LARAMIE, Wyo. — Wyoming Men’s Basketball Head Coach Sundance Wicks’s first official game in the famous Dome of Doom was a resounding success. Meanwhile, the Cowgirls fell to the Big 12’s Colorado Buffs in both teams’ season-opening night.
The Cowboys didn’t just win over Concordia, St. Paul yesterday — they dominated the glass to a 23-point advantage by the game’s conclusion. The Cowboys won 108–85.
Multiple Cowboys were scoring in double digits, with senior transfer Obi Agbim leading the pack with 25 points. Nine of those points came from successful three-pointers.
Having won both the first official game of the Cowboys’ season and the team’s exhibition game against the College of Idaho Oct. 25, the Sundance Wicks era looks to be off to a very good start. Forty-five team field goals for the night makes the Arena-Auditorium’s new record for a single game.
“It was a great battle and I thought we won a lot of categories,” Wicks told UW Athletics after the game. “It feels like a win and winning is hard and we are going to celebrate this one. The guys had fun tonight and the fans want to see joy and they saw that tonight.”
The Cowboys had a 53.6% field goal percentage and shot for 28.6% beyond the arc. The Concordia, St. Paul Golden Bears were 38.8% from the field and 32.3% from three. The Pokes outperformed the Golden Bears in rebounds and steals 53 to 33 and nine to two, respectively.
Before Pokes fans could see their team win at home, the Cowgirls first had to face the Colorado Buffaloes in a contest that they would ultimately lose. The final score would be 56–50 for the Buffs’ win.
Star center Allyson Fertig led the Cowgirls in scoring with 18 points and was shooting at 63.6%. As a whole, however, neither the Cowgirls nor the Buffs were shooting more than 50%.
Both teams struggled from behind the three-point line in particular. From the arc, the Cowgirls shot at 20% and the Buffs shot at just 10%.
In a post-game conversation with UW Athletics, Wyoming Cowgirls Basketball Head Coach Heather Ezell pointed to turnovers and missing second-chance shots as sore spots for the team. They would record 19 turnovers over the course of the game.
“I thought we did everything we needed to defensively, but we shot ourselves in the foot by giving up too many offensive rebounds,” Ezell said.
The Cowgirls will get a chance to redeem themselves this Saturday, Nov. 9, against yet another Big 12 opponent. This time, they’ll be traveling to Provo, Utah, to take on the BYU Cougars. The Cowboys, on the other hand, will remain in familiar territory for their Sunday match against the Tennessee State University Tigers at 2 p.m.
For more information on both teams’ schedules, visit the University of Wyoming Athletics website.
