Defense Continues to Give Team a Chance

He had a couple of stalwart defenders coming back. He was pretty sure two young pieces were going to continue to improve. The question was how well and quickly the newcomers would pick up the system.

From the jump it turns out because Colorado State's women's basketball team is playing better defense than it has in almost a decade.

"I'm sure to coach it was definitely a pleasant surprise. I think this is a testament to we have three – Jadyn (Fife), Hannah (Ronsiek) and Marta (Leimane) -- all have been here for four years and so they know the program. They know how coach likes to run his defense," sophomore Kloe Froebe said. "They know what to do for certain plays and everything, so just having those three to be there to guide us and know what's going on has been great for us.

"None of us wants to be the one that gets scored on, and so I think that we just go out there and we communicate and we all just kind of give it our all."

And not give up much. Just 55.6 points per outing through 22 games, the best figure since the 2016-17 campaign. Teams are shooting just 36.4 percent against the Rams, giving them a chance to win basically every night out.

Both of those figures lead the Mountain West. CSU is also third in the league when it comes to blocking shots. The old, the new and the improving blended together over the summer, with coach Ryun Williams feeling what had been lacking in recent years was found through hard work and the portal.

"The kids that we brought in are playing a lot of those minutes and the transfers physically were ready to go. That's an area where they were pretty experienced," Williams said. "(Lexus) Bargesser is an elite defender; (Maddie) Bragg's size and (Lexi) Dedan's size and their versatility with their feet I think really, really helped us. So the areas that we probably lacked last year defensively, we kind of shored up with those kids.

"Then Kloe and Brooke (Carlson) being just more familiar with what we expect of them ... They've improved by leaps and bounds. That was really, really helpful for us to become a much better defensive team. And Hannah and Marty, they've been defensive-first type of players. We leaned on those two kids early and I think they just helped us grow. Kids really bought into how we need to go about this and it's carried into really every game that we've played."

Bringing a defensive reputation to the fold was a plus for Bargesser, but she knew it alone wasn't going to be enough.

She still had to adapt her toolbelt to the system Colorado State uses. She was able to do so in part because those who knew the system were ready to help her acclimate. It requires repetition, learning from the missed assignments and strong communication. The last piece is one Williams says still has the most room for improvement, but when it comes to the team concept, Bargesser loves the way her team plays cohesively.

"It's been super helpful. Obviously, this is a very different defensive plan than I've done in my college career so far, and just to have their experience on the floor and their work ethic, I think it really rubbed off on all of us," Bargesser said. "It is a really good feeling, especially because you don't know if you're going to have good offensive night as a team, and to know that from the start our defense has always been a staple for us is a really, really good feeling."

During non-conference play, both sides were clicking together, the defense fueling a strong offensive effort. In those first 10 games, the Rams were averaging 70 points per game, and the shooting was solid. Only twice in the first 10 games did the Rams shoot less than 40 percent in a contest.

Then came Mountain West play. In those 12 games, the team is scoring just 62 points a night, and half of those games the Rams have shot less than 40 percent from the field. Those are offensive numbers the team hasn't dealt with in six seasons.

Getting good shots has not been the problem.

"You look at the shots that we've been taking over the last two or three basketball games, they were better shots than we got, say, early in the year out at Gonzaga, out at Oregon State," Williams said. "But making is an important part of this. We're taking good shots but we gotta make the shots and we've just got some kids who are just in a little bit of an offensive low right now.

"The inconsistency on that end of the floor has kinda led to some tough losses, to be honest with you. And so we need makers. We've got the takers going right now but we need some better makers."

Particularly coming down the stretch, with just eight games remaining before the conference tournament. The goal is to earn one of the first-round byes and shorten up the workload required in Las Vegas, to play three games in as many days, not four.

This week was the bye week for the team, with just one game. Williams has scheduled it as such to eliminate some wear and tear, get their legs back to fresh, at least by February's standards. But the push to the end starts with rival Wyoming at home Saturday (2 p.m.). The closing stretch also includes the back half of that rivalry and a game each with San Diego State and New Mexico on the road, UNLV at home.

Nothing will come easy, so the easy shots the Rams have been missing need to start falling again. They realize it as much as anybody, but they'll take the same approach.

"You've got to have belief in your teammates and in yourself at the end of the day. I think that we have that," Froebe said. "Right now, it's just us against ourselves. We've just got to continue to believe in ourselves. We know that come tournament time, we'll be ready."

The hard part is what they've made look easy – stingy defense setting up good offensive looks. It's the easy part the Rams are out to make look simple once again.

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