Cowgirls Ready For Challenge From Pepperdine in WNIT

Wyoming takes on Pepperdine Thursday night in third round WNIT action from the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie. The game starts at 6:30 p.m.

The Cowgirls are in the third round of the WNIT for the first time in eight years. Coming off wins over Northern Colorado and South Alabama, UW looks to continue its current win streak.

Senior Bailee Cotton said for them to keep up their successful play it’s mostly energy-based.

“We know that we can score. We can get stops, but if someone is able to out-hustle us, that’s going to be the difference… So far in the tournament, we’ve been able to keep our energy level at a high.”

Wyoming (24-8) is led by senior Marta Gomez at 16.2 points per game. Cotton averages 11.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Pepperdine (22-11) is led by West Coast Conference Player of the Year Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, who averages 21 points and 8 rebounds per game. Their other double-figure scorers are Paige Fecske and Barbara Sitanggan, who both average 11.4 points per game. Sitanggan also averages 5.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Cowgirls head coach Joe Legerski knows the Waves had a big win at St. Mary’s (last Sunday) in a comeback, 65-61. That followed a victory at California Baptist, 91-79.

“They’ve done it on the road, and that’s been very impressive. (They are a) Very balanced team. They’re going to push the ball in transition. They like running their on-ball screen series. They attack the basket very well. (They feature) Balanced scoring with what I call a dominant player (Robinson-Bacote). They have all the parts, and that’s why they’re still playing.”

UW is averaging 68.2 points per game and only allowing 57.3 to their opponents. By contrast, Pepperdine scores at 72.3 points a game, but allows 68.8 per contest.

This will mark the 10th meeting in the all-time series between the two schools. The Cowgirls hold a 6-3 series advantage. At home, Wyoming is 4-0 versus the Waves with the last three victories coming by 13 points or more. This will mark the first game in the series since 2013.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. KOWB (AM 1290) will air the game live with coverage beginning at 6 p.m.

The winner will advance to face the winner of Thursday’s game between Idaho and Arizona.