Rams Suffer Loss in Hard Battle to Lady Rebels

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The view from atop the Mountain West will have to wait for another time.

On the annual "Fight Like a Ram" game for Colorado State, they would battle but be on the receiving end of a losing effort. UNLV came into Moby Arena as the leader in the Mountain West and left their mark in a 63-58 win.

"We knew it was going to be difficult, you had to strain and fight for everything," head coach Ryun Williams said. "The game is kind of what we expected, a close hard-fought game, and a game where we had to make winning plays."

Colorado State's (13-6, 6-2) only conference losses have come against the Rebels, in a combined eight points. UNLV completes the season sweep against the Rams and push its winning streak to 10-straight to remain atop and undefeated in the Mountain West.

The Rams knew coming in this would be a game to circle on the calendar. The Rebels are the best of the best, and Williams commented on it in his postgame comments after their win Thursday over Nevada. However, UNLV had a different look this time around than last time these two faced off in Cox Pavilion.

"Totally different game, they guarded us totally different," Williams said. "We guarded much better, we did a nice job on Desi (Rae-Young), but (Essence) Booker was the difference for them. She had a big-time game, but it was two different games to be honest with you."

McKenna Hofschild led the Rams once again as she has for a lot of this season. Saturday's afternoon performance included 17 points and seven assists, leading the team in dishes.

While Hofschild did her best to put the team on her shoulders, another player did her part as well. Cailyn Crocker put up 19 points, tying her season-high in the loss. The loss, coming on the "Fight Like a Ram" game, let emotions run wild.

"This was a heavy game with everything surrounding our cancer warriors," Crocker said with tears in her eyes. "I just found out my cancer warrior was in remission and now has six months to live. It means so much to see a smile on her face just because I was able to wear her jersey means a lot and just for her to see her name running down the court. We may have lost, but we gained a lot meeting our cancer warriors."

The Rebels managed to get out early in this affair and force the Rams to play from behind for much of the game. UNLV would put the pressure on CSU early, particularly with their full-court press defense.

With their style of defense, it almost seemed as if the Rams couldn't do much to break through. This created turnovers and rushes down the other way. However, once Colorado State managed to break through the pressure, about half of the shot clock would usually be run down and leave limited time to set up offensive moves.

"We battled, it sucks to come out on the losing end twice," Hofschild said. "We know we're right there with UNLV and that we can beat that team, but it's going to propel us forward. When we see them in the tournament, we're going to bring everything we have, and I think it will bring a different outcome."

While a win would've propelled the Rams to the top of the Mountain West, they now must worry about teams behind them. In particular, San Diego State and Wyoming are right down their throat with one extra loss than the Rams right now in the conference but the same amount of wins.

They will have to do it with more quick turnarounds ahead of them. Several slates of Thursday-Saturday games are in the distant future for the Rams – as it is for most everybody in the Mountain West. Games are coming quick and fast, and Colorado State needs to be prepared.

"Now we've got to regroup," Williams said. "We've got a big road swing at New Mexico and at Air Force; we'll learn from this, it will make us tougher, better, hungrier. There's no doubt in my mind that will happen."

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