Rams battle to overtime, fall to Fresno State, 75-64

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's basketball team battled late to take Fresno State to overtime, but was unable to hold off the hot-shooting Bulldogs in extra time as the Rams fell, 75-64, in a Saturday afternoon Mountain West contest at Moby Arena. Saturday's matchup was Colorado State's annual Pink Out game.

Colorado State (18-8, 10-5 MW) was led offensively by senior guard Stine Austgulen, who tallied a career-high 21 points on 5-for-10 three-point shooting and 6-for-7 shooting from the free throw line. Junior guard Sofie Tryggedsson and freshman guard Grace Colaivalu (4-for-5 from the floor) scored nine points each, while freshman guard Lore Devos shot 3-for-6 en route to eight points. Fresno State's (16-10, 11-4 MW) Candice White led all scorers with 29 points, including 12 in overtime.

Despite a 43-41 lead entering the fourth quarter, Colorado State trailed for most of the remainder of regulation, including deficits of six with 4:03 to go and by four with 1:25 remaining. Colaivalu scored eight of her nine points over that stretch, cutting the Fresno State lead to two three times, first with 2:59 to go, then at the 2:10 and 1:02 marks. The CSU defense held the Bulldogs off the board over that final 1:25, setting up Colaivalu's equalizing basket at the end of regulation and a 57-57 score heading to overtime.

Although the Rams had success defensively in the second half, they were unable to keep Fresno State in check in overtime, as the Bulldogs erupted for 18 points on 75 percent shooting. The Bulldogs' White led that surge, scoring 12 overtime points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the floor and 2-for-2 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. The Bulldog senior scored the first 10 of those points before the midway point of overtime, knocking down two threes, a layup and two foul shots to give Fresno State a 67-60 advantage at the 2:42 mark. Austgulen registered a pair of threes in overtime, including one to cut the lead to 69-64, but the Bulldogs scored the last six points before the final buzzer to seal the 75-64 result.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams
"We just didn't play as well as we've been playing (in recent games) for a lot of that basketball game. We showed a lot of fight to get that thing to overtime, but obviously they made some plays. (Fresno State's Candice) White made some plays in overtime and we didn't. This is a tough one. We obviously needed to play better, but this is a hard one."

On defending Fresno State and the Bulldogs' Candice White:
"She's the best player in the league with the ball in her hands, and she's so smart. We were really soft on our switches. We didn't switch to that level very well tonight at all. So on a step-back three…I mean she wasn't bothered or contested at all and that's probably really the most disappointing thing of that overtime. We let her get into her game, but yes, she's really good. Defensively, we could have competed better on the ball. It wasn't just Candice White, they have a lot of kids that can get to the basket. It wasn't our best game offensively or defensively."

NOTES
- Saturday's result snapped a six-game win streak for Colorado State.
- Prior to Saturday, Stine Austgulen's single-game career high in points was 18 again Utah State on Jan. 10.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State women's basketball team returns to action at Boise State on Wednesday. Opening tip from Taco Bell Arena is slated for 7 p.m. MT.

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