Cowgirls Welcome Nevada Saturday for Annual Bounce Cancer Game

* University of Wyoming press release

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team returns home after spending the last two contests on the road. The Cowgirls host Nevada at 2 p.m., Saturday in the annual Bounce Cancer contest.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.

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The Bounce Cancer Walk for the game will be held at 11:30 a.m., on the concourse. Fans can register on the concourse before the walk and online at gowyo.com/tickets. The Cowgirls will be wearing special jerseys in honor of the event, with all proceeds going to the Ivinson Cancer Center.

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming (12-8, 7-2 MW) is coming off a 58-51 loss Wednesday night on the road at UNLV. Emily Mellema and Malene Pedersen led the Cowgirls with 12 points each in the defensive struggle while off the bench, McKinley Dickerson and Marta Savic scored 10 and six, respectively.

Allyson Fertig added six points and had a team-best eight rebounds in the loss.

The Cowgirls, who look to remain perfect at home during conference play, enter the contest with a plus-7.6 scoring margin in league action. UW has four student-athletes averaging in double figures during MW play, with Fertig leading the Cowgirls with 13.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game on 67.5-percent shooting.

Mellema is up to 11.1 points per game and is second on the team with 23 assists and has a team-high 10 steals. Tess Barnes and Pedersen averaging 10.4 and 10.1 points per game, respectively.

Despite shooting 44-percent in the loss at UNLV, the Cowgirls are still shooting nearly 49-percent from the floor and is holding their opponents to under 39-percent in nine league games. Opponents are also shooting just 28.3-percent from beyond-the-arc, which ranks best in the conference.

Wyoming also averages more than six assists per contest than its opponents during league play.

SCOUTING NEVADA
Audrey Roden leads the Wolf Pack in scoring and assists, averaging 12 points and 2.4 assists per game this season. Roden also averages a team-best 2.2 steals per game. Claire Jacobs (9.7) and Izzy Sullivan (8.8) are second and third, respectively on the team in scoring. Lexie Givens leads the team in rebounding at six boards per contest and leads the team with 26 blocks and is second on Nevada with 35 steals and 47 assists this season.

The Wolf Pack have 11 student-athletes playing 11-plus minutes a game in 2023-24.

As a team, Nevada averages 64.6 points per game and is allowing 64 points per defensively. The Wolf Pack shoot nearly 38-percent overall from the field and has hit 31.5-percent from 3-point range. Nevada opponents shoot over 41-percent from the floor and 35-percent from 3-point range.

Nevada has just a 0.83 assist-to-turnover ratio but has more assists per game than its opponents and commits 5.5 fewer turnovers per game. The Wolf Pack are 3-4 on the road this season and are looking to snap a two-game losing skid.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST NEVADA
Wyoming is 23-9 all-time in the series with the Wolf Pack and have won the last three contests, including both last season. The Cowgirls are 9-3 against Nevada in the last 12 meetings and have won 9-of-10 outside of the 2020-21 Covid season where both games were played in Reno.

UW is 13-1 all-time at home in the series, including an 81-66 victory last season.

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