Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, March 5
Albuquerque, NM
5 p.m. MT
Colorado State
15-5,11-5Mounta
62
at
71
New Mexico
14-3,11-3Mounta
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado State
19
13
12
18
62
New Mexico
17
21
16
17
71
Rams Lose Season Finale at The Pit
3/5/2021 7:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Comeback Falls Shorts at New Mexico, 71-62
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Despite tying the game twice in the fourth quarter, the Colorado State Rams fell 71-62 against New Mexico Friday evening in the 2020-21 regular season finale at The Pit.Â
Â
After entering the fourth quarter down a dozen, the Rams went on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 58-all with 5:37 to play. On the tail end of that was eight unanswered points and back-to-back 3s from McKenna Hofschild and Jamie Bonnarens that forced a Lobo timeout. Both teams then exchanged two points before the Lobos connected on three mid-size jumpers to go back up by six. A strong Bonnarens layup made it a four-point game with two minutes to play, but between the Rams going 1-for-9 in the next stretch and the Lobos able to work the clock, New Mexico held on for the victory.
Â
With the matchup holding the last significant piece to the Mountain West season, New Mexico earned the 2020-21 regular season title and No. 1 seed after finishing 11-3 in the conference. Colorado State dropped to 11-5 in the MW and will be the No. 3 seed behind UNLV.
Â
"You can't tell us that we don't have a tough basketball team," head coach Ryun Williams said. "In both nights here, we got down in double digits only to make it close again, so we have a very tough-minded basketball team. We just need to start making some shots. That is what it came down to tonight. Defensive, we lost Ahlise Hurst several times and she had a big game, which was a disappointing aspect since we did well on our other assignments. Our players left everything out on that floor though and as their basketball coach I'm very proud."
Â
Hofschild and Bonnarens led the Rams in scoring with 14 apiece, while Cali Clark and Karly Murphy each chipped in eight points. Again, team-wise the two shot about the same clip with CSU going 37.9% from the field versus NM's 36.6%. However, the difference lied in the 3-point shooting. Not so much the percentages of CSU's 25% and NM's 33.3%, but it makes a difference when the Lobos had 10 to the Rams' six. Five of NM's 3s came from Hurst who finished with a game-high 21 points.
Â
"What we did a better job of tonight was ball movement," Williams added. "We did not get stuck. We were aggressive in our drives and had some good back cuts. We have a team in there that does believe, and they still have a shot. We just must find a way to rest and reset."
Â
Colorado State obtained a first-round bye for the first time since 2018. The Rams will face the Boise State Broncos on Monday, March 8th at 8 p.m. PT.
Â
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
Â
Â
After entering the fourth quarter down a dozen, the Rams went on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 58-all with 5:37 to play. On the tail end of that was eight unanswered points and back-to-back 3s from McKenna Hofschild and Jamie Bonnarens that forced a Lobo timeout. Both teams then exchanged two points before the Lobos connected on three mid-size jumpers to go back up by six. A strong Bonnarens layup made it a four-point game with two minutes to play, but between the Rams going 1-for-9 in the next stretch and the Lobos able to work the clock, New Mexico held on for the victory.
Â
With the matchup holding the last significant piece to the Mountain West season, New Mexico earned the 2020-21 regular season title and No. 1 seed after finishing 11-3 in the conference. Colorado State dropped to 11-5 in the MW and will be the No. 3 seed behind UNLV.
Â
"You can't tell us that we don't have a tough basketball team," head coach Ryun Williams said. "In both nights here, we got down in double digits only to make it close again, so we have a very tough-minded basketball team. We just need to start making some shots. That is what it came down to tonight. Defensive, we lost Ahlise Hurst several times and she had a big game, which was a disappointing aspect since we did well on our other assignments. Our players left everything out on that floor though and as their basketball coach I'm very proud."
Â
Hofschild and Bonnarens led the Rams in scoring with 14 apiece, while Cali Clark and Karly Murphy each chipped in eight points. Again, team-wise the two shot about the same clip with CSU going 37.9% from the field versus NM's 36.6%. However, the difference lied in the 3-point shooting. Not so much the percentages of CSU's 25% and NM's 33.3%, but it makes a difference when the Lobos had 10 to the Rams' six. Five of NM's 3s came from Hurst who finished with a game-high 21 points.
Â
"What we did a better job of tonight was ball movement," Williams added. "We did not get stuck. We were aggressive in our drives and had some good back cuts. We have a team in there that does believe, and they still have a shot. We just must find a way to rest and reset."
Â
Colorado State obtained a first-round bye for the first time since 2018. The Rams will face the Boise State Broncos on Monday, March 8th at 8 p.m. PT.
Â
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
Â
- CSURams.com -
Team Stats
CSU
UNM
FG%
.379
.366
3FG%
.250
.333
FT%
.500
.750
RB
40
49
TO
8
9
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballCSU Basketball (W) - Behind the Whiteboard with Coach Erickson
Friday, October 10
CSU Basketball (W) - 94 Feet with Madelyn Bragg
Wednesday, October 08
CSU Basketball (W) - 94 Feet with Jadyn Fife
Saturday, October 04
CSU Basketball (WBB) - Behind the Whiteboard with Coach Brady
Monday, September 29