Colorado State University Athletics
Sunday, November 28
Fort Collins, CO
12:00 PM
Colorado State
5-1,0-0Mountain West
56
vs
71
Louisville
5-1,0-0ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Louisville
24
17
16
14
71
Colorado St.
10
15
15
16
56
Rams Fall at Home to No. 10 Louisville
11/28/2021 2:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Williams' team plays even final three stanzas
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – They came in waves, which Ryun Williams knew would happen. And it took about 10 minutes for his Colorado State women's basketball team to adjust to the onslaught.
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But 10 minutes is too late against the No. 10 team in the country. Louisville built a 24-10 lead after the first quarter in what became a 71-56 loss for the Rams, their first on the season, in front of 1,336 at Moby Arena.
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"I thought Louisville really came out with an edge, and the speed, their start-stop, just the athleticism with which they played with, I think it really surprised us," Williams said. "I even caught myself, whoa. How they get from A to B is just a different level. I think once we adjusted to just the physicality, the speed of which they were executing offensively, then we settled in and did some really good things. They had a hard time getting good shots, too, a lot of possessions."
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The Cardinals came out with purpose and they went to the bench regularly. They had nine players with 15 minutes on the floor, but none of them more than 22. They remained fresh while applying full-court pressure, and the flip side is they are loaded with offensive weapons.
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Kianna Smith and Ahlana Smith both led the team with 11 points, with Emily Engstler adding 10, seven of which came in the first-quarter gut punch, using a 9-0 run at one point – the Cards' best of the game – to create space on the scoreboard. For the Rams, it was a quick indoctrination to the game, one they never could overcome.
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CSU center Cali Clark felt the Rams were slow to pick up all the changes and what that meant for them defensively. Once they figured that out, the final three frame never were out of hand.
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"I think just coming out more confident. You could definitely tell the first couple of minutes of the game who was more comfortable on the floor, especially from our standpoint looking at No. 10 in the nation,"
 Clark said. "You could tell we had a bit more nerves, and as the game went on, we got more comfortable and more confident in ourselves. I think if we take out the first quarter, we would have been in a really good game with them. Just being able to start out with them more confident and strong and comfortable on the floor."
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Colorado State would keep the battle closer to the vest the remainder of the game, using a 7-0 run in the third to close the gap down to 10 points. That was as close as they came, but it gave them a burst of confidence in what they could do.
Â
From Williams' standpoint, that's what he wants his team to carry forward, starting with the Arizona State Classic, which begins Dec. 4.
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"I liked how our kids, we figured out how to get some quality shots as the game went along," he said. "Our 5s got involved more in our second half, we got Upe Atosu driving a little bit, we played off of two feet a little better, found some open 3s, got out and ran. So a lot of really fun plays our kids made in the second half, we just needed more of it."
Â
In spurts, both Clark and Sydney Mech started to assert themselves more offensively, and it paid dividends. While Clark is more apt to make her living in the paint, she does have range and hit a 3, finishing with 12 points. Mech is versatile, with the ability to hit outside and to drive the lane. When she did either in the game, she was effective, also scoring 12. Karly Murphy added 10 inside, too.
Â
As much as anything, being able to do so against the No. 10 team in the country which spent the afternoon hounding them defensively is a boost mentally.
Â
"I think both of us should be really proud of how we played tonight," Clark said. "I won't speak for (Mech), but more times than not, I'm not the most aggressive scorer, so to be able to see what I can do when I'm aggressive toward the basket and see how that benefits my team is really good. I feel really good about how we played and how we both kinda woke up tonight and becoming a scorer, becoming more of that type of threat on the basketball court."
Â
The Rams didn't enter the game hoping to feel good after the final buzzer, they were hoping to be celebrating a win. The first quarter made that a really tall hill for them to climb, but the response over the final 30 minutes can serve a tremendous purpose for them down the road.
Â
What Louisville did defensively is what some teams in the Mountain West are capable of, too. There are foes who can slog down a game defensively, and the Rams, who average better than 60 shots a game, took just 49.
Â
Williams knows there will be more teams they face who will slow the pace and force the Rams to work in the half-court, and in the final three quarters, he feels his team know has a blueprint. They shot just 38.8 percent in the game, which wasn't far off their season average.
