Cowgirls Pull Away From Spartans, 70-56

Marta Gomez scored 20 points to lead four Cowgirls in double figures and Wyoming won at San Jose State, 70-56, Wednesday night.

The Cowgirls won their first road game of the season and stopped a two-game losing skid. The Spartans lost their 13th consecutive game.

Gomez scored 20 points or more for the fifth time this season. She made four 3-pointers and added five rebounds. Taylor Rusk scored 14 points, Karla Erjavec had 13, and Bailee Cotton added a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

In a released statement from the university, Cowgirls’ head coach Joe Legerski said they enjoyed a fast start, then had a lull due to turnovers, before a good second half.

“I thought Marta Gomez got us off to a great start. I think she hit 3 three’s back-to-back-to-back. Then, San José State goes man-to-man, and it takes us a bit to make some adjustments and for the players to adjust. With the zone, we’re looking for who’s open and who to shoot. The other thing is, we had 10 turnovers in the first half. We talked about we had to take care of the basketball. We had one in the second half, and that one was on me.”

Wyoming (10-5, 3-3) jumped out early and never trailed. Gomez made three triples in the opening period. In fact, she scored 13 of the Cowgirls’ 22 points in the quarter. UW led 22-10 after the first.

San Jose State (1-16, 0-6) opened the second on a 10-0 run and closed within 22-20. The Spartans got as close as one point, at 29-28, but trailed 33-29 at halftime.

UW began the third quarter on a 12-4 run and opened up a 45-33 lead, but back came San Jose State. The Spartans trimmed it to 47-42 with 2:14 left in the third. The Cowgirls responded with a 9-2 spurt and a 56-44 lead at the end of the quarter. Four quick points at the start of the fourth put UW ahead 60-44. The lead eventually got to 17 points, at 67-50, with 2:35 left on a Cotton lay-up.

The Cowgirls shot 46 percent for the game. They had 21 assists compared to 11 turnovers. It was the fourth time this season Wyoming has had 20 or more assists in a game.

The Spartans were held to less than 37 percent shooting from the field. They had 13 turnovers that led to 15 points for UW. Cydni Lewis led San Jose State with 16 points and seven rebounds.

The Cowgirls return home Saturday to face conference leader Boise State. The game begins at 1 p.m. from the Arena-Auditorium.