Rams drop back-and-forth contest at Fresno State, 57-54

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FRESNO, Calif. – The Colorado State women's basketball team fell to the Fresno State Bulldogs, 57-54, in a Saturday afternoon Mountain West contest from the Save Mart Center.

Colorado State (7-11, 1-6 MW) dominated the inside areas of the floor on Saturday, outscoring Fresno State (13-5, 6-1 MW) in the paint, 30-6. Leading the Rams to that result was senior forward Tatum Neubert, who tallied a season-high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Sophomore guard Lore Devos scored 12 points, and corralled a team-high seven rebounds along with six assists. Sophomore guard Grace Colaivalu scored seven points and registered a team-high nine assists.

Overall, Saturday's game was played nearly evenly statistically, and was ultimately decided by a 12-for-29 (41.4 percent) shooting performance by Fresno State from three-point range. That advantage became a factor in the early second quarter, when the Bulldogs used three, three-pointers to rally from a 19-14 CSU lead and take a 23-19 edge at the 6:28 mark. The Rams took the lead back just over a minute later, but the lead changed hands once again and remained in the Bulldogs' favor until a 38-37 CSU edge late in the third.

A buzzer-beating layup from Devos in the third set up what was a deciding fourth quarter in Fresno, Calif., as the two teams were tied at 40 points apiece heading to the final 10 minutes. Saturday's contest between Colorado State and Fresno State featured 10 lead changes and six instances of a tied score, with five of those ties coming at different points in the fourth quarter. Following ties at 40, 43, 46, 48 and 50 points, the Bulldogs finally broke the tie for good at 52-50 with exactly three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and extended it to 56-50 shortly after.

Baskets from Colaivalu and Devos cut the deficit to 56-54 with 18 seconds remaining, but the Rams were unable to find the equalizing or winning points down the stretch. Colaivalu got back to the free throw line down 57-54 with 2.1 seconds to go, but Fresno State ran out the clock after a missed free throw and a lane violation turned the ball back over to the Bulldogs.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams
"I saw a team (Colorado State) that was really fighting, really tried to execute, and offensively, really did a lot of good things. Defensively, we did a lot of good things. We did a great job on (Fresno State's Candice) White. Some of those other kids (for Fresno State) were making plays because we dedicated a lot of attention and space to No. 10 (Candice White) out there. She had 11 points. We thought that if we hold her under 15 points, we win. The other side of that is we've got to make some baskets. We've talked about this a little bit, but I saw a team that executed well, got good shots and valued the ball well. We just needed to make a few more plays."

NOTES

Senior forward Tatum Neubert had not led the Rams in scoring in a prior game this season before Saturday.
Before Saturday, Neubert's top scoring performance at CSU came in a 12-point outing against Cornell on Nov. 25, 2018.
Sophomore guard Lore Devos has led the Rams in rebounding in seven of the Rams games this season and in two conference games.
Devos has scored in double digits in 13 games this season and in five conference games.
Sophomore guard Grace Colaivalu has led Colorado State in assists in 12 games this season and in five Mountain West games.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State women's basketball team remains on the road this Wednesday for a Mountain West matchup with the Boise State Broncos. Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m. MT from Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.

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