Cowgirls storm back to defeat Air Force 77-64 in quarterfinal

LAS VEGAS, Nev., – The Cowgirls survived and advanced.

After taking a deep breath at halftime.

Second-seeded Wyoming overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to defeat No. 7 Air Force 77-64 in the Mountain Tournament quarterfinals on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

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"Everything we got in that third quarter we had gotten in the first half," UW head coach Heather Ezell said postgame. "I thought we were just rushed or we weren't patient enough to find it. That's what we talked about was going, hey, just slow down, don't let them speed you up.

"As soon as we did that we were able to get easy opportunities that they were able to knock down.

Allyson Fertig, the MW player of the year, finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Cowgirls (21-10). Malene Pedersen, who was also named to the all-MW team announced Sunday, added 18 points.

Emily Mellema (15 points) and Tess Barnes (15 points) also scored in double figures as UW outscored the Falcons (18-14) 49-30 in the second half.

The Cowgirls will face No. 6 Fresno State in the semifinals on Tuesday. Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. Wyoming knocked off the Bulldogs 68-59 in their lone meeting this season. That came inside the Save Mart Center back in early January.

UW trailed by eight early in the third quarter before Pedersen and Mellema each hit a 3-pointer to turn the tide.

The Cowgirls ended the frame on a 10-0 run, which was capped with a 3-pointer by Barnes and a three-point play by McKinley Dickerson, to take a 54-45 lead into the fourth quarter.

A bucket by Fertig made it a 16-2 run and extended the lead to 60-47. A 3 by Pedersen gave UW its largest lead, 67-51, to put the game out of reach.

"The first half, we couldn't -- seemed like we couldn't make anything," Fertig said. "We talked in the locker room to say, they're going to fall. We'll get those shots. And it just happened to do so in the second half."

All-MW selection Madison Smith led Air Force with 14 points.

The Cowgirls got off to a nervous start and trailed 17-12 after the first quarter. Fertig had six points and six rebounds in the fame, but the rest of the team was 3-for-11 from the field.

Air Force made three 3s, including a buzzer beater by Jordy Devaughn to extend the lead to five points.

UW answered with a 6-0 spurt to start the second quarter. Fertig grabbed an offensive rebound for an easy layup to give her team a brief 18-17 lead.

Mellema made a difficult bank shot as the shot clock was expiring to get the Cowgirls within 26-24, but the Falcons closed strong and led 34-28 at the intermission.

Air Force finished the first half 4-for-10 behind the arc while UW went 0-for-3 on 3s.

Fertig finished with 14 points and nine rebounds at the break. Seven different players scored for the Falcons, who shot 50% from the field.

The Cowgirls also swept the two regular season meetings from Air Force and lead the all-time series 63-4.

"We've got to recover, getting our bodies right, getting our minds right to come out and be ready to focus in and play our Cowgirl toughness for 40 minutes," Ezell said.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players