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Anonymous
| Posted: 15 Jan 2009 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Cowgirls Stun Cougars
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PROVO -- In a game that needed the full 40 minutes to decide a winner, the Wyoming Cowgirls (18-6, 8-5) stunned No. 18 BYU (20-3, 10-2) on Saturday, upsetting the Cougars 57-56 in the Marriott Center.
"Every win, every possession, every single thing is important at this stage when you're trying to win a conference championship," head coach Jeff Judkins said. "If you want to win a conference championship, you have to win at home."
Judkins said BYU must get more players who are offensive minded. Only Dani Kubik and Ambrosia Anderson scored in double figures for the Cougars with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Next in line was Shawnee Slade with four points.
"We'll bounce back," Kubik said. "We just need to start playing as a team--with the confidence we had at the beginning of the season. I believe we can do it. I know we can do it."
The Cougars came out sluggish in the first half, and Wyoming capitalized by never allowing BYU to gain more than a four-point advantage at any point during the half.
Both teams got off to a slow start with neither team connecting for the first three minutes. Wyoming's Hanna Zavecz put the Cowgirls on the board first with a three pointer, but Jennie Keele immediately responded with a layup for BYU.
The Cougars went on a 6-0 run six minutes into the game off a long two-pointer from Anderson, a three pointer from Nancy Seljaas and two free throws from Kubik, giving BYU its first lead of the game, 11-8.
Michelle Taylor of Wyoming hit a jump shot over BYU's Lauren Riley with just over seven minutes left in the half to tie the game at 16 points apiece. Riley quickly responded by converting two free throws.
Megan McGuffey then nailed a three pointer and bucketed another shot to give Wyoming a 21-19 lead.
With just over a minute remaining in the half, Kubik netted a layup to give BYU a one-point lead, 26-25. On Wyoming's last possession of the half, Erin Hicks was fouled on the dribble and converted the front end of a one-and-one to tie the score at 26 points going into the break.
BYU looked as if it was going to open up a lead in the opening minutes of the second half, receiving quick buckets from Anderson and Melinda Johnsen, but then Taylor scored back-to-back-to-back buckets to give Wyoming a 32-30 lead, a lead it would not loose.
Wyoming's largest lead of the game came with just over 11 minutes remaining when Taylor scored a layup to give the Cowgirl's a seven-point lead, 45-38.
The Cougars then went on a 5-0 run off two buckets by Shawnee Slade and a free throw from Kubik with 10:59 left in the game, closing the lead to two points, 45-43.
Wyoming responded with back-to-back three pointers from Annie Gorenstein and Zavacz to extend their lead to 51-43.
The Cougars stepped into another gear with 3:52 remaining in the game. BYU's full-court pressure proved to be dominating as the Cowgirls couldn't inbound the ball. On their first attempt, Anderson tipped the inbound pass. Johnsen almost came up with a steal on their next try to inbound the ball, and Wyoming was forced to call a timeout or face a five-second violation on the third attempt. After the timeout Anderson stole the inbound pass and was fouled on her drive to the basket. She converted both free throws to bring the Cougars within two, 51-49.
"I felt like we had it then," Anderson said. "The momentum was definitely in our favor. They were timid at the point."
A defensive breakdown by BYU on Wyoming's next possession gave Hicks a wide-open layup, but Kubik instantly responded with a layup of her own. Anderson was then fouled on a drive to the basket, hitting one-of-two free throws to bring the score within one, 53-52.
With 1:50 left, the Cougars again had a defensive breakdown on the inbound, leaving Zavecz open for a layup and extending Wyoming's lead to three, 55-52.
Anderson then attempted a turn-around jumper with 1:03 left, converting both free throws to again close the gap to one, 55-54.
On Wyoming's next possession, Dominique Sisk was fouled on the dribble and hit the front end of a one-and-one. Kubik came right back for the Cougars and hit two free throws, tying the game at 56 points apiece with 36 seconds left in the game.
Zavacz quickly brought the ball up the court was fouled on her way to the basket, hitting one-of-two free throws to give Wyoming a one-point lead with 13.4 seconds left in the game.
Johnsen brought the ball up the floor and found Anderson, who was unable to get a good look at the basket as time expired.
"We didn't execute the play as well as we could have," Judkins said. "It's our money play and we've been very successful this season, but it doesn't always go your way."
Kubik led all scorers with 21 points and posted eight rebounds. Zaveca scored 20 points for the Cowgirls, while Gorenstein added 10.
BYU shot 40.9 percent from the field and 67.9 percent from the free-throw line, while Wyoming hit 43.1 and 62.5 percent, respectively.
The Cougars travel to San Diego State on Wednesday to face the Aztecs at 7 p.m. Seniors Anderson, Seljaas and Laura Stratton will be honored in their last home game against TCU at 2 p.m., Saturday in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box ScoreWY Cowgirls vs BYU Cougars
02-18-68 2:00 PM at MARRIOTT CTR, BYU, PROVO, UT
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VISITORS: WY Cowgirls 18-6; 8-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 ZAVECZ, Hanna....... f 7-13 5-8 1-2 0 7 7 4 20 5 5 2 2 39
25 TAYLOR, Michelle.... f 4-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 8 0 3 1 1 17
02 BOLERJACK, Jodi..... g 1-8 0-5 0-0 2 0 2 1 2 5 1 0 1 40
23 HICKS, Erin......... g 4-8 1-4 1-2 1 8 9 4 10 2 4 0 2 34
24 MCGUFFEY, Megan..... g 4-8 1-2 0-0 5 1 6 5 9 1 1 0 0 27
10 VANDERJAGT, Rebecca. 0-3 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 17
12 SISK, Dominique..... 2-5 1-1 3-4 0 1 1 2 8 0 3 0 0 19
22 GORENSTEIN, Annie... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
42 EWING, Lorissa...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 22-51 8-23 5-8 9 22 31 22 57 15 17 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 38.5% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 43.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 34.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 62.5% 1
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 20-3; 10-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 ANDERSON, Ambrosia.. f 5-15 0-2 9-10 2 3 5 2 19 3 2 1 2 35
35 JOHNSEN, Melinda.... f 1-2 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 4 2 5 2 0 4 36
45 KUBIK, Dani......... c 7-13 0-0 7-11 3 5 8 2 21 0 2 0 0 33
15 KEELE, Jennie....... g 1-4 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 4 3 0 2 23
30 GILLESPIE, Mallary.. g 1-4 0-2 0-1 0 1 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 35
01 SELJAAS, Nancy...... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 10
24 HUTSON, Vanessa..... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 7
32 SLADE, Shawnee...... 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 4 1 0 0 0 15
52 RILEY, Lauren....... 0-0 0-0 2-4 2 2 4 1 2 0 4 0 0 6
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 18-44 1-7 19-28 10 22 32 15 56 14 16 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-22 45.5% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 40.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 14.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-9 55.6% 2nd Half: 14-19 73.7% Game: 67.9% 3
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Officials: ANITA MYLES, MARIANNE KARP, MARK PENAFLOR
Technical fouls: WY Cowgirls-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 1169
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
WY Cowgirls................... 26 31 - 57
BYU Cougars................... 26 30 - 56
OFFICIAL FINAL
