Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
9-20 (2-14MWC)
BYU
24-4 (13-3MWC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado State Women | 26 | 19 | 45 |
| BYU Women | 29 | 36 | 65 |
Early Second Half Drought Ends Rams' Upset Bid
3/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2006
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
The Colorado State University women's basketball team fell to top-seeded BYU, 65-45, at Pepsi Center on Wednesday night in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Eight first-half points by sophomore guard Sara Hunter kept the Rams in the contest early, as Colorado State outshot the Cougars in the first half. The Rams opened the game shooting 9-for-17 (52.9%) from the floor in the first half, compared with the Cougars' 10-for-27 (37%) showing.
The Rams opened up the game on a quick run to take a 4-0 lead, but an 8-0 run by BYU put the Rams in an early 8-4 hole. Just as the Cougars began to pull away, a pair of three's from junior Molly Nohr and Hunter put the Rams back on top, 10-8.
BYU responded with a 12-4 run but Hunter once again sparked the Rams' offense, scoring five of the next seven for Colorado State and giving her team 21-20 lead with 7:40 remaining in the half.
BYU outscored the Rams 9-5 for the remainder of the half, and the Rams went into the locker room down just three points, 29-26, despite giving up 10 more shots to the cougars off of 14 first-half turnovers.
The No. 1-seeded Cougars proved to be too much for the Rams, however, as they mounted a 21-2 run that spanned the opening nine minutes of the second half to put the Rams away.
The Rams rallied behind 10 second-half points from senior Vanessa Espinoza, but were never able to get any closer than 17 points for the remainder of the contest, eventually falling by that 65-45 margin.
The Rams shot a season-worst 20 percent (5-for-25 FGs) in the second half of the contest, while BYU shot 43.3 percent from the floor to close out the game.
Espinoza led the Rams with 15 points and three assists on the night, while Hunter closed the season with 10 points and five rebounds. Seniors Melissa Dennett and Lindsay Thomas finished with eight and four points, respectively. Dennett led the Rams with 10 rebounds in the contest. Thomas pulled down five rebounds, two on the offensive end, tying her for first in career offensive rebounding at Colorado State (Theresa James, 265). Junior Marilyn Moulton chipped in seven points and nine rebounds.
Ambrosia Anderson led the way for BYU, dropping 20 points and recording a team-high nine rebounds.
With the loss, the Rams close out the season with a record of 9-20 (2-14 MWC).
