Rams Open with Exhibition Win over Chadron State

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6:00 pm

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Ryun Williams said the antennae should be up.

There was a lot his Colorado State women's team did right Wednesday night in a 78-43 exhibition win over Chadron State at Moby Arena. Despite a slow night from behind the arc, the Rams were stellar everywhere else offensively from the jump. They scored on their first four possessions of the game, and the baskets came from four different players.

By the end of the night, five of them were in double figures, led by 12 each from transfer Upe Atosu and McKenna Hofschild. Bengisu Alper came off the bench to score 11, with Cali Clark and Kendyll Kinzer each finishing with 10.

Even still, at times, they looked rushed and out of synch offensively. And much of the night, they seemed disconnected defensively, and while traditionally Williams' teams take time to develop defensively, he expected more in the game, because that's what he'd been seeing in practice.

"I thought we would have been more impactful defensively," he said. "We looked just a little new, like we didn't know what was going on a number of possessions. The first three possessions of the game, we had two missed assignments on who we were guarding.

"We have some length and we have some ability to impact the possession, but tonight, I think we were really reactive instead of trying to dictate some possessions."

Williams smiled, because it brought some things to light and put them in perspective at the same time. He smiled, because of the 11 players who hit the floor, five of them had never played in a Colorado State uniform, and two of them started – Kinzer and Atosu.

What it showed him is that, even with 40 days of practice under their belt leading to this game, some more chemistry still needs to develop. But even some old faces looked relatively knew.

Mech returned to the starting lineup, a spot she occupied in five of the first eight games a year ago. But she also missed two months with an injury, and when she came back, she did so without her game legs. Her presence was missed, especially her length defensively.

Then there is Alper. She's been in the program for two years, but she played with an intention Wednesday she had rarely showed in the past. She was actively looking for shots and she found good ones, too, making 5-of-7 from the floor.

"I definitely feel more comfortable this year than last year," she said after the game and just two hours before needing to take a test in Critical Media Studies. "They changed my position to the 4, but I still play the 1. I just feel comfortable and take the right shots. I just want to set my points high the first game. That's how I'm going to be through the end of the season. My mindset will be like, we have to go win this, I have to play well and take the good shots."

Williams was impressed, but he's seen the change in practice. The Rams will need it, because scoring off the bench is valuable. Then again, he's not set on the starting five he put on the floor, suggesting the first part of the season will be exploring what works.

He said he has talent. He just needs all the pieces to fit, old and new.
"They had some really good possessions and some good moments. We do have to get it to fit," he said. I think tonight you saw the chemistry needs to grow both offensively and defensively. There are good things that happened and you can see the ability. Now you have to do it within the framework of our team and the strengths of everybody else. We've got a lot of growing to do, but that's OK."

Murphy agreed. The most important part of the night was getting on the floor and putting everything they've practiced into motion against another team. As competitive as they are with each other, it gets old after time.

Chadron State played aggressive, which was good. The Eagles also did some things the Rams don't, and that was better.

"We just wanted to see what we were like against another team and how our offense worked and our defensive intensity," she said. "I think we brought it offensively; we had a good start, but there's definitely some things we can improve upon, and it's good to see that now. I think we can pick up our defensive intensity a lot, know our assignments and do our jobs."

True, because for most of the game, Chadron State was outrebounding their guests, though at the end of the night the scales were balanced at 33. They also won't be too keen on allowing an opponent to shoot 25 3s, because most teams in the Mountain West won't just make two of them.

Scoring 20-plus points in a quarter (which the Rams did twice, opening with 28 in the first) is great, there are times when they're going to need a stop. Williams is confident when they look at the tape, there will be a lot of defensive possession they won't like.

Murphy doesn't need the tape, but she'll still watch.

"These games are good because they bring out that glaring need to play good defensively, and that's something we need to focus on," she said. "I think that showed tonight, and that's what we're going to do."

They have five days, because in six, the season starts for real as they host Colorado Christian in the first half of a hoops double header on Nov. 9. The men will follow 30 minutes after, tipping off their season with Oral Roberts.

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