Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
6-4
UConn
5-2
Women's Basketball Falls to UConn, 63-44
12/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
University of Connecticut junior, and Colorado native Ann Strother scored 20 points and added four rebounds Thursday night as No. 8 UConn defeated Colorado State 63-44 before 7,048 fans at Moby Arena. The loss drops the Rams record to 6-4 on the season, while the Huskies improve to 5-2.
After trailing 7-2 early in the game, CSU battled back to take its only lead of the game, 9-7, at the 15:51 mark of the half. The lead was short lived; however, as UConn regained the lead 10-9 at the 11:09 point. The Huskies then went on a 9-0 run to take control for the remainder of the first half. UConn took its biggest lead of the first half when they went up by 12, 26-14, with 5:02 remaining. CSU eventually caught fire and began to chip away at the UConn lead after two big buckets by Lindsay Thomas, cutting the deficit to 26-18. Colorado State went on to close out the half on a 6-2 run which gave UConn the 30-24 advantage.
Droughts were the story for Colorado State in the second half. After hanging close for the first few minutes, the Huskies went on a 9-0 run beginning at the 15:05 mark and ending with two free throws by Kylee O?Dwyer at the 11:20 point, bringing the score to 48-35. UConn quickly answered and went on a 14-5 run over the next 9:10 to go up by 23 points, 62-39. The Rams went on a 4-1 run to close out the game bringing the final score to 63-44.
Shooting proved to be CSU?s downfall. After hanging with UConn for much of the first half, CSU only hit four field goals in the second half, including 0-for-5 from three-point range. For the game the Rams shot just 32.7 percent from the field and went 1-for-15 on three point attempts, marking the first time in 84 games CSU has not made at least two three-point baskets in a game. The Rams struggles continued at the line as well, going 11-for-17 from the charity stripe, 64.7 percent.
Another struggle for the Rams tonight was production by the bench. UConn?s bench outscored CSU?s 25-4.
Leading the way individually for the Rams were junior guard Vanessa Espinoza and junior forward Melissa Dennett who both contributed 11 points. Also playing well was Thomas who continued to have the hot hand for Colorado State. After shooting a perfect 11 of 11 versus Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday she went 3-of-6 from the field tonight and 3-of-4 from the line for nine points. Thomas also added a team-high four rebounds.
The Huskies had three players score in double figures, led by Strother?s 20 points. Barbara Turner added 12 and Jessica Moore finished with 10. Moore also led the team in rebounds with eight. For the game, UConn shot 44 percent from the field and 85.7 percent from the line.
CSU Head Coach Chris Denker felt the team played well in the first half but was disappointed with the team?s overall shooting.
?We were not able to make baskets, when it comes down to it we just didn?t make any shots,? said Denker. ?Our guards did not shoot the ball well. We did try to get the ball inside more but we just did not get enough touches.?
The Rams will have a break for the holidays before returning to the court to take on in-state rival Northern Colorado on Jan. 2 in Greeley. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Complete results will be available at the conclusion of play at CSURAMS.com
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS Connecticut vs Colorado State 12-23-04 7:05 p.m. at Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Connecticut 5-2 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 BATTLE, Ashley...... f 2-10 1-4 1-2 2 5 7 3 6 5 4 0 1 33 23 CROCKETT, Willnett.. f 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 2 0 1 0 0 16 31 MOORE, Jessica...... c 5-7 0-0 0-0 2 6 8 2 10 2 3 0 0 32 12 MARRON, Stacey...... g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 8 43 STROTHER, Ann....... g 7-15 4-10 2-2 2 2 4 3 20 3 4 2 0 34 02 VALLEY, Ashley...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11 SWANIER, Ketia...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 13 SADIQ, Rashidat..... 0-2 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 13 21 WOLFF, Nicole....... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 3 24 HOUSTON, Charde..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 3 25 THOMAS, Mel......... 2-6 1-5 2-2 1 2 3 0 7 2 2 0 3 28 33 TURNER, Barbara..... 4-7 0-0 4-4 1 4 5 2 12 2 1 1 0 26 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 22-50 7-20 12-14 10 28 38 19 63 16 20 3 4 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 38.5% 2nd Half: 12-24 50.0% Game: 44.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 35.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 5-6 83.3% Game: 85.7% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Colorado State 6-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 20 NOHR, Molly......... f 1-4 0-1 2-4 2 0 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 17 32 DENNETT, Melissa.... f 5-10 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 2 11 0 1 2 1 35 45 THOMAS, Lindsay..... c 3-6 0-0 3-4 2 5 7 4 9 1 1 0 2 27 04 HUNTER, Sara........ g 2-10 0-6 1-2 0 1 1 1 5 0 2 0 0 25 05 ESPINOZA, Vanessa... g 4-11 1-3 2-2 0 3 3 1 11 2 2 0 2 35 15 KRAMER, Liz......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 21 WALSETH, Annika..... 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 20 31 O'DWYER, Kylee...... 1-3 0-2 2-3 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 0 1 19 43 TOR-AGBIDYE, Msur... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 0 0 2 1 1 11 51 MOULTON, Marilyn.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 TEAM................ 1 2 3 2 Totals.............. 16-49 1-15 11-17 8 19 27 16 44 4 17 3 7 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 6-20 30.0% Game: 32.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 10.0% 2nd Half: 0-5 0.0% Game: 6.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 64.7% 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Scott Yarbrough, John Weeks, Jeff Claudle Technical fouls: Connecticut-None. Colorado State-None. Attendance: 7048 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Connecticut................... 30 33 - 63 Colorado State................ 24 20 - 44 Points in the paint-UCONN 24,CS 12. Points off turnovers-UCONN 17,CS 11. 2nd chance points-UCONN 14,CS 8. Fast break points-UCONN 6,CS 8. Bench points-UCONN 25,CS 4. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-2 times. Last FG-UCONN 2nd-02:10, CS 2nd-00:46.
