SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — It was a fight to the finish, but the Wyoming Cowgirls basketball team prevailed to hang on for a 71–66 win over the University of Virginia in the final day of the Discover Puerto Rico San Juan Shootout. The Cowgirls led for most of the contest, and by double digits in the fourth before needing to withstand a late UVA rally.
The Cowgirls played a strong first half. After Virginia took an early 5–2 lead, Wyoming responded with a quick 8–0 run to claim a 10–5 lead. The Cowgirls carried a 16–13 lead into the second as Emily Mellema beat the clock with a driving layup.
It was more of the same for the Cowgirls in the second quarter, as they built up a 28–20 lead with under two minutes left in the half. After the Cavaliers cut the deficit down to just 28–26, an Allyson Fertig put-back layup gave UW a 30–26 lead going into the break. Fertig and Malene Pedersen both scored in double figures in the first half, putting in 10 points apiece.
The second half started with a flurry of action as the two teams opened by trading 3-pointers. After Pedersen scored five straight, the Cowgirls pushed the lead back up to 40–31.
Wyoming’s lead was cut to just 40–37 after a UVA run forced a Cowgirl timeout. After the timeout, the Cowgirls were able to regain their form, and quickly pushed their lead back up to two possessions. UW carried a 49–43 lead into the fourth.
Early in the final quarter, a Tess Barnes 3-point play gave the Cowgirls a 56–49 lead. The UW advantage was 58–50 going into the final media timeout of the game with just under four and a half minutes left. Following the timeout, a Fertig layup gave Wyoming a double-digit advantage with a little over three minutes left.
The Cavs immediately responded with a three, but the Cowgirls fought back to go up by double digits again. However, UVA went on a big run to cut the lead down to just 3 with under a minute to play. Wyoming would get a defensive stop and then hit a pair at the free throw line with 2.5 seconds left to escape with the victory.
Wyoming got contributions from everyone in the win and was led by a pair of 20-point scorers in Pedersen and Fertig, who scored 23 and 22 points, respectively. They have also become the first duo of Cowgirls to score at least 20 in the same game since Barnes and Mellema did it at Colorado State in February last season.
Barnes finished with 9 points while Mellema added 8. Mellema was also big on the glass, pulling down a career-high 13 rebounds while dishing out six assists. Heidur Karlsdottir gave the Cowgirls 4 points off the bench in the first half.
