Colorado State University Athletics
Monday, March 1
USAF Academy, CO
2:30 PM MT
Colorado State
15-3,11-3Mounta
68
at
75
Air Force
7-15,4-12Mounta
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado State
16
14
20
18
68
Air Force
19
18
17
21
75
Rams Suffer Loss at Air Force, 75-68
3/1/2021 5:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Falcons Force the Split Series in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  – Every rivalry game regardless of the season will be a fight and the Rams wound up on the losing end Monday afternoon with Air Force earning the 75-68 win to split the series inside Clune Arena. Â
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Late in the third quarter down seven points, the Rams scored seven unanswered points to end the frame and then a Tori Williams layup to start the fourth made it a two-point game. The momentum Colorado State built though was matched much like the rest of the contest. Air Force extended their lead back out to six and CSU brought it down to a one-score game four more times, but each met with a response. The Falcons held on to move to 7-15 overall and 4-12 in the Mountain West, while the Rams' eight-game win streak was snapped, putting them at 15-3 overall and 11-3 in MW play.
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"We knew there would be more resistance and more pressure, but we did not handle it well," head coach Ryun Williams said. "It put us on our heels. That is how Air Force plays, and we did not match it well today. In the second half, we played with a more aggressive mentality, but it was too late. We did not have a lot of flow tonight. When we did get some stops and wanted to get out and run it seemed like we were stuck in second or third gear. We just did not have it today. We clawed and clawed but could not get over the hump."
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Karly Murphy led the Rams in scoring with 19 points and narrowly missed a back-to-back double-double series with nine rebounds. Tori Williams and McKenna Hofschild each put up 15 points with a typical game otherwise from each as Williams hit three 3s and Hofschild dished out five assists. Both teams shot in the same area code in field goal percentage and tied in rebounds, but the main difference was from deep with the Falcons going 9-of-15 from 3-point land for 60% when they enter averaging less than half that.
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A buzzer beater sent the Falcons into the half with confidence along with a seven-point lead at 37-30. Hofchilds came out of the break aggressive, scoring seven points from a trey, a layup and at the free-throw line, but opportune shots followed from Air Force. The two fourth-quarter treys that seemingly took the wind out of the Rams was Dasha McMillan's third 3 of the day at the 5:17 mark after the Rams cut it to two and then Riley Snyder's fourth 3 with 2:41 left to put the Falcons back up by six points. Â Â
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In the final minutes, the Rams went 2-of-5 shooting, 1-of-4 from the free-throw line and had two turnovers, which sealed it for the home team.
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"This was a good game for us in the sense that we haven't played much in three weeks, so we got a good road test. The Falcons play well in the second game of series. They beat New Mexico in the second game just last week. They have a lot of fight and so do we, but we just didn't have anything in the tank late."
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Next, the Rams will play second-place New Mexico (12-3, 9-3 MW) in a rescheduled series, starting Wednesday with location and time still to be announced. Â
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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Late in the third quarter down seven points, the Rams scored seven unanswered points to end the frame and then a Tori Williams layup to start the fourth made it a two-point game. The momentum Colorado State built though was matched much like the rest of the contest. Air Force extended their lead back out to six and CSU brought it down to a one-score game four more times, but each met with a response. The Falcons held on to move to 7-15 overall and 4-12 in the Mountain West, while the Rams' eight-game win streak was snapped, putting them at 15-3 overall and 11-3 in MW play.
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"We knew there would be more resistance and more pressure, but we did not handle it well," head coach Ryun Williams said. "It put us on our heels. That is how Air Force plays, and we did not match it well today. In the second half, we played with a more aggressive mentality, but it was too late. We did not have a lot of flow tonight. When we did get some stops and wanted to get out and run it seemed like we were stuck in second or third gear. We just did not have it today. We clawed and clawed but could not get over the hump."
Â
Karly Murphy led the Rams in scoring with 19 points and narrowly missed a back-to-back double-double series with nine rebounds. Tori Williams and McKenna Hofschild each put up 15 points with a typical game otherwise from each as Williams hit three 3s and Hofschild dished out five assists. Both teams shot in the same area code in field goal percentage and tied in rebounds, but the main difference was from deep with the Falcons going 9-of-15 from 3-point land for 60% when they enter averaging less than half that.
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A buzzer beater sent the Falcons into the half with confidence along with a seven-point lead at 37-30. Hofchilds came out of the break aggressive, scoring seven points from a trey, a layup and at the free-throw line, but opportune shots followed from Air Force. The two fourth-quarter treys that seemingly took the wind out of the Rams was Dasha McMillan's third 3 of the day at the 5:17 mark after the Rams cut it to two and then Riley Snyder's fourth 3 with 2:41 left to put the Falcons back up by six points. Â Â
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In the final minutes, the Rams went 2-of-5 shooting, 1-of-4 from the free-throw line and had two turnovers, which sealed it for the home team.
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"This was a good game for us in the sense that we haven't played much in three weeks, so we got a good road test. The Falcons play well in the second game of series. They beat New Mexico in the second game just last week. They have a lot of fight and so do we, but we just didn't have anything in the tank late."
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Next, the Rams will play second-place New Mexico (12-3, 9-3 MW) in a rescheduled series, starting Wednesday with location and time still to be announced. Â
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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- CSURams.com -
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Team Stats
CSU
USAFA
FG%
.448
.459
3FG%
.429
.600
FT%
.667
.769
RB
35
35
TO
13
9
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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