Cowgirls Host Santa Clara Monday in Season Opener

Preseason WCC favorites come to Laramie for 6:30 p.m., tip 

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 31, 2026) – The Wyoming Cowgirls officially tip the 2026-27 season Monday night as Santa Clara comes to town for the regular season opener at 6:30. It will be the start of Head Coach Heather Ezell’s fifth season at the helm of the Cowgirls.

Monday’s game will be broadcast live on Mountain West Plus and can be heard across the Cowgirl Radio Network with David Settle on the call.

ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming took care of business in a pair of exhibitions earlier in the week to tune-up for the start of the season. The Cowgirls defeated Colorado Christian Monday and South Dakota Mines Friday evening. In the win over SDM, Taylor Donaldson and Kati Ollilainen led UW in scoring, both finishing in double figures.

Ollilainen returns this season after missing all of 2025-26 with an injury. Ollilainen averaged 3.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game two seasons ago in a reserve role. Also returning to the Cowgirls are a pair of starters in Payton Muma and Jane Rumpf. Rumpf, who was named to the 2025-26 Mountain West All-Freshman Team, was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team earlier in October. Rumpf averaged 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season and during Mountain West play, led the league in both blocks (1.60) and 3-pointers made per game (2.35). Muma, meanwhile, led the Cowgirls with 79 assists last season and averaged 3.8 points a contest.

UW also returns Liv Blomkvist, Katie Harrington and Peyton Wohlford for their sophomore seasons. Wyoming has nine new faces this season, including six transfers and three incoming freshmen. Jersey Berg (Williston State), Norah Clark (UT Martin), Kaylan Deveney (Rider), Hayley Johnson (San Jose City), Merceius Mili (Utah Tech) and Ophelia Powell (CSU Bakersfield) all bring in collegiate experience. The Cowgirls also bring in freshmen Zoey Blackwell (Middleton, Idaho), Karly Davis (Buffalo, Wyo.) and Taylor Donaldson (Albany, Ore.) for this season.

The Cowgirls were picked to finish seventh in the conference in the Mountain West Preseason Poll.

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
Santa Clara was picked to win the West Coast Conference this season after going 24-10 last season and making a trip to the WBIT. The Broncos are led by Maia Jones and Ava Schmidt, who were named to the Preseason All-WCC Team. Jones was a First Team All-WCC honoree in 2025-26 while Schmidt was named second team. Jones averaged 15 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season while Schmidt scored 12.4 a game, pulled down five rebounds and averaged 2.2 blocks per game. Santa Clara also returns Sophie Glancey, who was named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watchlist. Glancey averaged 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 18 games last season.

As a team, Santa Clara was highly-potent last season, averaging 80.2 points per game, thanks to its chaotic defense and offensive rebounding prowess. The Broncos shot 40-percent from the floor last season while hitting 31-percent from 3-point rance. Santa Clara averaged 14.5 offensive rebounds per game in 2025-26 and forced its opponents into 16.7 turnovers per contest. SCU averaged 9.5 steals per game last season while allowing 68.6 points per game on 40.1-percent shooting from the field and 30.2-percent from beyond-the-arc. The Broncos averaged 5.4 blocks per game as a team last season as well.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST SANTA CLARA
Santa Clara is 2-0 against the Cowgirls all time, including winning last season’s contest in California. This will be the first time Wyoming hosts the Broncos in Laramie. Payton Muma recorded a team-best five assists in last season’s meeting against SCU.

Watch Wyoming Athletics all season long on the MW+ with all UW home games and all MW conference games on the state-of-the-art app. Fans will also find replays of games, Ragtime Replays featuring great contests in Wyoming history along with other exclusive content. A majority of each subscription purchased through Wyoming's dedicated page will directly support Wyoming Athletics and the Cowboy Joe Club, creating a scalable and sustainable revenue opportunity aligned with fan engagement.

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