Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, November 9
Fort Collins, CO
6:30 PM
Colorado State
2-0,0-0Mountain West
83
vs
39
Alabama A&M
0-2,0-0SWAC
1
2
3
4
F
Alabama A&M
10
10
6
13
39
Colorado St.
23
20
23
17
83
Rams Roll as Defense Sets a Tone
11/9/2023 9:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Strong shooting, stifling defense leads to rout
Coaches have to find something to nitpick.
Â
It's how they keep their teams on their toes, always pushing forward. But Thursday night, Ryun Williams was struggling to come up with something after routing Alabama A&M 83-39 at Moby Arena.
Â
"Somebody stole my Powerade at halftime," the CSU women's coach said. "So, I'm a little upset with that. This was as complete of a performance as we've had to date. That's what we've been really challenging our kids to do – 40 minutes of locking into their assignment, to their playing, their execution. I thought we did that tonight.
Â
"We just played right. As a coach, that's all you want them to do."
Â
Especially when mom and dad are in attendance. Marsha and Nello Williams made the five-hour drive from Wyoming for the game, and his parents – both in their 80s – were back on the road shortly after the game to go home.
Â
Colorado State (2-0) was playing with house money early in the night, rushing out to a 15-2 lead. Shocker that McKenna Hofschild paced the effort, and through two quarters, it looked like the type of night she could name her final stat line.
Â
It would become 26 points and six rebounds for the returning Mountain West Player of the Year, and that was in three quarters of play. She watched the fourth from the bench, a positive for two reasons: One, she gets to shave some minutes on a night where she took a knee to the leg early; and two, there were more minutes for role players.
Â
It was easy to leave her on the bench because of the way the Rams played defense. The Bulldogs shot just 30 percent in the game, went 0-of-14 from behind the arc and only earned six trips to the line.
Â
Hannah Ronsiek said the scout was good, and so was the plan. They sagged off shooters but were prepared for penetration. When it comes to Williams, she said he's never going to nag them about their offense, but defense is something he's been harping on, for good reason.
Â
The Rams were not awful defensively last season, but they all knew they could get better. For the team to achieve set goals, Ronsiek knows the path is through improved defense.
Â
"He's always saying we can get kind of whatever we want offensively. We have shooters, drivers, finishers, it's just getting it done on the defensive end because at the end of the day everybody has that," she said. "We just have to get stops to get where we want to go."
Â
It wasn't just the starting five locked in, but up and down the lineup. Kendyll Kinzer came off the bench and had one of the team's five blocks, one the seen steals. Cali Clark hauled in nine rebounds, and Sydney Mech swatted away two attempts.
Â
They were moving, switching and most importantly, talking.
Â
"Something we game planned was how quick they were, so that means we had to kind of pack it in the paint a little bit, and that means we had more communication when it came to team defense," Carman said. "I think that kind of clicked for us tonight. We were firing on all cylinders. They turned the ball over a little bit, we were able to control that which then translated into offense."
Â
Which she was finally able to be part of on the night. The transfer hadn't hit a shot as a Ram, not even in the exhibition, despite her stroke looking fast and smooth. The range was just off, and a shooter will wear that heavy at times.
Â
When she finally drained a 3, she gave a fist pump which spoke volumes. Then she hit another before the game was done.
Â
"I was a in a slump a little bit. You know, the best way to do it is just shoot your way out of it," she said. "All of my teammates have been so confident with me. They never questioned my ability to shoot. They always pass the ball to me and pass it to me at the right time, it was just up to me to have the confidence within myself. Seeing that first one go down as a Ram officially …"
Â
She finished with eight, as did Kinzer and Meghan Boyd. Ronsiek snapped a bit of a slump herself with nine, a total Sanna Strom matched. In all, 10 Rams scored in the game on a night they shot 50.9 percent from the field, even better from deep (51.9).
Â
But defense stole the show, just as sure as somebody snatched Williams' drink.
Â
Whoever took it had better remain quiet because Williams was looking for something to be mad about. He just couldn't find one reason.
