Colorado State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 15
Albuquerque, NM
7 PM MT
Colorado State
62
at
73
New Mexico
Third Quarter Drought Spells Rams in 73-62 Loss at The Pit
1/15/2020 9:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A halftime lead evaporated for the Colorado State women's basketball team after a dominant Lobos' third quarter en route to New Mexico's 73-62 win Wednesday evening at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
One point was all that separated the two teams at the break, but the Lobos outscored the Rams 26-11 in the third frame. New Mexico thrived on 6-for-12 shooting from behind the arc and forced five turnovers to create the cushion. The Rams weren't without their opportunities in the fourth as they started on an 11-4 run and had a three in front of the CSU bench that could of brought it to a four-point game, but it rimmed out and the Lobos woke up to secure the win.
New Mexico Lobos (11-8, 2-4 Mountain West) collected its seventh win at home on the season, while Colorado State Rams (8-9, 2-4 MW) dropped to 2-5 on the road.
"It was nice start with execution early, but we came out sluggish in the second half," head coach Ryun Williams said. "We had some silly turnovers and fouled a little bit too much, but they also got the three-point game going. You have to give them credit, they were coming off ball screens and pulling without conscious. We just couldn't match it. In the fourth, we had a great look to pull within two scores and I was feeling that New Mexico was going to call a timeout, because we were chipping away, but couldn't convert. I'm proud of them for fighting back but we need to not put ourselves in that situation."
Leading the Rams on the night was redshirt-sophomore guard Tori Williams with 17 points including five three-pointers – both tying her season-high. Andrea Brady fell one rebound short of a double-double to go along with her dozen points. Redshirt-junior guard Megan Jacobs contributed 12 points, while forward Makenzie Ellis chipped in seven rebounds.
In the second quarter, a Jacobs' trey ignited an 11-0 run for a 31-23 advantage going into the media timeout. It marked the biggest lead for either team at that point, however the Lobos finished the half on a run of their own, 9-2. The Rams held the slight edge at the half, 33-32, with Williams owning 12 of those points off four threes. In all, nine of CSU's 11 made baskets in the first half came from behind the arc. Put backs by Brady and Liah Davis along with two free throws from Jamie Bonnarens encompassed the Rams' scoring that wasn't a triple.
Both teams traded threes to start the second half, but it was the Lobos who kept it going with 15-0 run that took all the momentum out of the Rams. UNM led 58-44 at the conclusion of the third. The last push CSU made in the fourth came after Jacobs took it coast to coast for a fast break layup and got fouled, however she missed the free throw and the Lobos sank another three to thwart the comeback.
New Mexico, MW's third-best scoring offense, shot 40.3 percent in the game compared to CSU's 38.1 percent. Additionally, the Lobos' forced 15 turnovers against the usually careful Ram offense that sits atop of the conference in turnovers per game.
Next, the Rams will return to their home court to play Air Force Jan. 18 with a 2 p.m. tip inside Moby Arena.
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
One point was all that separated the two teams at the break, but the Lobos outscored the Rams 26-11 in the third frame. New Mexico thrived on 6-for-12 shooting from behind the arc and forced five turnovers to create the cushion. The Rams weren't without their opportunities in the fourth as they started on an 11-4 run and had a three in front of the CSU bench that could of brought it to a four-point game, but it rimmed out and the Lobos woke up to secure the win.
New Mexico Lobos (11-8, 2-4 Mountain West) collected its seventh win at home on the season, while Colorado State Rams (8-9, 2-4 MW) dropped to 2-5 on the road.
"It was nice start with execution early, but we came out sluggish in the second half," head coach Ryun Williams said. "We had some silly turnovers and fouled a little bit too much, but they also got the three-point game going. You have to give them credit, they were coming off ball screens and pulling without conscious. We just couldn't match it. In the fourth, we had a great look to pull within two scores and I was feeling that New Mexico was going to call a timeout, because we were chipping away, but couldn't convert. I'm proud of them for fighting back but we need to not put ourselves in that situation."
Leading the Rams on the night was redshirt-sophomore guard Tori Williams with 17 points including five three-pointers – both tying her season-high. Andrea Brady fell one rebound short of a double-double to go along with her dozen points. Redshirt-junior guard Megan Jacobs contributed 12 points, while forward Makenzie Ellis chipped in seven rebounds.
In the second quarter, a Jacobs' trey ignited an 11-0 run for a 31-23 advantage going into the media timeout. It marked the biggest lead for either team at that point, however the Lobos finished the half on a run of their own, 9-2. The Rams held the slight edge at the half, 33-32, with Williams owning 12 of those points off four threes. In all, nine of CSU's 11 made baskets in the first half came from behind the arc. Put backs by Brady and Liah Davis along with two free throws from Jamie Bonnarens encompassed the Rams' scoring that wasn't a triple.
Both teams traded threes to start the second half, but it was the Lobos who kept it going with 15-0 run that took all the momentum out of the Rams. UNM led 58-44 at the conclusion of the third. The last push CSU made in the fourth came after Jacobs took it coast to coast for a fast break layup and got fouled, however she missed the free throw and the Lobos sank another three to thwart the comeback.
New Mexico, MW's third-best scoring offense, shot 40.3 percent in the game compared to CSU's 38.1 percent. Additionally, the Lobos' forced 15 turnovers against the usually careful Ram offense that sits atop of the conference in turnovers per game.
Next, the Rams will return to their home court to play Air Force Jan. 18 with a 2 p.m. tip inside Moby Arena.
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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