Colorado State University Athletics
Sunday, November 17
Fort Collins, CO
12 PM MT
Colorado State
3-2,0-0Mountain
75
vs
80
Northern Illinois
2-1,0-0MAC
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Northern Ill.
14
10
23
14
19
80
Colorado St.
16
18
8
19
14
75
Overtime in Moby Goes to Huskies, 80-75
11/17/2019 3:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Three teams took the floor Sunday.
Colorado State women's basketball received a single billing for its dual role against Northern Illinois at Moby Arena when the curtain was raised. There was the offensive and defensive force following multiple media timeouts, accompanied by a lesser counterpart in several other moments.
When it mattered most, the Rams were unable to come through in their 80-75 overtime loss – their second loss in a row after starting the year 3-0.
"The two main things that we needed to get accomplished, tonight, to win that basketball game defensively (was) our conversion defense… 24 fast break points for them tonight and their two best players destroyed us… that was the number two thing on the board," head coach Ryun Williams said.
After the media stoppages in both the first and second stanza, the execution was present.
The Rams outscored the Huskies by a combined 22-6 in the final four-plus minutes of each period in the first half. Outside of those stretches, they were outscored 74-53.
"We had some good execution offensively and so we had a really nice flow going," Williams said of the stretches. "The second half, we didn't shoot the ball as well and (we had) some costly turnovers which allowed them to get out in fast break."
The hot-and-cold nature of the Rams in the early part of this year is not wholly unexpected. Integrating new pieces and battling an early injury to Lore Devos is a tough proposition. Extreme lulls are simply not something winning is built upon.
Letting teams stick around, much the way the Rams did, is like playing blackjack and constantly hitting on a 17. This time, the result was a bust.
"You're not always going to be hitting shots," Andrea Brady said. "It's just important in that time to really focus back on the game plan and start getting stops on defense and the offense will come."
The toughness is there for the Rams. Battling back from deficits isn't a problem. Tori Williams and Brady also combined to score 29 points on only 21 shots as part of four Rams' scorers who reached double digits.
The little things are what have hurt them thus far.
From the charity stripe, the Rams shot 50 percent – their third game of the year in which they've failed to hit more than half of their free throws. They were also outrebounded 60-41 by a team without a significant height advantage.
The only way to reach the potential that's so visible at times is to correct those miscues.
"It's only going to get better over time," Williams said. "These kids, they're good basketball players. They want to win, their mind's in the right spot… obviously, you want to win, and we're close, but you've got to do the little things."
The team has four days to prepare for Colorado now – their biggest rivalry game of the year.
Fixing the small cracks is much easier than a giant hole. Reparation is the only way to reaching the full potential Williams' squad boasts, though.
Game Notes
- Graduate forward Makenzie Ellis notched her first career double-double with 13 rebound and 12 points. She has led the Rams on the boards in four of the five games.
- Redshirt-sophomore guard Tori Williams had her best game as a Ram with new highs in points (17), 3FGM (5), rebounds (7), assists (7), and minutes played (40:20).
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
Colorado State women's basketball received a single billing for its dual role against Northern Illinois at Moby Arena when the curtain was raised. There was the offensive and defensive force following multiple media timeouts, accompanied by a lesser counterpart in several other moments.
When it mattered most, the Rams were unable to come through in their 80-75 overtime loss – their second loss in a row after starting the year 3-0.
"The two main things that we needed to get accomplished, tonight, to win that basketball game defensively (was) our conversion defense… 24 fast break points for them tonight and their two best players destroyed us… that was the number two thing on the board," head coach Ryun Williams said.
After the media stoppages in both the first and second stanza, the execution was present.
The Rams outscored the Huskies by a combined 22-6 in the final four-plus minutes of each period in the first half. Outside of those stretches, they were outscored 74-53.
"We had some good execution offensively and so we had a really nice flow going," Williams said of the stretches. "The second half, we didn't shoot the ball as well and (we had) some costly turnovers which allowed them to get out in fast break."
The hot-and-cold nature of the Rams in the early part of this year is not wholly unexpected. Integrating new pieces and battling an early injury to Lore Devos is a tough proposition. Extreme lulls are simply not something winning is built upon.
Letting teams stick around, much the way the Rams did, is like playing blackjack and constantly hitting on a 17. This time, the result was a bust.
"You're not always going to be hitting shots," Andrea Brady said. "It's just important in that time to really focus back on the game plan and start getting stops on defense and the offense will come."
The toughness is there for the Rams. Battling back from deficits isn't a problem. Tori Williams and Brady also combined to score 29 points on only 21 shots as part of four Rams' scorers who reached double digits.
The little things are what have hurt them thus far.
From the charity stripe, the Rams shot 50 percent – their third game of the year in which they've failed to hit more than half of their free throws. They were also outrebounded 60-41 by a team without a significant height advantage.
The only way to reach the potential that's so visible at times is to correct those miscues.
"It's only going to get better over time," Williams said. "These kids, they're good basketball players. They want to win, their mind's in the right spot… obviously, you want to win, and we're close, but you've got to do the little things."
The team has four days to prepare for Colorado now – their biggest rivalry game of the year.
Fixing the small cracks is much easier than a giant hole. Reparation is the only way to reaching the full potential Williams' squad boasts, though.
Game Notes
- Graduate forward Makenzie Ellis notched her first career double-double with 13 rebound and 12 points. She has led the Rams on the boards in four of the five games.
- Redshirt-sophomore guard Tori Williams had her best game as a Ram with new highs in points (17), 3FGM (5), rebounds (7), assists (7), and minutes played (40:20).
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
Team Stats
NIU
CSU
FG%
.373
.367
3FG%
.400
.300
FT%
.706
.500
RB
60
41
TO
17
9
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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