Kayla Woodward scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Wyoming Cowgirls past the Montana Lady Griz, 79-65, Tuesday night in Laramie. Woodward took over and scored 12 straight points in during a 2 minute stretch of the second half that propelled UW to the victory.

Wyoming (8-2) was tied with Montana for the ninth time in the game at 40-40 with 14:55 left in the game. Then, Woodward followed up her own miss down low for a basket inside. After another offensive rebound and put-back in the paint, she knocked down consecutive 3's and added a pair of free throws. That gave the Cowgirls a 52-40 lead with 11:51 left.

Montana pulled within 6 points twice down the stretch, but back-to-back baskets from Kaitlyn Mileto and Kaylie Rader with 5 minutes left put Wyoming back up by 10, at 68-58, and the game was never in doubt after that.

The Cowgirls had three other players in double figures. Fallon Lewis scored 18; Marquelle Dent added 14 points and 5 assists and Rader contributed 12 points and 3 assists. UW shot 46.8 percent (29-62) from the field, which included nearly 58 percent in the second half. They were 3-10 (30%) from 3-point range and 18-28 (64.3%) at the foul line. They out-rebounded the bigger Griz, 46-40. Wyoming also had 21 assists on their 29 field goals and held a 44-22 edge on points in the paint.

Montana (6-3) was led by Kellie Cole with 13 points, while Jordan Sullivan had 12 and Torry Hill 11 points. The Lady Griz were held to 34.8 percent (24-69) shooting on field goals. They were 9-30 (30%) from deep and 8-10 (80%) at the stripe.

The game featured 5 lead changes and 7 ties in the first half. Montana got out to a 13-6 lead early, but an 11-0 spurt by the Cowgirls put them in front 17-13 midway through the period. It was back-and-forth after that. Wyoming took a 32-30 halftime lead when Dent went the length of the floor with 5.4 seconds left and scored on a lay-up at the buzzer.

The Wyoming Cowgirls return to action on Saturday with their final non-conference game at Idaho. Game time is at 1 p.m.

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