Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, January 27
Fort Collins, CO
6:00 PM
Colorado State
14-5,5-4Mountain West
66
vs
55
Nevada
13-6,5-2Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Nevada
14
10
15
16
55
Colorado St.
13
17
13
23
66
Rams Close Out Strong For Home Victory
1/27/2022 8:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Hofschild scores 20, as Murphy doubles up again
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Since the clock turned on Mountain West play, Ryun Williams has been searching for one thing from his team.
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Consistent play. There have been impressive wins in the conference for his Colorado State women's basketball team, but also a few losses which defied all logic to him. So, coming off one of those big wins on the road at Fresno State, Thursday night at Moby Arena with Nevada in town would be a great place to start.
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Or not. The first 32 minutes of the night was a constant ebb and flow for the Rams, who were seeking to make up some ground by taking down a team sitting above them in the standings. There were spells of mental lapses on both ends of the floor and an itchy trigger finger at times on offense.
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Even still, the Rams played with the lead a good portion of the game, but it wasn't until the final eight minute Williams' team played the way they do when things are in rhythm and the emotions are high but in control.
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It was then CSU started to take more control of the game, rolling to a 66-55 win which puts them at 14-5 overall, 5-4 in MW play. The Wolf Pack slid to 13-6, 5-2.
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"I don't know. We make some silly decisions at time which get us in a bind," Williams said. "Our shot selection gets to be disconnected, and we've got to just keep that together mentality, and we had that the last seven or eight minutes.
Â
"You're not always going to play consistent as far as your production, but your execution can always be sharp and your focus can always be sharp. We had a lot of mental breakdowns tonight that we probably got away with. A lot of nights you might not get away with that, to be honest with you, but we played a good last eight minutes."
Â
Playing in throwback uniforms from the Becky Hammon era, the Rams didn't shoot like their most productive player of all time, missing their first eight attempts from the field. They missed open looks outside, which happens, but the high-percentage layups they didn't connect with where maddening.
Â
As the game progressed, so did their shooting. What was pretty solid much of the night was their play on defense. Even when the Rams struggled, they never let Nevada get out of reach, as the Pack's biggest lead in the game was a meager five points.
Â
CSU bridged the first two quarters with a 10-0 run which put them in front, and in the third, they built that margin up to 39-30, only to let a 9-0 run erase it. But as she's prone to do, point guard McKenna Hofschild came down the floor and hit two big shots.
Â
She did that throughout the night, answering a Nevada run with a 3-pointer or a deft assist for a basket.
Â
"I don't know if I get in the mindset where I need to do it, but I'm looking for the best shot for us to where we can really hit it at a high percentage," said Hofschild, who led all scorers with 20 points in the game. "Sometimes I'll find a spot where I can get to and I feel confident in that shot and I'll take it. Other times I look for my teammates to get involved. It's one of those things. You've just got to answer the bell."
Â
That's what she does, Williams said, and the team needs her to be that way. The same goes for what Karly Murphy produces in post.
Â
She is the closest thing the team has to a poster child for consistency, be it in production or effort. The game was the 100th of her college career, and it finished with her seventh double-double of the season for the team. She has scored in double figures in 14 contests, including the past eight with her 12-point output. Her 14 rebounds were a season best as she's averaging 8.9 on the year.
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"That's just kind of what she's proven she can do night in and night out," Hofschild said. "That consistency, she's always consistent. When we go into a game, we know what we're going to get from her, and we know she's going to play a helluva game. We've got to be the parts to match that."
Â
The Rams had to rely on their starters for production, getting just three points off the bench, all from Cali Clark. Upe Atosu came through with 15 for the Rams, a tired team in Williams' estimation after playing four games in eight days, the first three on the road.
Â
After a century of contests, Murphy feels it, too.
Â
"Wow. That makes me feel old," the graduate student said. "It's gone really quick, and I'm just super grateful for all the opportunities I've had to step on the court."
Â
And they'll be grateful for time off. The Rams have a bye to end the week, with their next game schedule Wednesday at conference-leading New Mexico. Williams will give his team the weekend off, which both Hofschild and Murphy said they welcomed.
Â
Time to rest and recharge, and hopefully, come back with the consistent effort they showed in the final eight minutes. When it was crunch time, that's when the Rams ignored the chaos and found their way.
Â
"I think we just had a lot of focus at the end of the game, where that might have been lacking before," Murphy said. That last eight minutes, we knew we had to get it done, because we were just kind of letting them hang around. Once we decided to lock in on defense and play our hearts out, we got some stops and that led to some good offense."
