Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
0-1
Wichita State
1-0
CSU women's basketball falls in overtime at Wichita State
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2008
By Danny Mattie
Athletic Media Relations
WICHITA, Kan. – Senior Britney Minor and sophomore Bonnie Barbee led the Rams with 16 points each and added seven and six rebounds, respectively, but the CSU women’s basketball team narrowly lost a tightly contested overtime contest in their season opener, falling 76-69, at Wichita State.
In a game that saw nine ties and 16 lead changes, the Rams seemed to be in good position late in the contest when Barbee drained a three-pointer with 1:11 left in the game to give CSU a 61-60 advantage.
But Shockers guard Val Siemens connected on two free throws on the ensuing possession to regain a 62-61 advantage. Teammate Haleigh Lankaster missed her next two free-throw attempts with 24 seconds on the clock and then fouled to send Rams’ senior captain Kandy Beemer to the charity stripe with a chance to regain the lead.
Beemer, who scored 14 points and played a team-high 40 minutes in the game, missed her first attempt, but came through on the second to tie the game, 62-62, with 13 seconds left in regulation.
“We just ran out of gas at the end of regulation,” said first-year Head Coach Kristen Holt. “If someone would have said that we had the potential to win the game with Kandy Beemer at the line, we’ll take it. But I’m very proud of our team.”
The Rams’ fatigue showed in the extra period as they struggled to regain momentum. The Shockers opened the overtime on a 9-0 run, eventually holding off the Rams for a seven-point victory in front of 1,635 fans at Charles Koch Arena.
The Rams, who expected to play with a shortened bench while three players – junior Devran Tanacan, and freshmen Natalie van den Adel and Chatilla van Grinsven – served NCAA amateurism penalties, were dealt an unexpected blow when starting point guard Zoi Simmons was held out because of an illness and soreness in her knee.
“All week she’s been ill and had a bit of a knee problem,” said Holt. “We went to shoot-around today and she had things bothering her. The trainer taped her up, but she said there was no way for her to go. I thought the team handled it well and adjusted. Bonnie did a nice job of stepping in.”
The two teams shot nearly identical percentages (38.3 percent for WSU, 37.9 percent for CSU), and the Rams outrebounded the Shockers by a 46-40 advantage. However, Wichita State was able to turn 24 CSU turnovers into 30 points, while the Rams converted 17 turnovers into just 14 points.
“That’s something that we are going to have to correct,” said Holt of her team’s turnovers. “Some of them were just travelling calls that they should have learned. We need to go back to the fundamentals of jump stops, or we get in a hurry and try to do too much.”
Junior forward Juanise Cornell finished as the Rams’ top rebounder, pulling down nine boards to go along with nine points in the contest. Cornell was also one of four Rams who fouled out of the game – along with Minor, Amaka Uzomah and Carine Reimink – leaving the Rams with just five players over the final 32 seconds of overtime.
WSU’s Marisah Henderson poured in 26 points, including 13-for-15 shooting from the free-throw line, to lead all scorers. Marcy Sudbeck finished as the top rebounder in the contest with 11.
The Rams will hope to get back on track Wednesday, when they travel to Boulder, Colo., to face in-state rival Colorado. The game, which will be televised on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain, begins at 7:07 p.m. from the Coors Events Center.
