Rams Roll Past Lady Griz at Home

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Team	1	2	3	4	F
Montana	12	14	17	15	58
Colorado St.	14	27	25	16	82

Montana

Colorado St.

FORT COLLINS, Colo – Naturally, a major part of Ryun Williams' curiosity was what the new kids could bring to the table. But there was another part, too, which consisted of what his returning Colorado State women's basketball players have added to their games.

In the case of Sydney Mech, it's been a more aggressive approach on the offensive end, which she put on display once again Friday night in an 82-58 rout of Montana at Moby Arena.

Mech was a viable option last year, averaging 7.1 points per game. A player who flashes to the basket and runs the floor well, she picked up the majority of her points that way. But she also showed she could hit a pull-up jumper and definitely a 3. She just didn't look to force the issue much.

If the first two games are an indication, those days are in the past. She contributed 12 points in the win over the Lady Grizz, her second game in double figures. She had seven such games all of last year.

"Let's be honest. Sydney has really battled a lot of injuries the last two years, so I think what you see is a really healthy young lady who's really having fun playing basketball," Williams said. "She's making the most of every opportunity. I love the conviction she's playing with. She's just going for it, there's a lot of confidence in how she's playing."

Mech was a major piece of the second-quarter explosion which separated the Rams from their guests, scoring 27 points while shooting a blistering 70.6 percent. They hit 12-of-17 overall and 3-of-5 behind the arc.

"The goal was 71," Williams deadpanned. "That second quarter was huge tonight. You could sense we pressed a little bit. I don't want to call us flat, but we just didn't have the joy."

After a sluggish start to the game and how to attack the Montana zone, the Rams spread the floor and for the rest night found lanes to drive with a clear route to the basket. If there was a pothole, a simple kickout led to a clean look.

Mech has taken nine shots in each of the first two games, an uptick of about 30 percent from a season ago. She's no longer passing up good shots. She's also looking to create a few of her own, too. She scored eight of her 12 in the second quarter, showing the versatility she possesses, and others have urged her to display.

Mentally, she's put herself in a good spot.

"Yes, especially now being an upperclassman here and taking on that leadership role," Mech said. "I feel like growing as a player is one area I needed to step up and do, and he's talked to me a lot about that. My teammates, they have a lot of faith in me, and they keep telling me to take those shots and they trust me.

"If I don't take them, Kenna's gonna get on me."

With good reason, because McKenna Hofschild has proven to be pretty adept at finding open shooters and putting them in a good scoring position. She didn't set the single-season assist record a year ago by accident.

Friday, she was back on pace, distributing 11 to lead to her fifth career double-double when combined with her 18 points. Quite often, she was the best option on the floor as she hit 8-of-12 shots, draining her only 3-point attempt.

Her points came attacking the paint, and before long, her new backcourt partner was doing the same. Destiny Thurman started to heat up a bit in the second quarter, then went to red hot in the third, scoring 12 of her game-high 24 in those 10 minutes.

In the middle quarters, the Rams scored 52 points to ease into a 2-0 start to the campaign.

"I mean, we have too many people on the team who can score," Thurman said. "The starting five, even people coming off the bench, we can hit double figures. I feel like even on a bad shooting night we could still have really good numbers."

Just as Mech has found she can be versatile on both ends of the floor. She's always been an answer on defense with her ability to take on just about every defensive assignment, and she blocked three Montana shots in the game.

The new kids have proven to be rather good. The returners are showing they've got some new tricks, too and some solid standards at the base.

"I think there's a lot of talk about the new players, but it's the kids who have been here who have really helped establish the culture from a year ago and what we did toward the end of last season," Williams said. "That's bled over into really competitive practices. It's the way we play, the intensity, the execution and the standard at which we play, that's all the oldies. Tip of the cap to them."

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Thurman Destiny

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