2022–23 Wyoming Cowgirls basketball team

2022–23 Wyoming Cowgirls basketball
2022–23 Wyoming Cowgirls basketball
WNIT, Second Round
Conference	Mountain West Conference
Record	23–11 (13–5 Mountain West)
Head coach	Heather Ezell (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Ryan Larsen; Fallon Lewis; Brooke Atkinson;
Home arena	Arena-Auditorium
	Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 Wyoming Cowgirls basketball team represented the University of Wyoming in the 2022–23 college basketball season. The Cowgirls were led by head coach Heather Ezell, in her first season. The Cowgirls played their home games at the Arena-Auditorium, and were members of the Mountain West Conference. The Cowgirls finished 2nd in the Mountain West Conference, and lost in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball tournament to UNLV 71–60.^[1] The Cowgirls were invited to the WNIT, and lost in the 2nd round to Kansas State 71–55.^[2]

2022–23 Mountain West Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 22 UNLV†	18	–	0	1.000	31	–	3	.912
Wyoming	13	–	5	.722	23	–	11	.676
San Diego State	12	–	6	.667	23	–	11	.676
Colorado State	12	–	6	.667	20	–	12	.625
New Mexico	12	–	6	.667	21	–	12	.636
Boise State	11	–	7	.611	17	–	16	.515
Air Force	8	–	10	.444	13	–	18	.419
Nevada	6	–	12	.333	10	–	21	.323
Fresno State	3	–	15	.167	10	–	22	.313
San Jose State	3	–	15	.167	6	–	25	.194
Utah State	1	–	17	.056	4	–	26	.133

† 2023 MW Tournament winner As of March 21, 2023 Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Cowgirls finished the 2021–22 season 17–13, 11–6 in Mountain West play to finish tied for third place in the conference. They lost in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball tournament to Colorado State.^[3] Head coach Gerald Mattinson announced his retirement from coaching at the conclusion of the season, and Heather Ezell was hired as the new head coach the same day.^[4]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Alba Sanchez Ramos	11	G	6'0"	Sr.	Madrid, ESP	Graduated
McKinley Bradshaw	12	G	5'11"	Jr.	Lyman, WY	Mission (LDS Church)^[5]
Landri Hudson	21	G	5'9"	So.	Aurora, CO	Transferred to CSU Pueblo^[6]

Arrivals

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Bailey Wilborn	1	G	5'8"	So.	Wichita, KS	Maine^[7]
Grace Moyers	3	G	5'8"	Fr.	Erie, CO	Erie HS
Malene Pedersen	12	G	5'11"	Fr.	Aabyhøj, DEN	Kansas State^[6]

Roster

2022–23 Wyoming Cowgirls women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Bailey Wilborn	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	So	Maine	Wichita, KS
G	2	Emily Mellema	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Lynden Christian HS	Lynden, WA
G	3	Grace Moyers	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Erie HS	Erie, CO
F	4	Grace Ellis	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	St Peters Lutheran College	Brisbane, AUS
G/F	5	Tess Barnes	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Maribyrnong College	Gisborne, AUS
F	10	Paula Salazar	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Institute Vilanova del Valles	Barcelona, ESP
G	12	Malene Pedersen	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Fr	Kansas State	Aabyhøj, DEN
G	14	Quinn Weidemann	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS Sr	Westside HS	Omaha, NE
F	15	Marta Savic	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Jr	Sport Gymnasium	Zagreb, CRO
G/F	23	Lexi Bull	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Century HS	Pocatello, ID
G	24	Tommi Olson	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	RS Sr	Highlands Ranch HS	Worland, WY
G	30	Ola Ustowska	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	SMS PZKosz Lomianki	Kartuzy, POL
C	45	Allyson Fertig	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	So	Douglas HS	Glendo, WY

Head coach

Heather Ezell (Iowa State)

Assistant coach(es)

Ryan Larsen (MSU Moorhead)
Fallon Lewis (Wyoming)
Brooke Atkinson (Wichita State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 7, 2023

Statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tess Barnes	34	2	19.1	.383	.324	.727	2.6	1.2	.6	.5	4.6
Lexi Bull	4	0	2.3	.500	—	—	.8	.5	.0	.0	.5
Grace Ellis	34	34	25.8	.483	.360	.723	4.5	1.7	.4	.2	8.7
Allyson Fertig	34	34	24.3	.586	.154	.697	8.7	.8	.7	2.0	13.3
Emily Mellema	34	0	19.5	.400	.353	.736	1.6	1.7	.9	.2	6.3
Grace Moyers	13	0	4.0	.188	—	.750	.4	.0	.2	.0	.9
Tommi Olson	34	34	26.0	.378	.403	.760	3.5	2.8	.7	.1	4.4
Malene Pedersen	34	34	28.9	.467	.321	.882	4.0	2.4	.5	.1	11.0
Paula Salazar	8	0	5.4	.500	.000	.750	1.5	.0	.1	.3	1.4
Marta Savic	34	0	12.1	.500	1.000	.703	3.8	.9	.6	.4	4.1
Ola Ustowska	29	0	11.9	.228	.193	.727	.9	.8	.3	.2	1.9
Quinn Weidemann	32	32	32.8	.397	.356	.847	2.4	2.4	1.0	.2	10.9
Bailey Wilborn	10	0	6.7	.313	.333	.750	.3	.1	.1	.0	1.8

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 28* 6:30 pm		Colorado Christian	W 68–36	0–0	Arena-Auditorium (1,504) Laramie, WY
November 5* 2:00 pm		Sioux Falls	W 87–40	0–0	Arena-Auditorium (1,952) Laramie, WY
Non–Conference
November 11* 1:00 pm		at North Dakota	L 55–67	0–1	Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,166) Grand Forks, ND
November 15* 8:00 pm		Gonzaga	L 64–66	0–2	Arena-Auditorium (2,077) Laramie, WY
November 18* 6:30 pm		Denver	W 68–45	1–2	Arena-Auditorium (2,233) Laramie, WY
November 22* 11:00 am		Regis	W 64–44	2–2	Arena-Auditorium (5,792) Laramie, WY
November 25* 3:00 pm		at Pacific Tiger Turkey Tip-Off	L 53–67	2–3	Alex G. Spanos Center (227) Stockton, CA
November 26* 1:00 pm		vs. UC Davis Tiger Turkey Tip-Off	W 67–48	3–3	Alex G. Spanos Center (107) Stockton, CA
December 2* 6:30 pm		Montana State	W 67–59	4–3	Arena-Auditorium (2,174) Laramie, WY
December 5* 6:30 pm		New Mexico Highlands	W 80–24	5–3	Arena-Auditorium (2,075) Laramie, WY
December 11* 6:30 am		Kansas City	W 72–43	6–3	Arena-Auditorium (2,286) Laramie, WY
December 18* 2:00 pm		at Nebraska	L 39–66	6–4	Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,972) Lincoln, NE
December 20* 6:00 pm		at Wichita State	W 61–56	7–4	Charles Koch Arena (1,488) Wichita, KS
Mountain West Conference
December 29 6:30 pm		at UNLV	L 67–73	7–5 (0–1)	Cox Pavilion (526) Paradise, NV
December 31 6:00 pm		Fresno State	W 77–72 ^2OT	8–5 (1–1)	Arena-Auditorium (2,432) Laramie, WY
January 5 6:30 pm		New Mexico	W 78–69	9–5 (2–1)	Arena-Auditorium (1,942) Laramie, WY
January 11 6:30 p.m.		at Air Force	W 61–60	10–5 (3–1)	Clune Arena (660) Colorado Springs, CO
January 14 2:00 p.m.		at San Jose State	W 64–48	11–5 (4–1)	Provident Credit Union Event Center (355) San Jose, CA
January 16 6:30 p.m.		at Nevada	W 57–53	12–5 (5–1)	Lawlor Events Center (739) Reno, NV
January 19 6:30 p.m.		UNLV	L 57–71	12–6 (5–2)	Arena-Auditorium (2,307) Laramie, WY
January 21 6:00 p.m.		San Diego State	L 66–73	12–7 (5–3)	Arena-Auditorium (2,647) Laramie, WY
January 26 6:00 pm		at Utah State	W 64–52	13–7 (6–3)	Smith Spectrum (312) Logan, UT
January 28 2:00 p.m.		at Boise State	W 69–62	14–7 (7–3)	ExtraMile Arena (1,059) Boise, ID
February 2 6:30 p.m.		San Jose State	W 68–54	15–7 (8–3)	Arena-Auditorium (2,040) Laramie, WY
February 4 1:00 p.m.		at Colorado State Border War	L 63–66	15–8 (8–4)	Moby Arena (2,141) Fort Collins, CO
February 9 6:30 p.m.		Utah State	W 70–48	16–8 (9–4)	Arena-Auditorium (2,227) Laramie, WY
February 11 2:00 pm		Air Force	W 62–56	17–8 (10–4)	Arena-Auditorium (2,790) Laramie, WY
February 16 7:00 p.m.		at New Mexico	L 62–71	17–9 (10–5)	The Pit (4,668) Albuquerque, NM
February 18 1:00 pm		at San Diego State	W 70–58	18–9 (11–5)	Viejas Arena (1,138) San Diego, CA
February 23 6:30 p.m.		Nevada	W 81–66	19–9 (12–5)	Arena-Auditorium (2,144) Laramie, WY
February 25 7:30 p.m.		Colorado State Border War	W 76–60	20–9 (13–5)	Arena-Auditorium (3,603) Laramie, WY
Mountain West Women's Tournament
March 6 5:00 p.m.	(2)	vs. (10) San Jose State Quarterfinals	W 72–57	21–9	Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV
March 7 7:30 p.m.	(2)	vs. (3) Colorado State Semifinals, Border War	W 65–56	22–9	Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV
March 8 7:00 p.m.	(2)	vs. (1) No. 21 UNLV Championship	L 60–71	22–10	Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV
WNIT
March 17 6:30 p.m.		Texas A&M–Corpus Christi First Round	W 75–41	23–10	Arena-Auditorium (2,820) Laramie, WY
March 21 6:00 p.m.		at Kansas State Second Round	L 55–71	23–11	Bramlage Coliseum (2,350) Manhattan, KS
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. All dates, times, and TV are tentative and subject to change.

