Seniors help grab fourth straight

For the two seniors on the CSU women’s basketball squad, Jasai

Ferrucho and Joy Jenkins, there was no better way to end their

four-year tenure with Moby Arena as their home court than with a

60-49 Border War victory over Wyoming in front of 2,352 screaming

fans.

“It was a great win. Obviously Wyoming is a big rivalry and

having it on senior night made it even bigger,” said CSU head coach

Chris Denker. “Ultimately, in a very fitting way, it was our

seniors that took over.

Jenkins was CSU’s top scorer with 18 points including two

3-pointers, while Ferrucho had eight assists and hit her first

3-pointer in Mountain West Conference play. With the Cowgirls’

5-foot-8 freshmen guard Tarah Lapar guarding Jenkins, the 6-foot-3

senior put up numbers unseen since breaking her nose earlier in the

season.

“It felt good,” Jenkins said. “I’ve been struggling playing with

the mask since I broke my nose, but what a night to go out on. I

was just having fun and I knew we were going to win.”

As Ferrucho fed her last assist to Jenkins at Moby, giving the

Rams a 51-48 lead with five minutes remaining in the game, CSU took

control of a game that was previously run by the Cowgirls and

gained momentum and a lead they never lost.

“What a comeback,” Denker said. “The kids played so hard, so

tough and with so much heart. Defensively, we played solid all

night long.”

CSU overcame a 17-point first-half deficit, when it appeared

there was a lid over the Rams’ basket as they went 0-12 in the

first eight minutes, and improved their record to 16-9 overall and

7-5 in the MWC.

CSU remains in fourth place in conference behind Utah (10-1),

New Mexico (9-2) and UNLV at 8-4. Wyoming dropped to 9-16 overall

and 5-7 in the MWC.

Junior Ashley Elliot led the Cowgirls with 18 points and

Michelle Lieber added 15 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double

performance. Wyoming only used six different players on the court

and went from a field goal percentage of 44.8 in the first half to

27 percent in the second half.

“I think fatigue started to be a problem at the end,” said

Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski. “The first thing that effects is

your shooting.”

Jenkins hit her 100th career 3-pointer in the game and scored

her 800th career point. After four years at Moby, Jenkins was happy

to go out on top.

“I’ve had some great memories here,” Jenkins said. “It was fun

and it was a great win. I think in a few days it will hit us, but

right now we are just enjoying the win.”

The Good: Melissa Dennett tied a career-high by grabbing 11

rebounds.

The Bad: CSU was held to only eight points in the paint, as

Dennett managed only four points and Lindsay Thomas scored only

eight.

The Ugly: The Cowboys seemed to have trouble telling time as

they suffered four shot-clock violations and one out-of-bounds

violation.