Cowgirls Stay Undefeated at Home, Beat UNLV 76-54

Kayla Woodward had 23 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the Wyoming Cowgirls past the UNLV Lady Rebels 76-54 Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowgirls used a 19-5 run over six minutes of the first half to break the game open and improved to 9-0 at home this season.

Wyoming coach Joe Legerski felt two aspects really helped out in the overall game, "One, we kept our turnovers down. To only have 10 turnovers gave us an opportunity to have more possessions. The other, I thought our transition basketball was very important tonight. We were able to get out and run. We rebounded, found the outlet and the other players were running the floor. When a post player runs the floor, it puts tremendous pressure on the defense."

Wyoming (14-4, 3-2) led 11-9 with 14:26 to go in the period, before seven different players scored during the spurt for a 30-14 advantage. The Cowgirls led 41-29 at half, then out-scored the Lady Rebels 15-7 in the first six minutes of the second half, to open up a 20-point edge, 56-36.

"Honestly, we were in control," said Woodward. "I think we moved the ball really well and rebounded. Even if the call didn't go our way, we stayed composed. I think it showed pretty well we can stay composed."

Chaundra Sewell and Ashley Sickles added 16 and 10 points, respectively. UW shot 42.4 percent (28-66) from the field, 31.8 percent (7-22) from 3-point range and were 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) from the foul line. The Cowgirls won the rebounding battle 42-37 and took advantage of 17 Lady Rebel turnovers, which led to 24 points for Wyoming.

Sewell said, "We always talk about defending home court, and it's tough to lose how we did at San Diego (State), but you can't dwell on that. You gotta come back and get your next win. So we're looking to build a streak somewhere here."

UNLV (6-13, 2-3) was led by Kelli Thompson with 18 points and 5 rebounds. The Lady Rebels were held to 36.7 percent shooting in the game.

The Cowgirls will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday to take on Air Force. The game will tip at 2 p.m. with coverage starting on Y95 Country at 1:30 p.m.