Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
13-12 (5-7)
UNLV
12-15 (5-8)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNLV | 20 | 29 | 49 |
| Colorado State | 27 | 38 | 65 |
Women's basketball recap: Rams roll Rebels
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
By Nic Hallisey
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Holding to a seven-point halftime lead, the Rams came out of the intermission on a 7-0 run to push their lead to double digits en route to a 65-49 victory over UNLV Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena.
Sophomore guard Kim Mestdagh led all scorers with 23 points, her MWC-leading 10th 20-plus point performance of the season, and Meghan Heimstra and Bonnie Barbee each chipped in 10 to give the
Rams their second double-digit home victory in a row.
“It was a good game; we had a lot more energy,” Head Coach Kristen Holt said. “UNLV is a team that can be really good. I thought it would come down to who was hungrier.”
Leading by just four with under a minute to play in the opening frame, Mestdagh drained a three-pointer with 21 seconds left on the clock to push the lead to seven. The Rams would hold the Lady Rebels without a field goal for the final seven minutes, four seconds of the first half, and would continue the stretch until the 15:15 mark of the second half, a frame lasting 11:49.
The Rams (13-12, 5-7 MWC) opened the second half on a 25-10 run, expanding their lead to 22 with 11:48 to play.
“It was a win we had to have,” Mestdagh said. “We made up our minds that it was 0-0 at the half and came out to do what we wanted to do.”
The Rams led by as many as 23 and never let the Lady Rebels (12-15, 5-8 MWC) get within 12 for the remainder of the contest.
The win came in front of 1,682 fans dressed in pink for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Pink-Zone. At halftime, the Rams also welcomed back 25 former players as part of Legends Weekend.
After a slow start in which both teams missed their first four shots, and eight of their first nine, the Rams trailed 13-11 with 9:24 to play. But a Mestdagh jumper, followed by a Chantel Kennedy layup and Mestdagh three-pointer, gave the Rams a 7-0 run and the lead for good.
“We were determined that nothing could tear us from what we wanted to do,” Kennedy said. “We feed off each other’s energy, and that is what we do best.”
Mestdagh’s three was her 71st of the season, tying her with Sara Hunter for fifth all-time. Mestdagh and Hunter weren’t tied for long, however, as the sophomore nailed another three-pointer just 21 seconds later. Mestdagh hit six threes on the afternoon, and closed the first half with 12 consecutive Ram points.
With the win, CSU passed UNLV for seventh place in the conference standings with two weeks to play. The victory was also CSU’s fifth consecutive win over the Lady Rebels, and fourth in four tries for Holt.
As a team, CSU hit nine three-point buckets (9-for-25) compared to UNLV’s one (1-for-17).
Kennedy had a career night, setting personal bests in points (8) and rebounds (10). The freshman also was a factor defensively with three steals.
“She’s (Kennedy) not a kid that normally scores for us,” Holt said. “Chantel and Meghan’s effort were tremendous; they were very good defensively.”
The Rams were more aggressive in all aspects, bringing down 45 rebounds and forcing 19 turnovers on 13 steals.
“We’re beating the teams we should,” Holt said. “We’ve never been below .500.”
UNLV’s top three scorers coming into the contest, Erica Helms, Kelli Thompson and Jamie Smith, average a combined 34.5 points a game, but were held to just 13 on 4-of-29 shooting on Saturday.
CSU looks to carry its momentum to The Pit Wednesday evening as it travels to The Pit to face the New Mexico Lobos at 7 p.m. MT.
