There are some interesting correlations with the Wyoming women’s basketball team going to this year’s WNIT and the Cowgirls’ 2007 WNIT run that resulted in a championship.
As most of you probably know UW’s first foe this year is Nevada and 7 p.m. Friday at the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowgirls’ first foe in 2007 was Nevada in Laramie, which they easily defeated.
After that Wyoming hosted Missouri of the Big 12 Conference and won. If it beats Nevada Friday it could face another Big 12 team in Texas Tech,which hosts Houston Thursday in its first-round game.
And looking even a little further ahead to the third round, UW could face a Pac-10 team in Arizona State. In 2007 UW’s third-round opponent was fellow Pac-10 member Oregon.
I know UW coach Joe Legerski and his players aren’t looking ahead past Nevada, but if UW wins and say Texas Tech wins there is a good chance the Cowgirls would go on the road.
The Cowgirls averaged 3,253 fans per home game this season. Texas Tech, which is 17-14 entering the tournament, more than doubled that at 7,068. There is more than goes into hosting a game than average home attendance, but that doesn’t help UW’s cause.
On the other side, Houston averaged 434 fans per home game. If Houston wins and UW wins, one would think the Cowgirls would be in good shape to host another game.
Four Mountain West Conference teams made with WNIT, and all four are on the same side of the bracket. If UW keeps advancing, the earliest it would play one would be the quarterfinals.
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UW still holds the following WNIT team records from its 2007 championship:
–Points in the tournament: 452
–Free-throws made in the tournament: 122
–Defensive rebounds in the tournament: 154
–Turnovers in the tournament : 79
–Blocked shots in the tournament: 27
–Free-throws made in a game: 37, vs. Kansas State
–3-point shooting in a game: .750 (9 of 12) vs. Nevada
UW also owns three of the top seven highest-attended games. The sellout of 15,462 in the title game vs. Wisconsin ranks second. The record is 18,018 by New Mexico in the 2001 title game in The Pit against Ohio State. New Mexico also has two more games that rank in the top nine.
As far as individual WNIT records, Hanna Zavecz has the most free throws made in a game (17 vs. Kansas State) and tournement (37). Justyna Podziemska has the most defensive rebounds for the tournament (35).
See Wednesday’s paper for more on the WNIT, and go to www.wyomingathletics.com for ticket and parking information.
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