ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Feb. 5, 2022) – Tommi Olson drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer Saturday afternoon at The Pit in New Mexico as the Wyoming Cowgirls clawed their way back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to win a thriller, 60-59.
The Cowgirls scored the final eight points of the game, capped off as Quinn Weidemann found her roommate Olson for her career-high eighth assist of the game. The Lobos (19-6, 10-2 MW) scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter as Wyoming (9-10, 5-5 MW) made a dramatic comeback.
It was a defensive struggle to start, as the Cowgirls got the first two hoops of the game and held a 6-2 margin at the first media timeout with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter. Following the timeout, the Lobos found their offense, hitting their next four shots and took an 11-6 lead with 2:11 remaining, leading to a Cowgirl timeout. UNM ended the first on a 12-3 run and led 14-9 after one.
Wyoming opened the second finding an offensive rhythm of its own, regaining the lead at 18-17 with just over five minutes left in the half. After the second quarter media timeout, the Cowgirls extended their lead up to 22-17 thanks to a pair of free throws from Allyson Fertig and an Alba Sanchez Ramos layup. After a quick 5-0 surge from the Lobos tied things up, the two teams traded hoops the rest of the half as the Cowgirls carried a slim 28-27 lead into halftime.
The Cowgirls opened the second half much like they did the first, hitting the first three shots to begin the third quarter and took a 34-27 lead, their largest of the game as New Mexico called for a timeout with 7:19 to play in the frame. Out of the timeout, the Lobos would hit back-to-back hoops to make it 34-32 before a McKinley Bradshaw halted the mini-run.
Back-to-back hoops from the Cowgirls inside pushed the advantage back up to 40-35 with under two minutes to play but the Lobos responded with another quick offensive strike in the waning moments of the third, ending the frame on a quick 7-2 run and things were tied up, 42-42 going into the fourth.
In the fourth, the New Mexico offensive barrage carried over as the Lobos opened the frame with a quick five points to take a 47-42 with 9:10 to play, leading to a Gerald Mattinson timeout. The Lobos continued to extend the lead out of the timeout, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and all-of-a-sudden, the Cowgirl deficit was 53-42.
After UNM made it 55-42, its 13th-straight point to open the fourth, the Cowgirls got seven-straight points of their own to get the deficit back down to single digits, 55-50 with under five to go, thanks in large part to back-to-back 3-pointers from Bradshaw and Tess Barnes.
The Cowgirls would get it to 59-55 with 2:30 to go after another Bradshaw three. After that, a Weidemann fastbreak lay-in with 55.5 seconds left made it 59-57 Lobos and led to a New Mexico timeout.
After Wyoming missed a chance to tie or take the lead, the Cowgirls were able to force a New Mexico turnover with 13 seconds remaining, leading to Olson’s heroics.
The bucket was Olson’s first of the day as she ended the contest with six assists, five rebounds and a steal. Fertig led the Cowgirls with a monster game as she scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and grabbed a career-best 18 boards to go along with a pair of blocks.
Bradshaw added 16 on 7-of-14 from the floor while Sanchez Ramos chipped in with nine points while also adding six boards and three assists.
The Cowgirls shot 44.1-percent from the field and hit 5-of-18 from 3-point land while the Lobos hit 43.6-percent and went 8-of-25 from beyond-the-arc. Wyoming had a huge advantage inside, outscoring UNM in the paint 40-22 and had nine second-chance points to New Mexico’s none as the Cowgirls had a 43-24 rebounding advantage.
Wyoming now returns home to host San Jose State at 6:30 p.m., February 9. It will be the Cowgirls’ lone home game in a six-game stretch.