After a month-long stretch of road games, the Wyoming Cowgirls are finally returning to the familiar confines of the Arena-Auditorium, University of Wyoming Athletics reports.
The Cowgirls will host the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Saturday, December 21, with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. Fans can catch the game live on the Mountain West Network or listen to the Cowgirl Radio Network, where David Settle will provide play-by-play commentary.
The Cowgirls (5-6) are looking to get back on track following a 76-60 loss to Creighton earlier this week. Despite holding a two-point lead late in the third quarter, Wyoming was outscored by 13 in the fourth as Creighton pulled away. Allyson Fertig delivered a standout performance with a season-high 23 points, marking her fifth 20-point game this season. Teammates Tess Barnes and Malene Pedersen added 16 points each.
Several Cowgirls made key contributions on the road trip. Barnes, Emily Mellema, and Ola Ustowska each recorded five assists against Creighton. Ustowska also tied her career-high with nine rebounds.
Fertig remains a dominant force in the Mountain West Conference. She ranks in the top two of 12 different statistical categories, averaging 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. Barnes is a perimeter threat, ranking seventh in the conference with 1.89 three-pointers per game, while Mellema ranks fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.40) in the league.
Offensively, the Cowgirls are averaging just under 63 points per game while shooting 43% from the field. Defensively, Wyoming is holding opponents to 60.6 points per game and a shooting percentage of 40%. The Cowgirls also hold a slight rebounding edge over their non-conference opponents, with a plus-1.7 rebound margin.
North Dakota enters Saturday’s matchup with a balanced offensive approach. The Fighting Hawks are led by forward Kiera Pemberton, who averages 15.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 58% from the field. Pemberton is the only North Dakota player averaging double figures in scoring, but several others contribute meaningful points.
Jocelyn Schiller (9.9 points per game), Mikayla Aumer (9.8), and Walker Demers (8.8) all provide offensive support for the Fighting Hawks. Schiller leads the team with 37 assists and 19 steals this season, while Aumer and Schiller have each knocked down 16 three-pointers. Off the bench, Fatima Ibrahim anchors the defense with a team-leading 11 blocks.
As a team, North Dakota is averaging 64 points per game while shooting 40.3% from the field and nearly 30% from three-point range. Defensively, the Fighting Hawks allow 65.6 points per game and hold opponents to just under 40% shooting from the field and 33% from beyond the arc. North Dakota boasts a strong presence on the glass with a near-plus-four rebound margin. However, turnovers have been an issue, as they commit more than three turnovers per game than their opponents and have recorded 21 fewer assists than their opponents this season.
Wyoming holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series against North Dakota. This will be the third consecutive season the teams have faced off. Each team has won on its home court in the past two seasons, with North Dakota taking the 2022-23 season opener and the Cowgirls responding with a win in Laramie to open the 2023-24 campaign. Wyoming is 2-0 against the Fighting Hawks at home.
