Rams Stare Down Adversity with Legends Courtside

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The lineup on the floor to end the final minute of the third quarter was one Ryun Williams never envisioned he'd use.

All-American point guard McKenna Hofschild was on the bench, protected from her three fouls. Marta Leimane, the backup point guard, had just left the floor with a cut on her nose. The next viable option, Hannah Ronsiek, was already sidelined after sustaining a broken nose in the game.

Enter Sanna Strom, point guard, who figured the last time she'd been at the spot was four or five weeks ago.

"No. No," the Colorado State women's basketball coach said. "No. I mean, no. Sanna did play some point for us in Spain. That might have been the last time. She's lying when she said it's been four or five weeks. No, it's been fourth months ago."

A week back, the Rams were a team insisting they needed to get better at the little things after an 0-2 start to Mountain West play. Saturday at Moby Arena the Rams weaved through a range of Ripley's Believe it Not scenarios to post a 61-56 win over New Mexico to even the conference mark at 2-2 (11-4 overall).

On the day, arguably the three best basketball players in program history were in attendance. The good fortune was one of them was on the floor.

As Becky Hammon and Katie Cronin took in the game courtside, Hofschild came out to spark a blazing start for Colorado State, hitting all three of her shots (two of them treys) and posting a pair of assists as the hosts took a 21-9 lead after the first.

Then the team shot just 2-of-17 from the field in the second quarter. Still, the Rams led at the break. Then the third quarter, the Rams' nose-to-the-ball mentality became all too literal.

Hannah Ronsiek, who was struggling shooting but had cleaned eight rebounds and blocked a trio of shots, drew an offensive foul and an elbow to the nose midway through the stanza. She would be sidelined the remainder of the game. It wasn't much longer before Leimane drew contact and a cut bridge of her nose in the process, and she'd sit the remainder.

It led to a host of offensive and defensive changes, and while there were some spurts of breakdowns, the overall adjustment was to settle down and settle in to post the win. Heck, the Rams actually played a zone.

Strom, who had a seven-point burst in the third as she finished with nine, said every player's defensive assignment changed, making New Mexico's 37.3 percent shooting even more impressive.

"Things changed," Strom said. "Yes, we were following the plan, but the plan also had to change throughout the game, and I think we adjusted well to that. We had to do what we had to do."

Hofschild was herself most of the night. The Lobos (2-2, 11-5) didn't surrender the lane to her, but she was a crisp 8-of-14 from the floor with a pair of 3s to finish with 23 points. She had six assists, not bad considering the rest of the team shot 14-of-43 from the field.

Williams said he doesn't have a problem with missed shots, but he does take issue when they are taken sans conviction or with hesitancy, which he felt he witnessed a lot the middle two quarters. At one point, Cailyn Crocker passed up an open 3, leading to Hofschild to tell her teammate she can't pass up such an opportunity.

A trip later down the floor, Hofschild repeated the feed and Crocker nailed the 3.

"I think this was a game that really tested our strength, kind of tested the belief and the resiliency we had in each other and our team, and we came out on top," Hofschild said. "When Hannah when down and then Marty went down, it takes all the rest of us to lift up and kind of come back together and get a win. I think this is probably my favorite win. Maybe the ugliest win, but it's my favorite win of the season just because there were a lot of different things that happen that usually don't happen in a basketball game, but we got it done and we did it together."

Sydney Mech was the only other Ram in double figures, finishing with 10. Kendyll Kinzer collected nine.

The Lobos made a push in the fourth, but Mech and Crocker both had big 3s, and when the lead was down to 59-55 with 33 seconds remaining, Mech hit a couple of free throws after the Rams broke full-court pressure.

With royalty court side, Williams believe his team put on a good show.

"To have the greatest of all time sitting front row watching you play, and you play a very inspired tough game, a lot like Cronin, a lot like Becky – those are tough competitive players," Williams said. "To get a win that way, I think they probably liked that."

So did the Rams. It wasn't so long ago they were searching for answers, many to questions they knew prior. Saturday they were very much met with a pop quiz on information never before presented.

Point taken. Point made.

"I think this was really good of us. We found a way to win, and that's what you've got to do every game," Strom said. "We faced some challenges we haven't faced before, but honestly, I thought it was fun to run the point."

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