Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
27-1, 17-0MW
Fresno State
14-318,10, MW
Recap: Rams complete three-peat on Senior Night
3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – No. 22/23 Colorado State women’s basketball team continues to go where no teams have gone before. This time with a gritty 68-55 come-from-behind win over second-place Fresno State on Senior Night, the Rams (27-1, 17-0 MW) became the first team in Mountain West history to win three consecutive outright regular season titles.
The Rams knew they were facing their toughest test of the year, and early on, it looked just that. Fresno State jumped all over CSU to start the game with three straight 3-pointers in the first 1:23 to take a 9-2 lead. Colorado State, led by the early efforts of senior guard Keyora Wharry, tried clawing back into it, but couldn’t close the gap to less than four as the two teams went into the second quarter with the Bulldogs leading 20-16.
Defensively, the Rams got back to their usual ways in the second half, hodling the Bulldogs to just eight points on 4-of-16 shooting and 1-of-8 from 3-point range. Unfortunately, CSU still couldn’t find much offensive rhythm, shooting just 27.3 percent in the quarter. CSU cut the lead by two to trail 29-27 at the intermission. It marked the fifth time this season that the Rams trailed at halftime.
In the previous games when CSU had trailed at half, the team jumped over its opponent in the third quarter to gain control of the game, but Fresno State would not let that happen. CSU started the quarter on an 8-2 run to take the lead, but Fresno State responded right back with a run of its own. The two teams traded baskets and runs for the remainder of the quarter, setting up an intense final 10 minutes with the Rams trailing 49-48.
The fourth quarter showcased Colorado State’s dominance. The Rams locked down defensively, holding the Bulldogs to just 10 points, while they exploded on offense to the tune of 24 points. The Rams were led by 15 points by senior guard Jamie Patrick alone in the quarter, as her and junior guard Ellen Nystrom guided the Rams to their 24th consecutive victory of the year.
Patrick finished the day with a game-high 21 bests, including 19 in the second half, while Nystrom flirted with a rare triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
The Rams honored each of their four seniors following the game: Emilie Hesseldal, Alana Arias, Patrick and Wharry. Behind the tremendous year-long play of their seniors, the Rams finished undefeated at home for just the second time in school history.
IN THEIR WORDS…
Head Coach Ryun Williams
“The focus has been tremendous. It has to be tremendous because it was Fresno State's turn to try to beat us. Nobody wants us to go undefeated. New Mexico wanted to be the team to beat us, Nevada wanted to be the team to beat us, and so we know what we're getting into every night. It's not easy, but it's how we handle it and I'm impressed with their toughness and resiliency. We have a lot of work ahead of us obviously. Our goal is still in front of us and that should keep driving us."
“It's quite a senior moment, quite a senior half. Again you don't have the season that we've had and you don't have the second half that we've had if you don't have a champion senior. Jamie was that. They all contributed in a big way in the second half. I thought we did a better job finding her in the second half. In the first half, our play was all over the place. She shoots free throws well, but we were on edge too much. I thought in the second half, Ellen did a nice job finding Jamie and we got her in some sets. Once we got calmed down and relaxed, we got her some shots and she stepped up and made them.”
Senior guard Jamie Patrick
“This is awesome, we want to go undefeated in conference, we’ve got one more game, then we’ll go to the tournament. This night was pretty much magical because we played so well toward the end.”
STAT OF THE GAME…
• Colorado State became the first school in Mountain West history to win three consecutive outright regular season conference titles. Utah also previously won three straight titles, but the Utes shared two of those titles.
NOTES…
• The Rams improved their win streak to 24 games, extending both the school and Mountain West record.
• The 24 game win streak is the second-longest active streak in the nation, behind only UConn.
• Colorado State finished undefeated at home for just the second time ever (1998-99).
• Senior guard Jamie Patrick scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half. Patrick outscored Fresno State 15-10 in the fourth quarter alone.
• Colorado State’s three-headed monster of Wharry, Nystrom and Patrick combined for 53 of CSU’s 68 points. The trio shot 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) from the field and made five of their nine 3-point attempts.
• Ellen Nystrom came just one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double. She is the only player in CSU history to ever record a triple-double.
• CSU’s 15-game home win streak is tied for the third longest in program history. The Rams have now won 29 consecutive regular season home games and 26 straight conference home games.
NEXT UP…
Colorado State closes out the regular season looking for its second-ever undefeated conference season at Air Force on Friday night. The game will tipoff at 7 p.m. MT and will be streamed live on CSURams.com/videos as well as broadcasted on the radio on 1410 KIIX. Fans can follow along on Twitter at @CSUWomensBball and @CSURamsGameday for updates throughout the game.
