Pokes Insider: Allyson Fertig making strong Mountain West POY case

Wyoming senior center had career-high 34 points, 15 rebounds vs. Colorado State

Ryan Thorburn
Posted 1/29/25

LARAMIE – Allyson Fertig performed like the potential Mountain West player of the year. Wyoming still lost to rival Colorado State, 61-56, despite Fertig scoring a career-high 34 points and …

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Pokes Insider: Allyson Fertig making strong Mountain West POY case

Wyoming senior center had career-high 34 points, 15 rebounds vs. Colorado State

Posted

LARAMIE – Allyson Fertig performed like the potential Mountain West player of the year.
Wyoming still lost to rival Colorado State, 61-56, despite Fertig scoring a career-high 34 points and grabbing 15 rebounds on Saturday in the Arena-Auditorium. The 6-foot-4 senior center from Glendo leads the MW in scoring (19.2 ppg), rebounding (10.0 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.587).
“The biggest thing right now is I’m disappointed that we let that slip away,” Fertig said after the first Border War of the season.
The Cowgirls fell to 11-9 overall and 5-4 (fourth place) in the conference.
Several members of Fertig’s strong supporting cast were dealing with the flu. Emily Mellema (no points or steals in 19 minutes) and Tess Barnes (no points and five rebounds in 27 minutes) were clearly not themselves.
“I think just knowing that we played them this close without some of our key players, how is that going to look when we play them at their place with our whole healthy roster?” Fertig said.
Fertig finished round one 15-for-27 (55.6%) shooting while the rest of the team went 8-for-40 (20%) from the field, including 4-for24 (16.7%) on 3-pointers.
UW head coach Heather Ezell told the team they probably only needed to knock down two or three more open shots behind the arc to win.

“We’ve got to understand the reps that we take in practice mean something,” Ezell said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re understanding that so we can be able to step up and knock down a shot when we need to.”
Ezell was pleased with the defensive effort. The Rams (15-6, 6-2) shot 39.3% and Emma Ronsiek, the MW preseason co-player of the year with Fertig, was held to six points in the second half.
“She’s a good player,” Fertig said of Ronsiek, a two-time all-Big East first team selection during her decorated career at Creighton. “A forward that can shoot is always hard to guard.
I thought the second half we did a lot better. Our guards took on the role of guarding her and being really physical with her. That got her out of stuff.”
Ronsiek finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in the first of two matchups this season with Fertig. UW and CSU will meet again on March 1 in Fort Collins.
“Fertig is obviously difficult,” Rams head coach Ryun Williams said on his postgame radio show. “(Ronsiek) gets Monday off to rest that body.”
On Monday, Fertig was named the MW player of the week for the second time this season after averaging 24.5 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks on 59.5-percent shooting (22-37) over two games.
Fertig’s 34 points against the Rams are tied for the fifth-most in a single game in program history and her 15 made field goals are the most for a UW player in a game since Cristine Fairless made 15 shots in 1989.
In last Tuesday’s win at Air Force, Fertig tallied 15 points, nine boards and five blocks.
UW played three games in seven days dating back to the heartbreaking 72-71 overtime loss at first-place UNLV on Jan. 19. Fertig had 22 points and nine rebounds against the Rebels.
“Especially going off our game against UNLV, I think we’re really confident,” Fertig said. “It’s not like we weren’t confident (against CSU); things just didn’t go our way.”
The Cowgirls will try to get back on track against San Jose State on Wednesday at the PCUE Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29 (7 p.m., MW Network).
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