Colorado State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 28
Fort Collins, Colo.
11:00 AM
Colorado State
17-5,8-3Mountain West
44
vs
46
San Diego State
16-3,10-0Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
San Diego St.
14
4
12
16
46
Colorado St.
3
11
12
18
44
Rams Can’t Match Up Effort Against Aztecs
1/28/2026 2:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Offensive woes costly in outcome
Perfect on one end. Perfectly frustrated on the other.
Defensively, Colorado State women's basketball team did everything it designed against Mountain West leader San Diego State. The Aztecs were the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging just shy of 76 points per night. In league play, SDSU has been averaging 10 made 3-pointers a contest, all spearheaded by a trio of guards averaging double figures.
None of that happened Wednesday at Moby Arena, and if the CSU side were told that it would all be true prior to tipoff, they would have figured it was their night.
Not offensively.
Shooting a season-worst 30.5 percent, Colorado State missed a prime opportunity to hand the Aztecs their first conference setback of the season but instead fell 46-44 on Education Day in front of a crowd of 5,582, the majority of them fourth and fifth graders from the Poudre and Thompson school districts, and one could argue their volume gave the Rams an additional chance to steal the game.
"That's the hard part, is that we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole early, where we just felt like we were a deer in headlights, playing a little too tentative, and they kind of were the aggressor, and they kind of punched us in the face," CSU assistant coach Rico Burkett said. "But to our kids' credit, I think they did a good job of just kind of settling in and balancing it out. But again, at the end of the day, you've got to finish what you've got to finish.
"We had some opportunities, and we let them off the hook, and to their credit, they made the necessary plays."
The start was hard for the Rams to watch. They scored just three points in the first 10 minutes, the only basket coming from Jadyn Fife off the bench with 2:36 remaining in the quarter. The Rams almost flipped the script in the second with an 11-4 advantage to make it a game. In the third, the two sides played it even though an 11-0 run from one half to the other had the Rams a basket away from tying or taking the lead.
That wouldn't come until the fourth quarter, when Brooke Carlson drove the lane and hit a lefty layup to give CSU it's first lead. From there, it was battle.
Actually, it was all game. Both teams were stingy defensively, contesting shots inside and around the arc. Very few baskets were given, which made those chances even more important to make.
And with the game in the balance down the stretch, Colorado State missed four consecutive layups, enabling San Diego State to go from down three to up five.
Shots will be missed. It happens. Missing uncontested attempts at the rim make an offense cringe. For the Rams, more than anything, it's those shots which will do the haunting.
"I really think that kind of took a toll on us, but at least today it didn't affect our defense. I feel like sometimes that does happen, but we kept going defensively, we kept getting stops," Carlson said. "So it's just seeing the ball fall in the net that confidence gets built up throughout a game, and I feel like we just couldn't find that throughout this game, but it's always up from here.
"I guess it is that type of night and we still converted defensively. That's why I'm keep saying like defensively. We are amazing tonight, so we've just got to find it offensively together as a team."
It was an outing which highlighted Carlson's improvement her sophomore season. She can still drive the basket, left or right, and beat defenders with a burst of speed, but she's finishing better, even when contested.
Defensively, she will still take chances, but she's more calculated. She's better on ball, and it showed as the Aztecs' guards never got on track. It wasn't her alone, but she plays a big role, and it allows the Rams to do more defensively.
She did it all on one particular play. She blocked a 3-point attempt at the top of the key, secured the carom and turned it into a transition layup as she finished with 13 points.
"Brooke's amazing in our defense. We put her on their best scorers, and she holds them to well under 10 most nights," classmate Kloe Froebe said. "It just helps us tremendously when she's able to take those quick, twitchy players and their best scorers."
Carlson, who was a consistent 6-of-13 from the floor, hit a layup to put the Rams up 38-35 with 3:53 to go. That's when the Rams missed the four consecutive great looks.
"Those are momentum breakers. You know, you get the stop, and we're kind of building some momentum, getting stops on the defensive end, but then you've got to cash that in," Burkett said. "And I think we took a three-point lead at one point and had some of those opportunities, and we've got to extend there and continue to be solid defensively.
"And we played some unconventional lineups tonight. We didn't think that inside our post play was giving us as much from the offense and the defensive side of it. And to our credit, the smaller lineup gave us an opportunity to get some stops, but then again, you've got to convert and make them pay, and we just didn't do it enough."
All seemed loss when the Aztecs built a 45-38 lead with just 28 seconds remaining, but somehow the Rams fought back.
Hannah Ronsiek hit an and-1 to cut into the lead, and the Rams started fouling to send the Aztecs to the line. That's when the youngsters in attendance started screaming at airliner decibels.
Two missed free throws later, McKenna Murphy hit a 3 at the top of the key (the Rams were just 2-of-13 from deep) to make it a 45-44 game with 8 seconds remaining.
Another foul. Two more missed free throws, but the Aztecs grabbed the board which led to a tie-up – costing CSU valuable time. Another foul, another missed free throw before Nala Williams hit the second.
A timeout moved the ball to midcourt, but the Rams turned it over on the final possession, allowing the Aztecs to leave unscathed and still unbeaten.
Not all missed shots are the same. In the identical vein, not all losses feel the same, either. The first part was why the second part felt so true.
"I think we'll just we just gotta bounce back. Again, it was really reassuring for on the defensive end just to know that we can beat them," Froebe said. "We can't beat them. And so I know that we'll just bounce back better."
Defensively, Colorado State women's basketball team did everything it designed against Mountain West leader San Diego State. The Aztecs were the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging just shy of 76 points per night. In league play, SDSU has been averaging 10 made 3-pointers a contest, all spearheaded by a trio of guards averaging double figures.
