Over 1.3 million readers this year!

(PHOTOS) CSU wins again in 2024–25 Border War series; Fertig scores career-high 34

Cowgirl Kati Olliainen fouls, but follows through with a lay-up attempt (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)

LARAMIE, Wyo. — Despite a herculean effort from starting Wyoming center Allyson Fertig and a seasoned Wyoming squad, CSU kept control of the ball and ran away with a win in the most recent edition of the Border War. The Rams won 61–56, but Fertig got a career-high 34 points.

The Cowgirls ran onto the court locked and loaded tonight, scoring the first 4 points of the game and holding a respectable lead for nearly the entire first quarter. The threes were not landing for the Cowgirls, though — especially compared to the dead-eye .714 they shot at just days ago against Air Force Academy — and CSU nabbed an 18–6 lead by the end of Q1.

Quarter two was a back-and-forth basket-to-basket and the Cowgirls quickly pulled ahead 23–20. Wyoming’s poor outside shooting gave CSU a leg up, though, and the teams ended the half 34–27 in the Rams’ favor.

Wyoming shot at .154 from beyond the arc, which is the worst the girls have shot at since their .100 night against Missouri State on Dec. 6. That said, the Rams didn’t excel from three either, as they were .236 from three-point range. Wyoming would end the night 4-of-26 from the outskirts.

The second half was a long game of cat and mouse: Wyoming would crawl back into the difference of a single possession, and Colorado State would find a way to cushion its lead once again. Banking on outside shooting and missing some final free throws were perhaps the final nails in the Cowgirls’ coffin. In the final two minutes, 3 was as close as Wyoming could get to catching back up.

They would lose 61–56. As for the individual matchup between each teams’ respective conference Co-Preseason Player of the Year, though, Fertig won the night with 34 points. According to UW Athletics, those points from Fertig tonight rank her among the highest scorers in a single game in the history of the program; she is tied for fifth place.

Her MW Co-Preseason Player of the Year, Emma Ronsiek of CSU, would be kept to 20 points. Wyoming head coach Heather Ezell considered that a positive.

“If you would have told me that we would have held them in the low 60s and to 39% shooting and held [Ronsiek] to 20 points,” Ezell told UW Athletics, “I thought in the big picture we did what we were supposed to do on the defensive end.”

Another career high was set by Ola Ustowska with a healthy nine assists. She would also put up 3 points of her own with just one of four Cowgirl 3-pointers.

Besides the inefficient shooting, Wyoming also struggled to hold onto the ball. The Cowgirls would turn the ball over 12 times compared to CSU’s three. Wyoming was completely shut out of steals as well, while the Rams would grab a dozen.

Emily Mellema, who would usually steal the ball at least once per game and has gotten 42 steals thus far across the entire season, was unusually quiet tonight. In this contest, she wouldn’t score a single point and turned the ball over once. She did, however, grab two rebounds and an assist.

However, the season isn’t over, and the Cowgirls still have plenty of time and plenty to prove. They move next to San Jose to face the San Jose State Spartans. The Spartans are 2–6 in conference play and 6–6 at home. That game takes place this coming Wednesday at 7 p.m. Mountain Time.

For more information on the University of Wyoming’s Women’s Basketball team, see the UW Athletics website.

Center Allyson Fertig creates space for a shooter to the right (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)
Allyson Fertig uses her height to get the ball in its basket (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)
Allyson Fertig on her way to scoring her career-high 34 points against the CSU Rams (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)
Allyson Fertig and Guard Emily Mellema struggle with two CSU Rams over the ball (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)
Malene Pederson is set to drive the ball into the paint against the CSU Rams (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News).
The Cowgirls rally together after a bitter defeat against the CSU Rams (Garrett Grochowski, Oil City News)

Related