Defining Seniority in the Face of Tribulation

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Mar 3

8:00 PM

Women's Basketball

at San Jose State

Mar 7

TBA

Women's Basketball

vs Mountain West Tournament

Being a senior in the literal sense becomes difficult to define when looking back on what it took to get there.

It can be easy to start with a play though.

Which is exactly what Colorado State did while taking on Air Force for the second time this season now at home in a 66-52 win.

Because, as bittersweet as it was with seniors Lexus Bargesser, Hannah Ronsiek, Marta Leimane, Jadyn Fife, Lexi Deden and Madelyn Bragg all leaving, there is still much to go. And the Rams looked to be unclouded by the finite endings awaiting them at the end of the season. And they knew what they could do too: adapt.

"We've been battling teams all season long," Bargesser said. "Our losses aren't by much and our wins aren't always by much, so we just need to stay composed. We realize that basketball is a game of runs, and you know that they went on one, so it was time for us to go on ours."

The run was started with the Falcons' aggressive play out of the tip. Despite playing zone, once anyone had possession of the ball they were targeted.

An adjustment was needed in the second quarter. The Falcons were outplaying the Rams from deep, but they knew what could help. A deep breath and recenter. It was fueled by a layup from Bragg which made way to a 3 from Bargesser which changed perspective.

"Sometimes you just have to get the game calmed down in your heads, right?" coach Ryun Williams said. "There's a lot of emotion with the start of senior day and everybody wants to do so good. We needed to get the game calmed down in our heads. We need to see the ball go through the basket a little bit. I thought those types of plays just calmed us down."

Those plays were the backdrop to the rebounding masterclass Kloe Froebe achieved with 20 attached to her third double-double of the season. As well as it being a career high, she marks the achievement by being the first Ram since 2020 to achieve the feat. The last who did it and No. 1 in the record book for single-game rebounds, is Annie Brady, now an assistant coach for the program.

Froebe was getting a lot of pressure and while she made it to the line eight times, the weight didn't rest on only her shoulders. Her toughness was only expounded by the grit of her teammates.

"I think we definitely learned a lot from this game," Leimane said. "We got to grow with toughness, and I think this game really helped us to take that next step for us to do better in the tournament. I think it's a good way to end the season with tough teams to prepare for the tournament."

The toughness shows up in the paint.

Tough plays marked by free throw line trips and change of possession all made way to the 38 points the Rams achieved in the paint.

"Air Force's plan today was to really press out on shooters," Williams said. "There were driving lanes and lines to the basket and that's why we had a lot of attempts at the rim. That's just how they played us. Some nights they really collapse in the lane, and you kick it and you shoot the three. But I thought we just did a nice job of adjusting to how they were playing us. I love that we just stayed aggressive the whole game. We didn't let their disruption just kind of get us on our heels. But, you know, Marty's three was huge."

The 3-pointer Leimane cooked up came with seven minutes left and fired up the crowd and the bench. Though she doesn't make them often, she knows when she can.

And it being senior day, well that just made it that much sweeter.

"I was really happy I made it," Leimane said. "There was definitely a lot of emotion out there today and I'm just really happy that we get to end Moby's season on a good note and that we got that dub. We had to get that next level, and I think we proved it today."

The next level comes off the tail end of a tear‑filled senior day.

What lingered after the buzzer wasn't just the scoreboard or the applause — it was the sense of arrival that strange moment when being a "senior" stops being a far‑off label and instead becomes something felt, worn and earned. The weight of four years not as something heavy, but as something grounding. The Rams' final regular‑season home game wasn't the close of a chapter so much as a handoff to what comes next.

"They made it really difficult for a lot of us, but you want that," Williams said. "Those are, those are ones that they'll remember. And so we had to play really well and really tough today against an Air Force team that really came ready to go today. And I give them a lot of credit, and it was a hard-fought basketball game."

And maybe that's the part that circles back to what being a senior really means. It isn't defined by age, or years, or even by how many games remain. It's defined by the moments which demand adaptation.

Looking back on what it took to get here does make "senior" hard to define, but watching what they did with those years makes it easier to understand. It's growing into composure. It's learning to adjust. It's finding the next level even when the season's edge is in sight.

A level which waits for them during their last regular-season game.

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