Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, March 1
Fort Collins, Colo.
6:00 PM
Colorado State
21-9,12-5Mountain West
55
vs
68
Wyoming
19-10,13-4Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Wyoming
13
19
21
15
68
Colorado St.
12
21
12
10
55
Rams Fall to Cowgirls on Senior Night
3/1/2025 8:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CSU shooters go cold in second half
Much of what teams play a conference schedule for was locked into place long before Saturday's tipoff. Both teams were in place as either the second or third seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament, regardless of the night's result and the game which follows. Nothing was going to change.
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In essence, Colorado State and Wyoming were meeting to see which team – should the tournament go chalk in Las Vegas in two weeks – would be designated as the home team on a neutral floor, which locker room they would be assigned because of the distinction and whether or not you'd play an earlier game the second day or the late game both games.
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Not exactly a lot on the line.
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Not until you consider the fact the game is the Border War, the seventh-most played rivalry in women's college basketball, this being the 116th meeting in their history. A long history. A storied history. A respect-filled distaste for the opponent.
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Emotions the Rams are having to deal with a bit more after a 68-55 loss on senior night at Moby Arena.
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"It's no fun. We had an opportunity to sweep the Border War and didn't get it done," CSU coach Ryun Williams said. "We don't like losing at all. We had a tough year at Moby on Saturday's. We won one time."
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A tight game would be expected, which it was in the first half. Then the Cowgirls came out firing to start the second, reeling off an 8-0 fueled by a couple of 3-pointers in less than 50 seconds.
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It never got better. Call it semantics, a flaw on one end of the court leading to issues on the other. Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
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"We didn't do great offensively, but I think it started on defense first," Hannah Ronsiek said. "Coming out in the second half, they got on a roll a little bit; I think it was an 8-0 run. We just weren't able to get stops, and I think that definitely did translate into our offense. We just never really found our flow in the second half."
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Down 53-48 to start the fourth, the Rams did get some stops at the start, but the second part of building a rally is to convert on the offensive end. No matter how many good looks the Rams had, they couldn't get shots to fall.
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They shot just 25.9 percent in the second half, making just 3-of-12 from deep, and two of those came from Jadyn Fife in the fourth quarter. Emma Ronsiek had 17 in the game, but just four in the second half. Hannah had 13, only three in the final two stanzas.
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"I thought the right kids were getting good looks at the basket. You don't get many opportunities when you play Wyoming; the possessions are down a little bit," Williams said. "When you get some positive stuff, you have to convert, whether that's free throws … We missed some layups in the first half and some wide open 3s in the second. This time of year, everybody is playing good basketball, and you have to play well to beat a good team, and tonight we didn't play very well."
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If anything changed defensively from the first meeting, it was Colorado State did a much better job of limiting the touches of Allyson Fertig. She scored 34 in the first meeting, finishing Saturday with a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds.
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She's a haul, requiring more than one defender.
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"Yeah. It's like a brick wall," Fife said. "Especially in the first quarter, and I'd say the second quarter. Then I think it got away from us in the second half. She got more lobs over the back, and she'd seal us too deep."
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Fertig also had help this time. Malene Pederson led the team with 16, and Emily Mellema and Tess Barnes – neither of whom scored in Laramie – combined for 19 points, with McKindley Dickerson producing 12.
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So now Wyoming is the second seed, which could still change. It plays UNLV on Wednesday, while the Rams play at San Jose State on Tuesday. Another tie would go to a tiebreaker, well down the line, and there are some games which could alter.
Â
So, not a lot was lost. Not a lot would have actually been gained. But the sting was very real.
Â
"No. Especially the Cowgirls," Hannah said.
Â
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In essence, Colorado State and Wyoming were meeting to see which team – should the tournament go chalk in Las Vegas in two weeks – would be designated as the home team on a neutral floor, which locker room they would be assigned because of the distinction and whether or not you'd play an earlier game the second day or the late game both games.
Â
Not exactly a lot on the line.
Â
Not until you consider the fact the game is the Border War, the seventh-most played rivalry in women's college basketball, this being the 116th meeting in their history. A long history. A storied history. A respect-filled distaste for the opponent.
Â
Emotions the Rams are having to deal with a bit more after a 68-55 loss on senior night at Moby Arena.
Â
"It's no fun. We had an opportunity to sweep the Border War and didn't get it done," CSU coach Ryun Williams said. "We don't like losing at all. We had a tough year at Moby on Saturday's. We won one time."
Â
A tight game would be expected, which it was in the first half. Then the Cowgirls came out firing to start the second, reeling off an 8-0 fueled by a couple of 3-pointers in less than 50 seconds.
Â
It never got better. Call it semantics, a flaw on one end of the court leading to issues on the other. Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Â
"We didn't do great offensively, but I think it started on defense first," Hannah Ronsiek said. "Coming out in the second half, they got on a roll a little bit; I think it was an 8-0 run. We just weren't able to get stops, and I think that definitely did translate into our offense. We just never really found our flow in the second half."
Â
Down 53-48 to start the fourth, the Rams did get some stops at the start, but the second part of building a rally is to convert on the offensive end. No matter how many good looks the Rams had, they couldn't get shots to fall.
Â
They shot just 25.9 percent in the second half, making just 3-of-12 from deep, and two of those came from Jadyn Fife in the fourth quarter. Emma Ronsiek had 17 in the game, but just four in the second half. Hannah had 13, only three in the final two stanzas.
Â
"I thought the right kids were getting good looks at the basket. You don't get many opportunities when you play Wyoming; the possessions are down a little bit," Williams said. "When you get some positive stuff, you have to convert, whether that's free throws … We missed some layups in the first half and some wide open 3s in the second. This time of year, everybody is playing good basketball, and you have to play well to beat a good team, and tonight we didn't play very well."
Â
If anything changed defensively from the first meeting, it was Colorado State did a much better job of limiting the touches of Allyson Fertig. She scored 34 in the first meeting, finishing Saturday with a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds.
Â
She's a haul, requiring more than one defender.
Â
"Yeah. It's like a brick wall," Fife said. "Especially in the first quarter, and I'd say the second quarter. Then I think it got away from us in the second half. She got more lobs over the back, and she'd seal us too deep."
Â
Fertig also had help this time. Malene Pederson led the team with 16, and Emily Mellema and Tess Barnes – neither of whom scored in Laramie – combined for 19 points, with McKindley Dickerson producing 12.
Â
So now Wyoming is the second seed, which could still change. It plays UNLV on Wednesday, while the Rams play at San Jose State on Tuesday. Another tie would go to a tiebreaker, well down the line, and there are some games which could alter.
Â
So, not a lot was lost. Not a lot would have actually been gained. But the sting was very real.
Â
"No. Especially the Cowgirls," Hannah said.
Â
Team Stats
UW
CSU
FG%
.490
.345
3FG%
.364
.333
FT%
.857
.833
RB
40
24
TO
13
7
STL
3
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
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