Cowgirls Fall to Aztecs to Open 2026
- University of Wyoming Athletics Press Release
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 3, 20206) – A big third quarter from San Diego State Saturday afternoon proved to be the difference as the Wyoming Cowgirls opened 2026 with a 72-55 loss to the Aztecs. Wyoming was outscored 22-5 in the third.
“I thought we came out with some high energy,” said Head Coach Heather Ezell.
“We played a great first quarter. Putting Jane (Rumpf) and Lana (Beslic) into the starting lineup gave us some great energy. I was happy with the first half and then unfortunately I thought we came out real flat coming out of halftime. What really affected us coming out in the third was unfortunately our defense, which is something we normally hang our hat on.”
After Wyoming opened the scoring with the first bucket, San Diego State responded with the next five points before Jane Rumpf, making her first-career start, buried a 3-pointer to tie things early at 5-5. From there, the two teams traded points before Rumpf hit back-to-back 3-pointers, forcing an Aztec timeout with 4:28 left in the quarter and the Cowgirls up 16-9. Following the timeout, the two traded 3-pointers as the hot shooting for both squads continued before an SDSU run tied things at 21-21 before UW scored the final five points of the frame.
The defenses tightened up some to begin the second quarter before the Aztecs started to find their rhythm before the media timeout. The San Diego State run cut the Wyoming lead down to 29-28 at the timeout. Out of the media, SDSU surged back in front as the Cowgirl offense sputtered in the second quarter. A Malene Pedersen turnaround ended the Aztec scoring run as the two teams started trading hoops back-and-forth from there. SDSU led 37-35 at the break.
The Wyoming offense struggled to begin the second half as San Diego State found an offensive groove and built their lead to nine before the media, 48-39. After the timeout, things continued to go bad for the Cowgirls as turnovers began to pop up as well and the SDSU lead ballooned to double digits. The Aztecs led 59-40 after three.
Pedersen got a sweet layup to fall to begin the fourth as the Cowgirl offense found its rhythm a bit to begin the frame. However, the SDSU offense was just as sharp as Wyoming couldn’t get the deficit down to too slim of a margin. UW would get the Aztec lead down to 16 in the quarter but wouldn’t get any closer than that the rest of the contest. San Diego State would build its advantage to better than 20 at one point in the quarter. Henna Sandvik provided an offensive spark for the Cowgirls in the fourth.
Wyoming shot 36.8-percent from the floor and went 7-of-30 from 3-point range. The Aztecs, meanwhile, shot nearly 51-percent overall and hit 8-of-17 from beyond-the-arc. SDSU enjoyed a 36-30 advantage on the boards. San Diego State scored 40 points in the paint to Wyoming’s 22. The Aztecs also notched 22 points from their bench while the Cowgirls had just one bench point. SDSU also outscored the Cowgirls 18-7 in points off turnovers, despite committing just one fewer turnover than UW did.
Once again, Pedersen tied to lead the Cowgirls in scoring as she had 17 in the loss. Sandvik and Rumpf also finished in double figures, scoring 17 and 11, respectively. Sandvik scored 11 of her points in the fourth. The 11 from Rumpf are the first time she has reached double figures as a Cowgirl.
Lana Beslic led the way with six assists in the contest, tying a career-best for her. Pedersen paced the Cowgirls with six rebounds while Rumpf recorded a career-best three blocked shots. Wyoming had just two steals in the loss.
Next up, Wyoming hits the road to face Nevada next Wednesday. Tip-off in Reno is set for 7:30 p.m., Mountain Time.
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