Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, February 5
USAF Academy, CO
1:00 PM
Colorado State
14-7,5-6Mountain West
63
at
67
Air Force
13-10,7-5Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado St.
23
14
17
9
63
Air Force
20
15
13
19
67
Rams Fall Late at Air Force
2/5/2022 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Falcons Nip Rams, 67-63, for Series Sweep
USAFA, Colo. – Cold shooting down the stretch by Colorado State left the door open for Air Force to mount a comeback and win 67-63 Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena.
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In a game that the Rams controlled for the majority, the Falcons changed the pace in the fourth and halted the Ram offense. The Rams shot just 2 for 12 from the field in the quarter, while the Falcons were 6-of-18 shooting from the field. The Rams entered the fourth quarter with a six-point cushion, but the Falcons quickly drained a 3 in the opening minute to pull within one possession. Twice CSU extended its lead to five points, but the Falcons' defense proceeded to force three turnovers in the following minutes and took the lead at 61-60 with two minutes left. A CSU layup from Upe Atosu coming out of a timeout kept it a one-point game with 25 seconds left. USAFA went just 3 for 5 from the free throw line in the closing seconds, however it was enough since CSU missed its last two shots.
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The Rams dropped to 14-7 overall and 5-6 in Mountain West play, as the Falcons improved to 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the Mountain West. Air Force finished shooting 41.3% from the field, while the Rams shot 36.4%. Early in the game, CSU took advantage at the free-throw line en route to ending the game with a 17-of-20 clip.
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"The beginning of the first and third quarters were superb on offense and defense, but we weren't able to sustain it," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Air Force's defense was an issue today. They outmuscled us in the paint with 36 points coming from that area. This was a tough one. We thought we had control of this game, but it went sideways in the tail end of the third quarter. It came down to turnovers, which let them get back into the game. Those turnovers also quickly turned into points on the other side as they are good at running the court. We'll have to look at what to fix and be ready come Wednesday for the home game against Utah State."
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Atosu led all scorers with 23 points, the fourth time she has scored over 20 in a game this season. McKenna Hofschild added 17 points and Karly Murphy had 15 rebounds, which marked her new career high. Cierra Winters led the Falcons in scoring with 19 points, while Lauren McDonald and Riley Snyder added 15 points each. Down low, Haley Jones snatched a team-high 12 boards.
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Colorado State started the game off hot with an 11-0 run that prompted an Air Force timeout, but soon enough the Falcons began to match the Rams' energy. At the half, CSU led by just two, which was extended to 10 midway through the third quarter. Air Force had the last four points to go into the fourth quarter, which the Falcons controlled the rest of the way, outscoring the Rams 19-9.
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The Rams had 12 turnovers that resulted in 15 points for Air Force and four of the turnovers occurred in the final quarter. Lastly, the Falcons added 12 offensive rebounds which led to 13 second chance points.
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Next, the Rams will return home to host Utah State for the annual Orange Out game on Wednesday, Feb. 9th with a 6 p.m. tip inside Moby Arena.
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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In a game that the Rams controlled for the majority, the Falcons changed the pace in the fourth and halted the Ram offense. The Rams shot just 2 for 12 from the field in the quarter, while the Falcons were 6-of-18 shooting from the field. The Rams entered the fourth quarter with a six-point cushion, but the Falcons quickly drained a 3 in the opening minute to pull within one possession. Twice CSU extended its lead to five points, but the Falcons' defense proceeded to force three turnovers in the following minutes and took the lead at 61-60 with two minutes left. A CSU layup from Upe Atosu coming out of a timeout kept it a one-point game with 25 seconds left. USAFA went just 3 for 5 from the free throw line in the closing seconds, however it was enough since CSU missed its last two shots.
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The Rams dropped to 14-7 overall and 5-6 in Mountain West play, as the Falcons improved to 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the Mountain West. Air Force finished shooting 41.3% from the field, while the Rams shot 36.4%. Early in the game, CSU took advantage at the free-throw line en route to ending the game with a 17-of-20 clip.
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"The beginning of the first and third quarters were superb on offense and defense, but we weren't able to sustain it," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Air Force's defense was an issue today. They outmuscled us in the paint with 36 points coming from that area. This was a tough one. We thought we had control of this game, but it went sideways in the tail end of the third quarter. It came down to turnovers, which let them get back into the game. Those turnovers also quickly turned into points on the other side as they are good at running the court. We'll have to look at what to fix and be ready come Wednesday for the home game against Utah State."
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Atosu led all scorers with 23 points, the fourth time she has scored over 20 in a game this season. McKenna Hofschild added 17 points and Karly Murphy had 15 rebounds, which marked her new career high. Cierra Winters led the Falcons in scoring with 19 points, while Lauren McDonald and Riley Snyder added 15 points each. Down low, Haley Jones snatched a team-high 12 boards.
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Colorado State started the game off hot with an 11-0 run that prompted an Air Force timeout, but soon enough the Falcons began to match the Rams' energy. At the half, CSU led by just two, which was extended to 10 midway through the third quarter. Air Force had the last four points to go into the fourth quarter, which the Falcons controlled the rest of the way, outscoring the Rams 19-9.
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The Rams had 12 turnovers that resulted in 15 points for Air Force and four of the turnovers occurred in the final quarter. Lastly, the Falcons added 12 offensive rebounds which led to 13 second chance points.
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Next, the Rams will return home to host Utah State for the annual Orange Out game on Wednesday, Feb. 9th with a 6 p.m. tip inside Moby Arena.
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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Team Stats
CSU
USAFA
FG%
.364
.413
3FG%
.316
.286
FT%
.850
.647
RB
38
37
TO
12
8
STL
4
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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