Bowling Green Boots Cowgirls to Second Loss, 79-69

The Wyoming Cowgirls failed to overcome a 14-point second half deficit, as they lost to the Bowling Green Falcons 79-69 on Sunday in Ohio. A six minute scoring drought in the second half, coupled with an 11-0 run by the Falcons at the same time, led to just the second loss this season for the Cowgirls.

“I thought the kids played with a great deal of competitiveness tonight,” said head coach Joe Legerski. “We got it down to five with 30 seconds to go and you hope someone misses some free throws. Bowling Green stepped up and hit their shots and that was a difference. The first half both teams really executed. They were running their on screens and us with our motion. The 43-39 halftime score was amazing. I thought the difference in the second half is that we missed a couple of shots and had a stretch where we didn’t score. We shot well from the field and the three unfortunately we came up on the short side.”

UW (8-2) saw four of its' five starters finish the game in double-figures. Kaitlyn Mileto and Kayla Woodward each finished with 13 points, while Ashley Sickles and Alison Gorrell added 11 points apiece. Chaundra Sewell recorded her sixth double-figure rebounding game with ten. Wyoming shot 24-60 (40%) from the field, but only 9-30 (30%) in the second half. They were also 8-14 (57.1%) from beyond the arc and 13-15 (86.7%) from the free throw line.

Bowling Green (7-3) was led by Chrissy Steffan with a game high 21 points, while Alexis Rogers chipped in 20 points and nine rebounds. The Falcons shot 50 percent from the field (26-52) and out-rebounded the Cowgirls 39-33.

The action was fast in furious to start the game as a basket and two free throws by Mileto gave Wyoming an early 4-0 lead. Alexis Rogers would get the Falcons on the board followed by a Steffan basket to tie it up at four. Gorrell hit a three to help the Cowgirls regain a 7-4 advantage, but Bowling Green answered with nine straight points to take a 13-7 lead into the first media timeout. A basket by Woodward would end a four minute scoring drought for UW. BGSU answered with four of the next six points coming from Rogers to increase the lead back to six, 17-11. Another three point basket by Woodward cut into that deficit to close the gap to three, 17-14, with 11:55 left on the clock. The Cowgirls continued to battle and four unanswered gave them their first lead of the game 18-17. A free throw by Miriam Justinger tied it up at 18 all and then the two traded the next couple of scores. With it tied up at 20 all, a three-point basket by Fallon Lewis put Wyoming up by three, 23-20 with 8:32 remaining in the half. Three straight three-point field goals by Steffan and Rogers gave the Falcons a six point lead, 31-25. Mileto would score the next four points for the Cowgirls to make it a two-point contest, 31-29. A 6-1 run by BGSU increased the lead to seven, 37-30. Lewis scored six of the Cowgirls nine to keep it close, but the Falcons would still took a 43-39 lead heading into the  locker room.

Bowling Green struck first out of the break with a three-point field goal to put them ahead by seven, 46-39. The Cowgirls scored the next four of six to make the score 48-43 going into the first media timeout. Sewell scored a basket and hit a free throw on the next possession to pull them to within two, 48-46. The two teams traded scores, and then the Falcons rattled off 11 straight points to give them a double-figure lead, 61-48, with 8:35 to go in the game. Finally, a basket by Gorrell ended a six minute scoring drought by Wyoming. She would hit two free throws on the Cowgirls next time down the court to make it an 11-point game, 63-52. BGSU increased the lead back to 14, 68-54, by scoring five of the next seven. Wyoming tried to chip away at the deficit as a 5-1 brought them to within ten, 69-59 with four minutes left in the game. They would inch even closer by scoring 10 of the next 15, to make it a five point game, 74-69, with 44.9 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, their comeback would fall short as the Falcons sealed the 79-69 victory with free throws.

The Cowgirls will close out the road trip on Tuesday, Dec. 18, against the Ball State Cardinals. That game is set for 5:00 p.m. MT in Muncie, IN. You can listen to Wyoming Cowgirl basketball on KOWB, with coverage starting at 4:30 pm.