By AUSTIN SMITH
Senior guard Kenzie De Boer shot a career high 29 points on Thursday night en route to a heartbreaking 58-56 non-conference loss to the Wyoming Cowgirls.
The sluggish Lady Griz, who played with a contrastingly fierce attitude during last weekend’s Classic, opened against the Cowgirls with two missed shots and a failed fast break attempt. Wyoming jumped out to an early two-bucket lead and seemed to be gaining steam until De Boer hit the first of her four total three pointers.
Fast forward to the final two minutes, and the song remains the same. By this time Montana’s usually precise ball movement had buckled under the Cowgirls’ defensive pressure, and Wyoming maintained a steady lead after capitalizing on nearly every possession.
The board read 54-55 in favor of Wyoming with 1:28 on the clock. Woodward nailed her fourth and final perimeter bucket (54-58), followed by two missed Montana shots and another Cowgirl rebound. De Boer got in front of the ensuing possession and forced a jump ball, a heads-up play that disrupted Wyoming’s rhythm and subsequently lead to a turnover.
De Boer scored again to make it 56-58 with nine seconds left, after which Montana tipped the inbounds pass and regained possession on a second jump ball. Looking for overtime, De Boer was fed for the drive but her tying shot bounced dismally off the rim and the Lady Griz were let down to 7-3 in non-conference play.
De Boer and company won’t return to home court until Sunday, December 16th, when they’ll face the Denver Pioneers in their final non-conference matchup of this season.