None of that happened Wednesday at Moby Arena, and if the CSU side were told that it would all be true prior to tipoff, they would have figured it was their night.
Not offensively.
Shooting a season-worst 30.5 percent, Colorado State missed a prime opportunity to hand the Aztecs their first conference setback of the season but instead fell 46-44 on Education Day in front of a crowd of 5,582, the majority of them fourth and fifth graders from the Poudre and Thompson school districts, and one could argue their volume gave the Rams an additional chance to steal the game.
"That's the hard part, is that we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole early, where we just felt like we were a deer in headlights, playing a little too tentative, and they kind of were the aggressor, and they kind of punched us in the face," CSU assistant coach Rico Burkett said. "But to our kids' credit, I think they did a good job of just kind of settling in and balancing it out. But again, at the end of the day, you've got to finish what you've got to finish.
"We had some opportunities, and we let them off the hook, and to their credit, they made the necessary plays."
The start was hard for the Rams to watch. They scored just three points in the first 10 minutes, the only basket coming from Jadyn Fife off the bench with 2:36 remaining in the quarter. The Rams almost flipped the script in the second with an 11-4 advantage to make it a game. In the third, the two sides played it even though an 11-0 run from one half to the other had the Rams a basket away from tying or taking the lead.
That wouldn't come until the fourth quarter, when Brooke Carlson drove the lane and hit a lefty layup to give CSU it's first lead. From there, it was battle.
Actually, it was all game. Both teams were stingy defensively, contesting shots inside and around the arc. Very few baskets were given, which made those chances even more important to make.
And with the game in the balance down the stretch, Colorado State missed four consecutive layups, enabling San Diego State to go from down three to up five.
Shots will be missed. It happens. Missing uncontested attempts at the rim make an offense cringe. For the Rams, more than anything, it's those shots which will do the haunting.
"I really think that kind of took a toll on us, but at least today it didn't affect our defense. I feel like sometimes that does happen, but we kept going defensively, we kept getting stops," Carlson said. "So it's just seeing the ball fall in the net that confidence gets built up throughout a game, and I feel like we just couldn't find that throughout this game, but it's always up from here.
"I guess it is that type of night and we still converted defensively. That's why I'm keep saying like defensively. We are amazing tonight, so we've just got to find it offensively together as a team."
It was an outing which highlighted Carlson's improvement her sophomore season. She can still drive the basket, left or right, and beat defenders with a burst of speed, but she's finishing better, even when contested.
Defensively, she will still take chances, but she's more calculated. She's better on ball, and it showed as the Aztecs' guards never got on track. It wasn't her alone, but she plays a big role, and it allows the Rams to do more defensively.
She did it all on one particular play. She blocked a 3-point attempt at the top of the key, secured the carom and turned it into a transition layup as she finished with 13 points.
"Brooke's amazing in our defense. We put her on their best scorers, and she holds them to well under 10 most nights," classmate Kloe Froebe said. "It just helps us tremendously when she's able to take those quick, twitchy players and their best scorers."
Carlson, who was a consistent 6-of-13 from the floor, hit a layup to put the Rams up 38-35 with 3:53 to go. That's when the Rams missed the four consecutive great looks.
"Those are momentum breakers. You know, you get the stop, and we're kind of building some momentum, getting stops on the defensive end, but then you've got to cash that in," Burkett said. "And I think we took a three-point lead at one point and had some of those opportunities, and we've got to extend there and continue to be solid defensively.
"And we played some unconventional lineups tonight. We didn't think that inside our post play was giving us as much from the offense and the defensive side of it. And to our credit, the smaller lineup gave us an opportunity to get some stops, but then again, you've got to convert and make them pay, and we just didn't do it enough."
All seemed loss when the Aztecs built a 45-38 lead with just 28 seconds remaining, but somehow the Rams fought back.
Hannah Ronsiek hit an and-1 to cut into the lead, and the Rams started fouling to send the Aztecs to the line. That's when the youngsters in attendance started screaming at airliner decibels.
Two missed free throws later, McKenna Murphy hit a 3 at the top of the key (the Rams were just 2-of-13 from deep) to make it a 45-44 game with 8 seconds remaining.
Another foul. Two more missed free throws, but the Aztecs grabbed the board which led to a tie-up – costing CSU valuable time. Another foul, another missed free throw before Nala Williams hit the second.
A timeout moved the ball to midcourt, but the Rams turned it over on the final possession, allowing the Aztecs to leave unscathed and still unbeaten.
Not all missed shots are the same. In the identical vein, not all losses feel the same, either. The first part was why the second part felt so true.
"I think we'll just we just gotta bounce back. Again, it was really reassuring for on the defensive end just to know that we can beat them," Froebe said. "We can't beat them. And so I know that we'll just bounce back better."
Team Stats
SDSU
CSU
FG%
.340
.305
3FG%
.000
.154
FT%
.571
.600
RB
51
30
TO
16
6
STL
2
7
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballColorado State Basketball (W): Froebe (L) and Carlson (R) Post-Game (Grand Canyon, 25-26)
Wednesday, January 28
Colorado State Basketball (W): Rico Burkett Post-Game (SDSU, 25-26)
Wednesday, January 28
Colorado State Basketball (W): Ronsiek (L) and Froebe (R) Post-Game (Grand Canyon, 25-26)
Wednesday, January 21
Colorado State Basketball (W): Ryun Williams Post-Game (Grand Canyon, 25-26)
Wednesday, January 21