Â
Â
It's how they keep their teams on their toes, always pushing forward. But Thursday night, Ryun Williams was struggling to come up with something after routing Alabama A&M 83-39 at Moby Arena.
Â
"Somebody stole my Powerade at halftime," the CSU women's coach said. "So, I'm a little upset with that. This was as complete of a performance as we've had to date. That's what we've been really challenging our kids to do – 40 minutes of locking into their assignment, to their playing, their execution. I thought we did that tonight.
Â
"We just played right. As a coach, that's all you want them to do."
Â
Especially when mom and dad are in attendance. Marsha and Nello Williams made the five-hour drive from Wyoming for the game, and his parents – both in their 80s – were back on the road shortly after the game to go home.
Â
Colorado State (2-0) was playing with house money early in the night, rushing out to a 15-2 lead. Shocker that McKenna Hofschild paced the effort, and through two quarters, it looked like the type of night she could name her final stat line.
Â
It would become 26 points and six rebounds for the returning Mountain West Player of the Year, and that was in three quarters of play. She watched the fourth from the bench, a positive for two reasons: One, she gets to shave some minutes on a night where she took a knee to the leg early; and two, there were more minutes for role players.
Â
It was easy to leave her on the bench because of the way the Rams played defense. The Bulldogs shot just 30 percent in the game, went 0-of-14 from behind the arc and only earned six trips to the line.
Â
Hannah Ronsiek said the scout was good, and so was the plan. They sagged off shooters but were prepared for penetration. When it comes to Williams, she said he's never going to nag them about their offense, but defense is something he's been harping on, for good reason.
Â
The Rams were not awful defensively last season, but they all knew they could get better. For the team to achieve set goals, Ronsiek knows the path is through improved defense.
Â
"He's always saying we can get kind of whatever we want offensively. We have shooters, drivers, finishers, it's just getting it done on the defensive end because at the end of the day everybody has that," she said. "We just have to get stops to get where we want to go."
Â
It wasn't just the starting five locked in, but up and down the lineup. Kendyll Kinzer came off the bench and had one of the team's five blocks, one the seen steals. Cali Clark hauled in nine rebounds, and Sydney Mech swatted away two attempts.
Â
They were moving, switching and most importantly, talking.
Â
"Something we game planned was how quick they were, so that means we had to kind of pack it in the paint a little bit, and that means we had more communication when it came to team defense," Carman said. "I think that kind of clicked for us tonight. We were firing on all cylinders. They turned the ball over a little bit, we were able to control that which then translated into offense."
Â
Which she was finally able to be part of on the night. The transfer hadn't hit a shot as a Ram, not even in the exhibition, despite her stroke looking fast and smooth. The range was just off, and a shooter will wear that heavy at times.
Â
When she finally drained a 3, she gave a fist pump which spoke volumes. Then she hit another before the game was done.
Â
"I was a in a slump a little bit. You know, the best way to do it is just shoot your way out of it," she said. "All of my teammates have been so confident with me. They never questioned my ability to shoot. They always pass the ball to me and pass it to me at the right time, it was just up to me to have the confidence within myself. Seeing that first one go down as a Ram officially …"
Â
She finished with eight, as did Kinzer and Meghan Boyd. Ronsiek snapped a bit of a slump herself with nine, a total Sanna Strom matched. In all, 10 Rams scored in the game on a night they shot 50.9 percent from the field, even better from deep (51.9).
Â
But defense stole the show, just as sure as somebody snatched Williams' drink.
Â
Whoever took it had better remain quiet because Williams was looking for something to be mad about. He just couldn't find one reason.
Â
Team Stats
AAMU
CSU
FG%
.300
.509
3FG%
.000
.519
FT%
.500
.867
RB
37
35
TO
13
5
STL
2
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballCSU Basketball (W) - 94 Feet with Marta Leimane
Wednesday, September 24
CSU Basketball (WBB) - Behind the Whiteboard with Coach Burkett
Thursday, September 11
CSU Basketball (WBB) - Behind the Whiteboard with Coach Sy
Thursday, August 28
CSU Basketball (WBB) - Gear Day 2025
Tuesday, August 26