Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
2-9
Idaho
1-10
Rams miss mark at Idaho
12/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MOSCOW, Idaho - Junior forward Britney Minor tallied a game-best 10 points, but Colorado State (2-9) struggled offensively, falling 42-31 at Idaho (1-10) on Tuesday evening at the Cowan Spectrum. Sophomore forward Juanise Cornell tied a career high with a game-most 15 rebounds in the contest.
"Before the game, Britney and I talked about her concentrating on her defense," said assistant coach Kristen Holt. "She focused on defense and her offensive game just came to her."
Both teams shot poorly in the contest, with the Rams hitting just 17 percent (8-for-47) and Idaho notching 22 percent (13-59) from the field.
Junior Kandy Beemer got the Rams on the board early in the contest, hitting two three-pointers in the game's first four minutes to give Colorado State a 6-2 lead to open the game.
The Vandals stormed back into the contest and pulled to within one point, 9-8 midway through the first half, before taking over their first lead on a layup by Yinka Olorunnife at the 8:20 mark. A three-pointer by Idaho's Alana Curtis pushed the lead to four points, 13-9, and the Rams went into the locker room trailing by that same deficit, 17-13.
Elle Queen briefly sparked the Rams' offense to open the second half with a layup and cut the deficit to two points, 17-15. Idaho pushed the lead to eight with a 6-0 run before Sara Hunter responded with her first points of the contest, a three-pointer at the 15 minute mark to end the Vandals' run and keep the Rams within striking distance, 23-18. Minor scored the Rams' next three points from the free-throw line and CSU trailed by just two points, 23-21, with 13:12 left to play.
Idaho answered the Rams' run with seven straight points and took a 30-21 lead at the 10:31 mark. The Vandals closed the door for good, hitting 7-for-10 from the free-throw line in the game's final 5:49 to clinch the 42-31 victory.
"It's disappointing, but you need to take this and keep moving forward," added Holt.
As a team, the Rams recorded 24 turnovers which translated into 13 Vandals points.
The Rams will continue their northwest road swing, traveling to Portland, Ore., for a tilt with the University of Portland on Friday. The Rams and Pilots tip off at 6:15 p.m. MT from the Chiles Center.
