Rams fall to Colorado, 70-67, as comeback bid falls just short

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's basketball team rallied over the final two minutes to turn a nine-point deficit into a one-possession game, but came up just short in its comeback bid and fell to the Colorado Buffaloes, 70-67, on Wednesday night from Moby Arena.

Colorado State (5-3) trailed, 64-49, with 8:44 to play, but held Colorado (7-1) without a field goal for the rest of the game and chipped the deficit to nine at 66-57 with 2:38 remaining. It was at that point that the Rams heated up offensively, making four of their next five field goal attempts. Senior guard Hannah Tvrdy started the run, cutting the lead to 66-60 with less than two minutes remaining. Freshmen Liah Davis and Grace Colaivalu followed with layups, and the CU lead was reduced to 66-64 with 22 seconds to go.

Colorado was fouled on their next possession, and converted on both free throws to make it a four point-game with 14 seconds to play. The Rams responded again, as junior guard Callie Kaiser hit a three from the corner just five seconds later to cut the lead down to one at 68-67. CSU fouled again, and CU's Kennedy Leonard made both free throws, but the Rams had an opportunity for the game-tying shot with seven seconds remaining. Colaivalu advanced the ball up the floor cleanly and made a move to gain separation and an opportunity at an open three. However, her try went just off the front iron and the score went final at 70-67.

Colaivalu finished with a team-high 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds and eight turnovers. Stine Austgulen finished with 12 points on 4-for-6 three-points shooting, while Tvrdy finished with as many points on 5-for-10 shooting and added five rebounds. For the game, CSU outshot Colorado, 45 percent (24-for-53) to 39 percent (24-for-61). The Rams had an additional advantage from three-point range, shooting 53 percent (9-for-17) compared to the Buffaloes' 19 percent (3-for-16).

The Rams created early troubles for themselves with turnover issues in the first quarter. The Rams finished with 20 for the game, but committed 11 in that opening period and 12 in the first 10:12. Entering Wednesday's action, CSU averaged only 11.8 per game, a pace that ranked ninth in the nation. Those turnover issues produced a 24-13 hole at the conclusion of the opening period, although the Rams only trailed 36-35 at halftime.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams
"It's pretty simple. 20 turnovers – we created most of Colorado's offense tonight. That's really disappointing. Our ball strength was not good, and they converted. It came down to that. They only had six baskets in the first half against our half-court defense. That's it. So it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. They're very guardable. We guarded them when we should have, but when you're throwing them the basketball and they're two-on-one, (getting) easy baskets, fouling them on fast breaks, that sort of thing, that was the game. I thought our kids really battled and fought. We stayed resilient and kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance at the end. We had a tough mind in that area. We just weren't very tough with the basketball."

Senior guard Hannah Trvdy
On being in a hole after the first quarter:
"It's pretty sickening, honestly, looking that we lost by three, especially in the first quarter with all the crazy stupid turnovers we had. If we could just limit at least five of those, we would have been in it. Like Coach Williams said, we created a lot of offense for them, and if we wouldn't have turned it over, they would have had a harder time scoring in the first half."

On battling back in the second half:
"It's good looking at how we battled back, but we can't allow ourselves to get to that place. If we can just limit those turnovers and get some easier stops, then we wouldn't have to dig ourselves out."

Senior guard Stine Austgulen
On if the rivalry with Colorado contributed to the first-quarter turnovers:
"I don't really know, it was something we talked about before the game and we worked on it in practice knowing they were going to come out and pressure us and I don't know if we had our heads in it or what, but we didn't do very well."

NOTES
- Before Wednesday night, the combination of Grace Colaivalu, Lore Devos, Veronika Mirkovic, Sofie Tryggedsson and Hannah Tvrdy had not previously started in a loss. They were previously 3-0 as a starting lineup combination.
- Colaivalu's eight assists marked a new career/season high and are the most by any Ram in a single game this season.
- Colaivalu has now led the Rams in assists in four games this season.
- Colaivalu has now led the Rams in scoring in three games this season.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State women's basketball team returns to action on Sunday for a road contest at Northern Colorado. Opening tip from Bank of Colorado Arena is slated for 2 p.m. MT.

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