Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
1-4
Navy
2-5
Sophomores lead Rams to victory
11/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2007
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State sophomores, Juanise Cornell and Emily Neal, led the Rams (1-4) to a 59-53 victory over Navy (2-5) on Friday evening in the first round of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational at Moby Arena. Cornell posted a season-high 14 points, one short of her career best, and added five rebounds. Neal chipped in with 11 points, including a 4-for-4 mark from the free-throw line.
The Rams opened the contest with a flurry of 3-pointers from guards Sara Hunter and Kandy Beemer. Hunter started the scoring for Colorado State, connecting on two consecutive 3-pointers in the game's first two minutes. Beemer added a third trey for the Rams at the 17:28 mark, and Colorado State enjoyed an early 9-5 lead, just three minutes into the contest.
"Going three-for-three at the start gave us confidence down the stretch and I think really got us out of some trouble," said Head Coach Jen Warden.
Navy battled throughout the contest, but the Rams hit shots when necessary to keep the Midshipmen at arm's length. Navy cut the Rams' lead to 11-8 with just more than 13 minutes remaining in the first half when the Rams went on a 7-0 run to push their lead to 10 points, 18-8, at the 11-minute mark.
Navy made another run, cutting the Rams' advantage to just one point, 20-19, at the 5:22 mark before Beemer responded on the Rams' next possession with her second 3-pointer of the game to push the Rams' lead back to four.
A jumper by Neal pushed the Rams' lead to six points, 25-19, with 3:50 left in the first half, and Colorado State held on to a seven-point advantage, 29-22, heading into the locker room.
The rams struck first in the second half with a pair of free throws by Neal, just eight seconds in. Navy responded by scoring six of the next eight points, but were unable to regain the lead, as Neal knocked down her only 3-point attempt of the evening to give the Rams some breathing room, 36-30 with 15:18 left to play.
Navy tied the game at 42 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Cornell answered, scoring six straight points over the next two minutes to hold off the Mids' run, and allow the Rams to hold on for the six-point victory.
"I started becoming more aggressive going to the basket," said Cornell of her 10-point showing in the second half. "The opposing team just has to pick their poison with us."
Colorado State shot 50 percent in the game's opening stanza compared with just 29.6 percent for Navy. Although cooling to 40.9 percent shooting in the second half, the Rams were still able to shoot 10 points higher than Navy for the game (45.2 percent to 35.3 percent), allowing CSU to overcome a 36-25 deficit on the boards.
With her two 3-pointers in the game, senior guard Sara Hunter is one 3-pointer shy of tying Ram great Katie Cronin for second on the school's all-time list. Hunter enters Saturday's contest against Creighton with 182 career 3-pointers made. Cronin knocked down 183 during her stellar career with the Rams. Becky Hammon is the school's all-time leader with 365 threes in her career.
Tipoff for the championship game of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational against Creighton (3-1) is slated for 7 p.m. The Jays defeated Kent State (0-4), 71-57, to open the tournament. Kent State and Navy will square off in the consolation game at 5 p.m.
