Rams Prove Too Much For Cowgirls

The Wyoming Cowgirls seven-game win streak came to an end with a 64-53 loss at home to rival Colorado State Wednesday night in Laramie.

Liv Roberts led the Cowgirls with 18 points. She became the 24th player in school history to surpass 1,000 points in a career. Roberts reached the plateau on a pair of free throws in the third quarter.

Wyoming (14-6, 7-2) struggled and shot only 36 percent for the game. Taylor Rusk added 10 in defeat.

UW head coach Joe Legerski credited the Rams defense in a release from the university.

“I thought tonight’s game was a defensive battle. It felt like they had more defense than we did. It was an uphill struggle through the first three quarters. We made a basket late in the third to take back the lead, and we couldn’t get a defensive stop. They scored and went back up one. In the fourth quarter, they went on a run. We tried to switch to a zone, they hit a three and took a big lead.”

The Cowgirls couldn’t recover after that key run and fell by 11.

Colorado State (15-7, 7-4) was led by senior Hannah Tvrdy with 25 points and eight rebounds. The Rams shot 50 percent from the field. They had a 32-26 edge in rebounding and scored 36 points in the paint.

A 12-0 run that started with the last basket of the third quarter and led into the fourth propelled CSU to the victory. It took the Rams from down 42-43 to up 54-43 with six minutes left.

The Cowgirls went six minutes without a point until Natalie Baker’s three-pointer sparked a 10-4 UW run. They closed within 58-53 with 2:10 left.

Colorado State’s Tvrdy scored on a pair of lay-ups, which included one off a steal, while Jordyn Edwards knocked down two free throws that closed out the Rams’ victory.

Wyoming begins the second half of Mountain West play with a road trip to Fresno State Saturday. The Cowgirls and Bulldogs will tip-off at 3 p.m., Mountain Time.