^[8]

References

^ Thorburn, Ryan (March 8, 2023). "Wyoming Cowgirls lose 71-60 to No. 21 UNLV Rebels in Mountain West championship". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^ Thorburn, Ryan (March 21, 2023). "Wyoming Cowgirls' season ends with 71-55 loss at Kansas State in WNIT". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^ "Rams defense stymies Cowgirls in Mountain West quarterfinals".
^ Thorburn, Ryan (March 25, 2022). "Gerald Mattinson retires, Heather Ezell promoted to Wyoming Cowgirls head coach". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
^ Thorburn, Ryan (March 30, 2022). "Wyoming Cowgirls' leading scorer McKinley Bradshaw won't return for senior season". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Thorburn, Ryan (April 21, 2023). "Wyoming Cowgirls sign Kansas State transfer Malene Pedersen". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^ Jack, Nowlin (April 28, 2022). "Wyoming Cowgirls basketball adds Bailey Wilborn from Maine as transfer". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". Wyoming Cowgirls. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

[1] Thorburn, Ryan (March 8, 2023). "Wyoming Cowgirls lose 71-60 to No. 21 UNLV Rebels in Mountain West championship". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

[2] Thorburn, Ryan (March 21, 2023). "Wyoming Cowgirls' season ends with 71-55 loss at Kansas State in WNIT". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

[3] "Rams defense stymies Cowgirls in Mountain West quarterfinals".

[4] Thorburn, Ryan (March 25, 2022). "Gerald Mattinson retires, Heather Ezell promoted to Wyoming Cowgirls head coach". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2022.

[5] Thorburn, Ryan (March 30, 2022). "Wyoming Cowgirls' leading scorer McKinley Bradshaw won't return for senior season". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

[Pedersen-6] Thorburn, Ryan (April 21, 2023). "Wyoming Cowgirls sign Kansas State transfer Malene Pedersen". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

[7] Jack, Nowlin (April 28, 2022). "Wyoming Cowgirls basketball adds Bailey Wilborn from Maine as transfer". Casper Star Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

[8] "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". Wyoming Cowgirls. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

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