Â
"I think it will help us a lot, because we have a lot of teams who do pressure like that," Mech said. "And learning from this game how that turned out for us, taking care of the ball, something like that, will help us in conference play."
Â
Â
But 10 minutes is too late against the No. 10 team in the country. Louisville built a 24-10 lead after the first quarter in what became a 71-56 loss for the Rams, their first on the season, in front of 1,336 at Moby Arena.
Â
"I thought Louisville really came out with an edge, and the speed, their start-stop, just the athleticism with which they played with, I think it really surprised us," Williams said. "I even caught myself, whoa. How they get from A to B is just a different level. I think once we adjusted to just the physicality, the speed of which they were executing offensively, then we settled in and did some really good things. They had a hard time getting good shots, too, a lot of possessions."
Â
The Cardinals came out with purpose and they went to the bench regularly. They had nine players with 15 minutes on the floor, but none of them more than 22. They remained fresh while applying full-court pressure, and the flip side is they are loaded with offensive weapons.
Â
Kianna Smith and Ahlana Smith both led the team with 11 points, with Emily Engstler adding 10, seven of which came in the first-quarter gut punch, using a 9-0 run at one point – the Cards' best of the game – to create space on the scoreboard. For the Rams, it was a quick indoctrination to the game, one they never could overcome.
Â
CSU center Cali Clark felt the Rams were slow to pick up all the changes and what that meant for them defensively. Once they figured that out, the final three frame never were out of hand.
Â
"I think just coming out more confident. You could definitely tell the first couple of minutes of the game who was more comfortable on the floor, especially from our standpoint looking at No. 10 in the nation,"
 Clark said. "You could tell we had a bit more nerves, and as the game went on, we got more comfortable and more confident in ourselves. I think if we take out the first quarter, we would have been in a really good game with them. Just being able to start out with them more confident and strong and comfortable on the floor."
Â
Colorado State would keep the battle closer to the vest the remainder of the game, using a 7-0 run in the third to close the gap down to 10 points. That was as close as they came, but it gave them a burst of confidence in what they could do.
Â
From Williams' standpoint, that's what he wants his team to carry forward, starting with the Arizona State Classic, which begins Dec. 4.
Â
"I liked how our kids, we figured out how to get some quality shots as the game went along," he said. "Our 5s got involved more in our second half, we got Upe Atosu driving a little bit, we played off of two feet a little better, found some open 3s, got out and ran. So a lot of really fun plays our kids made in the second half, we just needed more of it."
Â
In spurts, both Clark and Sydney Mech started to assert themselves more offensively, and it paid dividends. While Clark is more apt to make her living in the paint, she does have range and hit a 3, finishing with 12 points. Mech is versatile, with the ability to hit outside and to drive the lane. When she did either in the game, she was effective, also scoring 12. Karly Murphy added 10 inside, too.
Â
As much as anything, being able to do so against the No. 10 team in the country which spent the afternoon hounding them defensively is a boost mentally.
Â
"I think both of us should be really proud of how we played tonight," Clark said. "I won't speak for (Mech), but more times than not, I'm not the most aggressive scorer, so to be able to see what I can do when I'm aggressive toward the basket and see how that benefits my team is really good. I feel really good about how we played and how we both kinda woke up tonight and becoming a scorer, becoming more of that type of threat on the basketball court."
Â
The Rams didn't enter the game hoping to feel good after the final buzzer, they were hoping to be celebrating a win. The first quarter made that a really tall hill for them to climb, but the response over the final 30 minutes can serve a tremendous purpose for them down the road.
Â
What Louisville did defensively is what some teams in the Mountain West are capable of, too. There are foes who can slog down a game defensively, and the Rams, who average better than 60 shots a game, took just 49.
Â
Williams knows there will be more teams they face who will slow the pace and force the Rams to work in the half-court, and in the final three quarters, he feels his team know has a blueprint. They shot just 38.8 percent in the game, which wasn't far off their season average.
Â
"I think it will help us a lot, because we have a lot of teams who do pressure like that," Mech said. "And learning from this game how that turned out for us, taking care of the ball, something like that, will help us in conference play."
Â
Team Stats
LOU
CSU
FG%
.528
.388
3FG%
.500
.333
FT%
.769
.684
RB
39
22
TO
15
13
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballF
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