Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, March 18
Portland, OR
8:00 PM
Colorado State
21-12,9-9Mountain West
63
at
72
Portland
20-10,8-7WCC
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado St.
10
22
13
18
63
Portland
20
22
11
19
72
Season Ends for Colorado State in WNIT First Round
3/18/2022 11:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Rams Fall to Portland, 72-63, in WNIT Opener
PORTLAND – Unable to erase a lopsided first quarter, Colorado State dropped its opening game of the WNIT to the Portland Pilots, 72-63, Friday evening to end the 2021-22 campaign at the Chiles Center.
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The Pilots' full-court press defense and non-stop low-post play prevent the Rams from sustaining a consistent rhythm. In the first quarter, UP outscored CSU 20-10 and provided enough cushion to carry the Pilots to the next round of the WNIT and play Oregon State. After the first frame though the Rams were able to go step for step with UP as the second quarter was even at 22-all, the third was a two-point advantage for CSU and then the fourth was just a +1 for the Pilots. An 11-0 CSU run in the third shrunk the game's margin to just one point, but a 7-0 UP followed to thwart the Ram momentum. In the fourth quarter, the Rams had a four-point deficit with eight to play, but the Pilots didn't relinquish any ground from thereafter until the final buzzer.
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"I thought our student-athletes really battled tonight against a really tough team that brought physicality from the tip," Williams said. "Our proud of how we responded beyond that first quarter that put us in a hole. The margin for error in these postseason games are so small and we filled that gap but couldn't overcome it. Portland is a great team, so credit to them. I'm very proud of this basketball team and how they fought in both postseason tournaments. We can learn from these experiences going into the offseason and next season."
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What started the Pilots hot in the first quarter was 4-of-7 shooting from deep. Ironically, Portland proceeded to miss 16 treys in a row, but the Pilots meanwhile did their damage down low with 40 paint points to CSU's 24. To bookend the game though, Portland went 3 for 5 from 3-point land to ice the game.
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Leading the Rams in scoring, McKenna Hofschild scored 19 points and tallied eight assists to conclude her final CSU single season assist record of 216 assists. Kendyll Kinzer knocked down four 3s, four steals, and three assists. Portland's Rose Pflug dropped a career-best 23 points on the back of 5 treys. Teamwise, CSU lost the rebounding battle 45-24 and shot 34.8% to Portland's 47.5%.
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The Rams did take care of the ball despite the relentless press and only turned the ball over seven times, while forcing UP into 19 turnovers.
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The Rams concluded the season with a 21-12 overall record for Williams' sixth 20-win season – most in CSU history for one coach.
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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The Pilots' full-court press defense and non-stop low-post play prevent the Rams from sustaining a consistent rhythm. In the first quarter, UP outscored CSU 20-10 and provided enough cushion to carry the Pilots to the next round of the WNIT and play Oregon State. After the first frame though the Rams were able to go step for step with UP as the second quarter was even at 22-all, the third was a two-point advantage for CSU and then the fourth was just a +1 for the Pilots. An 11-0 CSU run in the third shrunk the game's margin to just one point, but a 7-0 UP followed to thwart the Ram momentum. In the fourth quarter, the Rams had a four-point deficit with eight to play, but the Pilots didn't relinquish any ground from thereafter until the final buzzer.
Â
"I thought our student-athletes really battled tonight against a really tough team that brought physicality from the tip," Williams said. "Our proud of how we responded beyond that first quarter that put us in a hole. The margin for error in these postseason games are so small and we filled that gap but couldn't overcome it. Portland is a great team, so credit to them. I'm very proud of this basketball team and how they fought in both postseason tournaments. We can learn from these experiences going into the offseason and next season."
Â
What started the Pilots hot in the first quarter was 4-of-7 shooting from deep. Ironically, Portland proceeded to miss 16 treys in a row, but the Pilots meanwhile did their damage down low with 40 paint points to CSU's 24. To bookend the game though, Portland went 3 for 5 from 3-point land to ice the game.
Â
Leading the Rams in scoring, McKenna Hofschild scored 19 points and tallied eight assists to conclude her final CSU single season assist record of 216 assists. Kendyll Kinzer knocked down four 3s, four steals, and three assists. Portland's Rose Pflug dropped a career-best 23 points on the back of 5 treys. Teamwise, CSU lost the rebounding battle 45-24 and shot 34.8% to Portland's 47.5%.
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The Rams did take care of the ball despite the relentless press and only turned the ball over seven times, while forcing UP into 19 turnovers.
Â
The Rams concluded the season with a 21-12 overall record for Williams' sixth 20-win season – most in CSU history for one coach.
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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
UP
FG%
.348
.475
3FG%
.333
.250
FT%
.727
.750
RB
24
45
TO
7
19
STL
12
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
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