the block, getting Al inside. We just had a few that didn't go in."

A few did.

Pedersen hit a clutch corner 3 to tie the score and Dickerson gave UW a 43-41 with 3 and then came up with a steal late in the third quarter.

The Cowgirls got off to another slow start with four early turnovers, but Pedersen scored the team's first five points and Fertig's first field goal cut SDSU's lead to 8-7 at the first media timeout.

Tess Barnes, who did not score in UW's 57-45 victory over Fresno State in the semifinals, buried a 3 with 44 seconds left in the first quarter and Kati Ollilainen swished another 3 at the buzzer to give the Cowgirls a 17-14 lead.

UW shot 60% in the first quarter but committed five turnovers that led to four points for the Aztecs

Ollilainen played through contact and finished a tough drive, Pedersen made a layup and Mellema added a bucket to give the Cowgirls a 27-24 lead.

Panganiban made a 3 to tie the score 27-27 at the intermission. The freshman point guard had nine points and two assists at the break to lead the Aztecs.

UW shot 50% from the field in the first half but SDSU had 11 more shot attempts thanks to four offensive rebounds and nine Cowgirl turnovers.

The Cowgirls, who swept the regular season series with SDSU, lost in the MW Tournament championship game for the second time in the last three seasons after falling to UNLV in 2023.

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