SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Wyoming Cowgirls used a big third quarter and some stifling defense to propel themselves to a 71–57 win on Thanksgiving Day over Drake. Drake entered the contest averaging more than 80 points per game.
Wyoming led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter of its Turkey Day triumph.
The Cowgirls got off to a solid start, as the inside-out game was working the first quarter. Wyoming claimed an early seven-point lead in the frame after Drake jumped out to an early 5–2 advantage.
UW led for much of the first half outside of the first couple of minutes and built as much as an eight-point lead at 34–26 with just over three minutes to play in the first half on an Emily Mellema 3-pointer.
The Bulldogs started to find their rhythm near the end of the second quarter, though, hitting a trio of 3-pointers. One of the triples was to beat the first-half buzzer, shaving the Wyoming edge down to just 36–35 heading into the halftime break.
Allyson Fertig and Emily Mellema had 10 points each in the opening two quarters. Fertig also recorded a block, her 14th consecutive game with a rejection. Coming into the week, Fertig’s consecutive blocks streak was tied for sixth best in the country.
Drake called an early third-quarter timeout after the Cowgirls opened the half with a couple of buckets. Following the timeout, Wyoming maintained the aggression and pushed the lead up to 47–38. Eventually, the Cowgirls extended the lead even further, taking a 58–40 advantage to the fourth.
The team went on a 16–2 run in the final six and a half minutes of the third.
A Mellema layup in traffic started things in the fourth, followed by a Fertig layup that made it a 62–40 contest. Things started getting physical from there, as the Bulldogs cut the lead down to 64–47 with just under seven minutes to go, forcing a UW timeout. Out of the timeout, Drake hit another 3-pointer to cut the Cowgirl lead down to 14 before a Fertig layup ended the run.
Mellema led all scorers with 20 points, her second 20-point outing in the last three games. Mellema also did yeoman’s work on the defensive end, holding Drake’s leading scorer, Katie Dinnebier, to just five points on 2-of-7 shooting. Dinnebier was averaging 23.6 points per game and had a 40-point effort against Iowa earlier this season and 39 points last week against Iowa State.
Fertig finished just one rebound shy of her third double-double on the year, recording with 18 points and nine boards to go with a pair of rejections. Malene Pedersen also finished in double figures with 15. Payton Muma and McKinley Dickerson had five and four respectively off the Cowgirl bench.
