Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
17-11 (8-6MWC)
Wyoming
11-17 (6-8MWC)
Ram Women Fall In First Round Of MWC Tournament
3/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Colorado State women?s basketball team lost in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament for the first time in the history of the league, falling to Wyoming 67-61 at the Pepsi Center. The Rams fall to 17-11 on the season while the Cowgirls improve to 11-17 and advance to the semifinals to face New Mexico.
For the second time this season, all five starters ended the game in double figures in scoring (Long Beach State), but only four points were scored off the bench. Senior guard Jasai Ferrucho led the Rams with 13 points, while sophomore guard Vanessa Espinoza scored 12, sophomores Melissa Dennett and Lindsay Thomas each added 11 and senior forward Joy Jenkins chipped in 10. Both Dennett and Thomas also had six rebounds and Ferrucho tallied a season-high six steals in the loss, while Espinoza led with four assists.
Wyoming was led by junior guard Ashley Elliott with 29 points and junior forward Kristen Lenhardt with 18. Freshman forward Michelle Lieber added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the five Wyoming starters accounted for all of the Cowgirls 67 points. They nailed 10 three-pointers against the Rams, which is the most by an opponent this season, with six coming from Elliott and the other four from Lenhardt.
The two teams battled back-and-forth at the beginning of the game before Wyoming went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half to post the 20-8 lead. The Rams battled back, scoring nine straight from 26-14 to 26-21 and went in to the lockerroom at the break trailing by six, 31-25. It was the same score as two weeks ago when the Rams and Cowgirls met during the regular season. The Rams went on a 12-0 run early in the second half to open a seven-point lead at 41-34, but Wyoming answered with a 7-0 run of its own to knot the score at 41. After the score was tied again at 43-43, the Rams went on an 8-0 run for the 51-43 advantage, and the big lead of the game for the Rams at eight points. Wyoming then went on a 17-1 run to take the 59-52 lead and they would go on to win 67-61.
Colorado State will await news of a possible bid to the WNIT. Those announcements will be made Sunday evening. Last season, the Rams advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS Wyoming vs Colorado State 03-10-04 2:30 p.m. at Denver, Colo. (Pepsi Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wyoming 11-17 (6-8 MWC) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 31 LENHARDT, Kristen... f 4-10 4-10 6-8 0 2 2 2 18 1 0 0 1 37 33 LIEBER, Michelle.... f 4-4 0-0 2-2 6 5 11 2 10 1 3 0 0 35 53 HIPPEN, Sara........ c 2-4 0-0 1-2 2 6 8 1 5 4 2 0 0 34 13 PICKUP, Brenda...... g 0-3 0-0 5-6 1 3 4 4 5 2 8 0 4 37 24 ELLIOTT, Ashley..... g 9-20 6-13 5-5 0 7 7 3 29 3 2 0 1 39 03 LAPAR, Tarah........ 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 13 22 GORENSTEIN, Annie... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 42 EWING, Lorissa...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 19-45 10-26 19-23 9 24 33 16 67 12 16 0 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 42.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-13 53.8% 2nd Half: 3-13 23.1% Game: 38.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 17-21 81.0% Game: 82.6% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Colorado State 17-11 (8-6 MWC) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 DENNETT, Melissa.... f 5-11 0-0 1-2 2 4 6 3 11 0 2 3 0 25 33 JENKINS, Joy........ f 4-10 2-7 0-0 1 1 2 4 10 0 0 0 0 32 45 THOMAS, Lindsay..... c 2-3 0-0 7-7 3 3 6 3 11 1 2 0 1 30 05 ESPINOZA, Vanessa... g 3-9 2-3 4-4 0 2 2 4 12 4 2 0 1 35 11 FERRUCHO, Jasai..... g 6-13 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 4 13 3 1 0 6 36 21 WALSETH, Annika..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 16 23 BROWN, Sara......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 31 O'DWYER, Kylee...... 1-3 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 1 4 0 3 0 0 22 51 MOULTON, Marilyn.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 21-52 4-10 15-17 7 19 26 20 61 9 11 4 8 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-23 39.1% 2nd Half: 12-29 41.4% Game: 40.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 40.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 10-11 90.9% Game: 88.2% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Robert Strong, Connie Pardue, Les Williams Technical fouls: Wyoming-None. Colorado State-None. Attendance: 2924 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wyoming....................... 31 36 - 67 Colorado State................ 25 36 - 61 ID-253585 Mountain West Conference Tournament Quarterfinal Game Points in the paint-WY 8,CS 22. Points off turnovers-WY 9,CS 14. 2nd chance points-WY 9,CS 9. Fast break points-WY 0,CS 8. Bench points-WY 0,CS 4. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-5 times. Last FG-WY 2nd-03:04, CS 2nd-00:01.