Â
A good win, too.
Â
Â
Consistent play. There have been impressive wins in the conference for his Colorado State women's basketball team, but also a few losses which defied all logic to him. So, coming off one of those big wins on the road at Fresno State, Thursday night at Moby Arena with Nevada in town would be a great place to start.
Â
Or not. The first 32 minutes of the night was a constant ebb and flow for the Rams, who were seeking to make up some ground by taking down a team sitting above them in the standings. There were spells of mental lapses on both ends of the floor and an itchy trigger finger at times on offense.
Â
Even still, the Rams played with the lead a good portion of the game, but it wasn't until the final eight minute Williams' team played the way they do when things are in rhythm and the emotions are high but in control.
Â
It was then CSU started to take more control of the game, rolling to a 66-55 win which puts them at 14-5 overall, 5-4 in MW play. The Wolf Pack slid to 13-6, 5-2.
Â
"I don't know. We make some silly decisions at time which get us in a bind," Williams said. "Our shot selection gets to be disconnected, and we've got to just keep that together mentality, and we had that the last seven or eight minutes.
Â
"You're not always going to play consistent as far as your production, but your execution can always be sharp and your focus can always be sharp. We had a lot of mental breakdowns tonight that we probably got away with. A lot of nights you might not get away with that, to be honest with you, but we played a good last eight minutes."
Â
Playing in throwback uniforms from the Becky Hammon era, the Rams didn't shoot like their most productive player of all time, missing their first eight attempts from the field. They missed open looks outside, which happens, but the high-percentage layups they didn't connect with where maddening.
Â
As the game progressed, so did their shooting. What was pretty solid much of the night was their play on defense. Even when the Rams struggled, they never let Nevada get out of reach, as the Pack's biggest lead in the game was a meager five points.
Â
CSU bridged the first two quarters with a 10-0 run which put them in front, and in the third, they built that margin up to 39-30, only to let a 9-0 run erase it. But as she's prone to do, point guard McKenna Hofschild came down the floor and hit two big shots.
Â
She did that throughout the night, answering a Nevada run with a 3-pointer or a deft assist for a basket.
Â
"I don't know if I get in the mindset where I need to do it, but I'm looking for the best shot for us to where we can really hit it at a high percentage," said Hofschild, who led all scorers with 20 points in the game. "Sometimes I'll find a spot where I can get to and I feel confident in that shot and I'll take it. Other times I look for my teammates to get involved. It's one of those things. You've just got to answer the bell."
Â
That's what she does, Williams said, and the team needs her to be that way. The same goes for what Karly Murphy produces in post.
Â
She is the closest thing the team has to a poster child for consistency, be it in production or effort. The game was the 100th of her college career, and it finished with her seventh double-double of the season for the team. She has scored in double figures in 14 contests, including the past eight with her 12-point output. Her 14 rebounds were a season best as she's averaging 8.9 on the year.
Â
"That's just kind of what she's proven she can do night in and night out," Hofschild said. "That consistency, she's always consistent. When we go into a game, we know what we're going to get from her, and we know she's going to play a helluva game. We've got to be the parts to match that."
Â
The Rams had to rely on their starters for production, getting just three points off the bench, all from Cali Clark. Upe Atosu came through with 15 for the Rams, a tired team in Williams' estimation after playing four games in eight days, the first three on the road.
Â
After a century of contests, Murphy feels it, too.
Â
"Wow. That makes me feel old," the graduate student said. "It's gone really quick, and I'm just super grateful for all the opportunities I've had to step on the court."
Â
And they'll be grateful for time off. The Rams have a bye to end the week, with their next game schedule Wednesday at conference-leading New Mexico. Williams will give his team the weekend off, which both Hofschild and Murphy said they welcomed.
Â
Time to rest and recharge, and hopefully, come back with the consistent effort they showed in the final eight minutes. When it was crunch time, that's when the Rams ignored the chaos and found their way.
Â
"I think we just had a lot of focus at the end of the game, where that might have been lacking before," Murphy said. That last eight minutes, we knew we had to get it done, because we were just kind of letting them hang around. Once we decided to lock in on defense and play our hearts out, we got some stops and that led to some good offense."
Â
A good win, too.
Â
Team Stats
Nevada
CSU
FG%
.313
.365
3FG%
.222
.350
FT%
.900
.867
RB
40
47
TO
6
9
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
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