Colorado State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 3
San Diego, CA
7:30 p.m. MT
Colorado State
10-4 (2-1MW)
65
at
63
San Diego State
7-7 (1-2MW)
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado State
15
15
11
24
65
San Diego State
20
13
12
18
63
Colaivalu’s game-winner caps Rams’ comeback in 65-63 win over San Diego State
1/3/2018 11:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Rams rally from down 13 points behind Colaivalu’s 29-point performance
SAN DIEGO – Freshman guard Grace Colaivalu scored 29 points, including the game-winning points in the final seconds, to lead the Colorado State women's basketball team to a 65-63 win over San Diego State on Wednesday night from Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
Colorado State (10-4, 2-1 MW) trailed by as many as 13 points in the second quarter, but narrowed the lead down to four by the fourth quarter. The Rams trailed for 25:07 on Wednesday, but took a 53-52 lead on a three-pointer by Hannah Tvrdy with 5:36 to play and never fell behind again, although the game was tied two more times. The final tie came with 8.4 seconds to play, as SDSU's McKynzie Fort made one of two free throws on a shooting foul to knot the game up at 63 points apiece.
On the game-winning play, the ball was inbounded to Colaivalu, who drove past SDSU's Fort and finished off the glass to put the Rams ahead, 65-63, in the final two seconds. The Aztecs (7-7, 1-2 MW) had the final possession, but the Rams held them off the board as Sofie Tryggedsson was credited with a block on the final play.
CSU made nine of its last 10 shots to close the game, and finished the fourth quarter shooting 83.3 percent (10-for-12). Colaivalu was 12-for-20 from the floor for the game, and added seven rebounds and four assists to her 29 points. Tvrdy finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists, while senior forward Veronika Mirkovic tallied eight points and nine rebounds.
IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams
"We came out with really good energy, mainly offensively. Got some really good drives to the basket and some threes in transition. Then it just seemed like we lost some wind and really just got fatigued there midway through that first half and let them go on a run – we gave up two wing threes on that right side there. We lost our footing, lost our traction there, but that's what can happen on the road. We started making some shots and then we said, 'here we go.' But we battled and kept our poise like we talked about. That's (playing on) the road. Teams are going to go on a run. You just have to keep punching, keep fighting. Eventually the best team is going to come out on top, and I really feel like that's what happened tonight."
STATS OF THE GAME
- Tonight's win give Colorado State a 28-27 edge in the all-time series against San Diego State. CSU has won 10 consecutive games against San Diego State to take the edge in the all-time series after being previously 18-27 against the Aztecs.
- Freshman guard Grace Colaivalu has scored 70 points through her first three career Mountain West contests for an average of 23.3 points per game. That is by far the most of any CSU freshman in her first three conference games in the Ryun Williams era, with the next most by Caitlin Duffy in 2012-13 (15 points per game).
NOTES
- Colorado State has won 14 straight games against Mountain West schools from the state of California, and 18 of 19 against MW schools from California.
- CSU moves to 3-0 on the road this season.
- Freshman guard Grace Colaivalu has scored in double figures in each of her first three career Mountain West games.
- Colaivalu has led the Rams in scoring in each conference game this season.
- Colaivalu's 29 points are the most in a single game by any Ram this season. Her 26 points against Boise State on Dec. 28, 2018 are the second-most, while Lore Devos' 25 against Idaho rank as the most by another player.
UP NEXT
The Colorado State women's basketball team bookends this weekend with a Saturday afternoon matchup at Fresno State. Opening tip from the Save Mart Center is slated for 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT.
Colorado State (10-4, 2-1 MW) trailed by as many as 13 points in the second quarter, but narrowed the lead down to four by the fourth quarter. The Rams trailed for 25:07 on Wednesday, but took a 53-52 lead on a three-pointer by Hannah Tvrdy with 5:36 to play and never fell behind again, although the game was tied two more times. The final tie came with 8.4 seconds to play, as SDSU's McKynzie Fort made one of two free throws on a shooting foul to knot the game up at 63 points apiece.
On the game-winning play, the ball was inbounded to Colaivalu, who drove past SDSU's Fort and finished off the glass to put the Rams ahead, 65-63, in the final two seconds. The Aztecs (7-7, 1-2 MW) had the final possession, but the Rams held them off the board as Sofie Tryggedsson was credited with a block on the final play.
CSU made nine of its last 10 shots to close the game, and finished the fourth quarter shooting 83.3 percent (10-for-12). Colaivalu was 12-for-20 from the floor for the game, and added seven rebounds and four assists to her 29 points. Tvrdy finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists, while senior forward Veronika Mirkovic tallied eight points and nine rebounds.
IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams
"We came out with really good energy, mainly offensively. Got some really good drives to the basket and some threes in transition. Then it just seemed like we lost some wind and really just got fatigued there midway through that first half and let them go on a run – we gave up two wing threes on that right side there. We lost our footing, lost our traction there, but that's what can happen on the road. We started making some shots and then we said, 'here we go.' But we battled and kept our poise like we talked about. That's (playing on) the road. Teams are going to go on a run. You just have to keep punching, keep fighting. Eventually the best team is going to come out on top, and I really feel like that's what happened tonight."
STATS OF THE GAME
- Tonight's win give Colorado State a 28-27 edge in the all-time series against San Diego State. CSU has won 10 consecutive games against San Diego State to take the edge in the all-time series after being previously 18-27 against the Aztecs.
- Freshman guard Grace Colaivalu has scored 70 points through her first three career Mountain West contests for an average of 23.3 points per game. That is by far the most of any CSU freshman in her first three conference games in the Ryun Williams era, with the next most by Caitlin Duffy in 2012-13 (15 points per game).
NOTES
- Colorado State has won 14 straight games against Mountain West schools from the state of California, and 18 of 19 against MW schools from California.
- CSU moves to 3-0 on the road this season.
- Freshman guard Grace Colaivalu has scored in double figures in each of her first three career Mountain West games.
- Colaivalu has led the Rams in scoring in each conference game this season.
- Colaivalu's 29 points are the most in a single game by any Ram this season. Her 26 points against Boise State on Dec. 28, 2018 are the second-most, while Lore Devos' 25 against Idaho rank as the most by another player.
UP NEXT
The Colorado State women's basketball team bookends this weekend with a Saturday afternoon matchup at Fresno State. Opening tip from the Save Mart Center is slated for 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT.
Team Stats
CSU
SDSU
FG%
.450
.365
3FG%
.438
.318
FT%
.444
.667
RB
33
41
TO
9
11
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
12
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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