Cougars and Cowgirls face off in Mountain West grudge match on Tuesday

PROVO, Utah — BYU will renew an old Mountain West rivalry on Tuesday as the Cougars travel to Laramie to take on the Wyoming Cowgirls at 6:30 p.m. MT at the Arena-Auditorium.

The game can be streamed on the Mountain West Network and will also be broadcast live on BYU Radio 107.9, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio App; Jason Shepherd with the play-by-play call.

Series Breakdown

BYU and Wyoming have met 71 times in the series that began in 1974 but haven’t met since the Cougars left the Mountain West Conference in 2011.

The Cougars hold a 51-21 series lead and boast a 22-14 record at the Arena-Auditorium. The last meeting came during assistant coach Morgan Bailey’s redshirt season when BYU handed Wyoming a 69-53 loss in Laramie on Mar. 5, 2011.

BYU Notes (3-0, 0-0 Big 12)

• Back-to-Back for Woolston: Woolston was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for the second-straight week on Monday morning after leading all conference freshmen in three statistical categories. Woolston is the sixth leading scorer in the Big 12 at 17.17 points per game and leads all Big 12 freshmen. The Lone Peak High School product is also the Big 12's outright leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.590), second in made threes (23), sixth in total field goal percentage at 60.3 percent and fifth overall in minutes played (34.14).
• Freshman Phenoms: Amari Whiting and Kailey Woolston continue to impress in their first season in a BYU uniform. The freshmen are averaging 29 points per game, 11.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists through four games. 

• Efficient and Effective: The Cougars are shooting a blistering 49.4 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three through six games. In 2022-23, Whiting’s team scored 63.7 points per game compared to the 72.0 points per game in 2023-24. Last season, BYU only had Lauren Gustin (16.1) and Nani Falatea (15.3) who averaged double-figure points. This year, Whiting’s squad has doubled that number with Woolston (17.2) Gustin (15), Whiting (11.2) and Falatea (11) all scoring more than 10 per game

• Defense + Scoring = Wins: The Cougar defense has held its first five opponents to 53.5 points per game. During the 2022-23 season, Whiting’s squad notched a 14-4 record when holding teams under the 60-point threshold.

  BYU only scored more than 67 points ten times last season. The Cougars have done so in five of their first six games, averaging 72.0 points per contest in 2023-24. When scoring 67 or more points last season, the Cougars earned a 9-1 record.

• Newcomer's Contributions: The seven newcomers to Whiting’s squad have played just over a combined 582 of 1,200 minutes for the Cougars through five games. Davenport, Whiting and Woolston have accounted for 203 of 432 Cougar points (.470), 84 of 263 rebounds (.319), 36 of 90 assists (.400) and 20 of 37 steals (.541).

Head Coach – Amber Whiting

• Alma Mater: BYU, 2001
• Division I Career Record: 22-17 (2^nd Season)
• Record at BYU:  22-17 (2^nd Season)

Wyoming (3-2, 0-0 MWC)

• Sharing the love: The Cowgirls only have one player averaging double-figure points through six games, yet six players scoring more than 5.0 points per contest. Allyson Fertig leads Wyoming with 11.8, Malene Pedersen at 9.8, Tess Barnes at 9.0, Emily Mellema at 8.0, Marta Savic with 6.6 and Kati Ollilainen at 5.8 per game.

• Allyson Fertig: Fertig leads the Cowgirls at 11.8 points per game, field goal percentage at 54.5 percent, rebounds per game at 6.8 and blocks with eight on the year.

• Marta Savic: The senior out of Zagreb, Croatia notched her first career double-double in the Cowgirls' 78-32 win over Chadron State. Savic made 7-of-11 offerings en route to 16 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds.

• Pounding the Paint: The first 24 Wyoming points, not scored at the free throw line, against Chadron State came from the painted area.

• Cashing in at the charity stripe: The Cowgirls have six players that are perfect on the year from the free throw line and all but two players shooting over 90 percent from the line. Wyoming shoots a combined 87.7 percent from the line, making 57-of-65 free throw attempts through six games.

• Sharing the rock: Wyoming is a very generous team and has assisted on 65 of 123 made field goals this season (52.8 percent).

Head Coach – Heather Ezell

• Alma Mater: Iowa State, 2009
• Division I Career Record: 23-13 (2nd Season)
• Record at Wyoming: 32-13 (3rd Season)