LAS VEGAS — Colorado State’s women’s basketball team might consider scrapping the Mountain West Conference regular season and reporting straight to the MWC Tournament.
For the second consecutive year, the eighth-seeded Rams threatened to turn the bracket upside down, upsetting No. 5 seed Wyoming 64-58.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what it is about tournament time,” said center Amaka Uzomah, who tied for CSU high-scoring honors with 11 points and led with nine rebounds. “All I know is we come into this 0-0. Yeah, we might have started off rough . . . but we put that behind us, come in, say it’s a new season, a new team.”
A year ago, the ninth-seeded Rams, winless in conference, knocked off UNLV in the play-in game and then stunned unbeaten champion Utah before losing in the semifinals.
CSU (10-20) will play No. 4 seed New Mexico (21-9) at 5:30 p.m. today. The winner of Tuesday’s BYU-UNLV game will play No. 3 seed TCU in the second game. Top seeds Utah and San Diego State received byes into Friday’s semifinals in a change from last year’s format.
Wyoming (16-14), which returned one starter (Rebecca Vanderjagt) from last year’s NCAA team, will hope for an NIT bid.
The only disappointment for CSU came when starting forward Britney Minor suffered what might be a broken nose with 52 seconds left. She is questionable for today’s game.
The Rams won despite connecting on just one of their first 10 shots of the second half. The Cowgirls closed a 38-24 halftime deficit to 58-52 with 1:43 left, but the Rams sealed the win at the free-throw line.
Uzomah came off the bench with nine points and seven rebounds in the first half. CSU had nine players score before halftime.
“She made some shots that sometimes I don’t let her shoot,” CSU first-year coach Kristen Holt said.
Slow-starting Wyoming hit just 28.6 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Rams pulled in front by 20 points on Minor’s jumper with 2:10 remaining in the first half.
COLORADO STATE (10-20)
Minor 0-7 3-4 3, Reimink 1-3 0-0 2, Cornell 2-8 1-2 5, Mestdagh 1-5 2-3 5, Simmons 4-6 3-4 11, Barbee 5-8 0-0 11, Uzomah 4-6 3-4 11, Van Den Adel 0-1 0-0 0, Heimstra 4-6 1-2 9, Beemer 2-6 1-2 7. Totals 23-56 14-21 64.
WYOMING (16-14)
Vanderjagt 0-1 0-0 0, Carlson 6-11 5-6 17, Richardson 0-3 0-0 0, Scheffler 2-9 2-2 7, McGuffey 5-14 3-4 13, Kennedy 1-2 0-0 2, Langford 5-12 6-8 16, Dissen 0-2 1-3 7. Totals 19-54 17-23 56.
Halftime — Colorado State 38-24. 3-point goals —Colorado State 4-11 (Beemer 2-5, Barbee 1-2, Mestdagh 1-4), Wyoming 1-14 (Scheffler 1-5, Kennedy 0-1, Langford 0-2, Richardson 0-2, McGuffey 0-4). Fouled out —McGuffey. Rebounds — Colorado State 39 (Uzomah 9), Wyoming 29 (Scheffler 6). Assists — CSU 13 (Minor, Simmons, Uzomah 2), Wyoming 10 (Carlson 5). Total fouls —Colorado State 20, Wyoming 20.
New Mexico 84, Air Force 41
The Falcons, winless in the MWC regular season, scored the first five points of the game but it was all New Mexico from the 17:23 mark of the first half.
Amy Beggin led three Lobos in double figures with 18 points. Liz Dunsworth led AFA (4-26) with 12 points.
AIR FORCE (4-26)
Kreke 4-11 0-0 9, Dunsworth 5-9 2-2 12, Gault 1-3 2-2 5, Beck 1-11 0-0 2, Cultra 1-5 3-4 5, Puentes 1-2 0-0 2, Satterfield 0-1 0-0 0, Schjodt 2-3 2-2 6, Wilmore 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 9-10 41.
NEW MEXICO (21-9)
Hartill 5-11 0-0 11, Weismann 1-3 1-2 4, Beggin 6-10 2-2 18, Adamson 3-6 0-0 6, Best 3-5 2-3 8, Taylor 3-6 0-0 7, Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Halasz 3-8 2-2 8, Jackson 2-3 2-2 7, Kast 1-3 0-0 2, Kielpinski 4-6 5-5 13. Totals 31-62 14-16 84.
Halftime — New Mexico 43-23. 3-point goals —Air Force 2-11 (Gault 1-2, Kreke 1-3, Satterfield 0-1, Beck 0-5), New Mexico 8-24 (Beggin 4-8, Taylor 1-2, Jackson 1-2, Weismann 1-3, Hartill 1-4, Adamson 0-1, Kielpinski 0-1). Fouled out —None. Rebounds — Air Force 25 (Kreke 5, Beck 5), New Mexico 38 (Best 11). Assists — Air Force 13 (Beck 5), New Mexico 16 (Hartill 3). Total fouls —Air Force 11, New Mexico 9.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
