Follow Through Produces Offensive Fireworks for Rams

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Carry it through.

A loss on the road at San Diego State stung, in large part because Colorado State's women's basketball team was not good offensively the first three quarters. In the fourth, the Rams showed fight, the 26 points matching their best stanza of the season.

It didn't enable them to overcome a big deficit, but it gave them a springboard to Sunday's home outing with San Jose State. Not only that, what happened in the middle was key.

"When we came back after that San Diego State loss, Upe Atosu had the best practice I guarantee you of her career. I don't think we've had anybody have that good of a practice in a long time here, so she was determined to just change how this thing was going to go," CSU head coach Ryun Williams said. "The fact she did get the 3 going – she is a good 3-point shooter – and then when she did drive, the decision making ... That's something we've asked her to be better at.

"I love the maturity; she was a great leader out there today."

Against the Spartans, the Rams came out hot, scoring 25 points, and Atosu had eight of them. They finished even better, a 30-point closing statement in a 90-64 Mountain West conference victory, and Atosu had 11 more.

She was just as good in between, scoring a career-best 32 points, hitting 6-of-12 3s, shooting 9-of-15 overall and going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. She was determined, no doubt, but that stemmed from practice.

"It comes down to focus. After the game we lost, it helped me to self-reflect on things that I can do to contribute to the team," Atosu said. "I know I have a lot of stuff, but sometimes I just follow the instructions that coach gave and what is best for the team, and shooting at practice had to come. I know I can really shoot, for sure, but for all the games we've played, I've never really kind of paid attention to that. I kind of think of driving, creating for my teammates and playing together as a team. I think that coming to practice is all about focus, and I'm very, very conscious of that.

"I like practicing hard. That practice just came out really, really good."

So, too, did the game. The Rams shot 50.8 percent from the field and stormed out to a 25-13 edge after the first quarter. It started by getting the ball down low to Karly Murphy, who hit the team's first three field goals of the game. From there out, it was a dealer's choice, and point guard McKenna Hofschild flipped the cards with precision.

The team's leading scorer finished with just six points, but her 10 assists had the team all-in offensively from start to finish, save for a couple of lulls in the middle two quarters. She hit teammates on the run in the open floor, provided poise and patience in the half court, so well Williams felt it was one of her best floor games.

The Rams controlled the boards, too, with a 44-24 edge, grabbing 13 off the offensive glass, a big change for a team which is normally on the short side of both of those ledgers.

Murphy led the charge, her 14 points and 10 rebounds producing her fifth double-double of the season and seventh of her career. To her, the first quarter as an extremely important opening statement.

"I think we showed a lot of fight in that last quarter at San Diego State, but we didn't want to put ourselves in position today where we had to fight back," she said. "That was key, is using each other, moving the ball, and the more we move the ball, the better shots we got."

A team which missed 14 consecutive 3-pointers in one stretch of the road loss hit 14 as a team against the Spartans. Atosu hit six of them, three more than she'd hit in a game this season, more than she's ever had in her career.

For most of this year, her game has been about getting to the basket, but Sunday, she showed off her entire offensive arsenal, and before long, her teammates were following suit. Petra Farkas made 4 3s, Kendyll Kinzer a pair, both closing with 12 points each.

"She's so versatile," Murphy said of Atosu. "No one can stop her on the drive because she's so quick, but tonight, to be able to hit those shots, it's impossible for a defender to guard her. It was really cool to see. Like coach said, that was an amazing practice the other day, so it kind of carries over into the game. We just have to keep that focus."

CSU had built up a 21-point lead in the second, only to see the Spartans trim it down to 12 in the third quarter. The Rams didn't ease into the win, rather they pushed forward, using a 16-2 run late in the final 10 minutes to produce their best offensive outing of the season.

One fourth quarter leading the way to four really solid quarters. That, and a vital workout sandwiched in the middle.

On that particular day, and Sunday as well, Williams said the true spirit of Atosu, who made two collegiate stops before arriving on campus in Fort Collins, came out of the shadows. All she wanted to do was correct some weaknesses, for herself and the group as a whole.

"We just have a competitive group," Williams said. "They didn't like what happened in San Diego. She just … She's old. Can I say that? That's probably HR, but she's a very mature player, and she was going to make sure our kids had a really good, competitive practice. The fact our kids are sore losers, the right way, really helped with today's performance."

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