Rams Advance to Championship Game

LAS VEGAS – Ryun Williams knew he owed someone a text.

Five years ago he was sitting in his chair in the women's basketball office watching film of a recruit. Standing off the side was his newly hired assistant coach. Point blank he asked her: Do we want her?

Williams, the Colorado State basketball coach, knew the answer he wanted to hear, but he was testing Kyley Bachand -- now the head coach at South Dakota Mines -- by putting her on the spot. Her response: Yes.

Right answer. He told her to call her.

The player in question: Marta Leimane.

"I'm going to text her immediately when I'm done with your silly questions. I think we owe Kyley a dinner or something, because that was a very good recruit," Williams said. "And Marty has been special, you guys. You can tell by the way she talks. She's all team-first. Always has been. Whatever we've asked Marty to do, she has done with a very cheerful heart and whatever the team needs. She's had performances like that tonight."

The senior has had plenty of big moments in her career. She's always played great defense, and she's shown the ability to light teams up offensively. Never was she more important to the cause than Monday night in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament, especially considering the circumstances.

Leading scorer and league Newcomer of the Year Lexus Bargesser was watching from the bench, her left knee iced, after hobbling off the court with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter. At the time, the Rams were struggling to finish possessions. They were getting good looks; the shots just weren't dropping.

When Bargesser first left the floor, the group huddled.

"We were just talking about how we are going to play together, keep it up," guard Brooke Carlson said. "As Coach was saying, nothing is stronger than a wounded bear, so we knew that we had to keep playing and fight through it."

But what kind?

"A Latvian bear," said Leimane, to which Williams added, "that's her nickname."

Leimane came in and hit a 3. Then another. Then McKenna Murphy hit one. At the end of the half, Leimane hit her third trifecta of the game, and the contest was knotted at 28.

A senior knows when their time is coming to a close, and Leimane suggested as much a few weeks back after a big performance. When a season is at a one-and-done stage – and thus, a career – motivation to perform isn't hard to find.

"We don't have a lot of these left, and I'm thankful that we've got one more," Leimane said. "But yeah, that was my mentality. I'm pretty sure that's all of us. We kind of talked about it. It's now or never, you know. We kind of picked it up, and it was pretty good."

Colorado State took the lead for the first time in the third quarter, that came after it had trailed by as much as eight at one point in the second. The bench was definitely key with the team's leading scorer in the locker room, and the clutch performances of Leimane and Murphy lead to group confidence.

Just as key was the defense being played inside by Hannah Ronsiek and Madelyn Bragg. Those two, with help from others, made it a frustrating night for Meadow Roland and Shelbee Brown, limiting them to a combined 6-of-25 shooting for a collective 16 points. Aaliyah Alexander 4led all scorers with 22, but the Rams knew they had to limit the impact of someone in the trio.

Limiting two was even better.

"I thought the kids that battled, Roland and Brown tonight were phenomenal. I mean, that is some toughness right there," Williams said. "Those two are very, very difficult to handle. They play with incredible force. They're both very skilled. It took a team effort obviously, but they're tired. Maddie Bragg, what did she have, four points tonight? And the last time we beat them in Fort Collins, Maddie had two points. Yet, she was the MVP of the game in my mind, because of the force and how she disrupted their interior play.

"Tonight was no different. I thought Hannah -- that's a tough ask. Hannah is used to guarding guards, and we think Roland is a big guard, in all honesty. She's got some force. I thought Hannah had her toughest performance as a Ram ever."

Williams said he felt all they needed was to make one of those open looks and the feeling would spread. Carlson missed her first five shots, one of which was blocked. Kloe Froebe missed her first seven and was swatted a couple of times.

Still, they kept coming. Drive the lane. Find the open shot. Take it with conviction. Ronsiek got in the act with a pair of 3s, moving her to fourth at CSU in career 3s made (183).

"I feel like it's one of those games where that's going to happen. You've got to just keep playing through it," Carlson said. "You've got to trust in the work you do, trust in your teammates, and just find a way to get it done, whether it's either passing it or finishing it. So however you can get it done on the offensive end, you get it done."

With a quick start to the fourth quarter, Colorado State built its lead up to as much as 13 points. UNLV put on full-court pressure, and in a span of 22 seconds, used a couple of turnovers to generate a 7-0 run with less than a minute on the clock, the lead down to 59-55. With 28 seconds remaining, Sydni Summers hit a deep 3 to make it a one-possession game at 61-58, but they never got closer. Carlson iced the game by hitting all six of her free throw attempts in the final minute, leading the team with 19 points by nailing down one of the most special wins in program history.

A key starter out against a strong team on both ends of the floor playing in its hometown. It's a win Williams won't forget soon.

"Totally. That was the message to the group after the game is I don't think I've ever been more proud of a group because of that and because it was … Like, we lean on Lex a lot. A lot. That young lady is a huge on-ball defender for us. She's a rebounder. She's tough. We ask her to score it. She's an all-conference performer. When that goes down, for a team to rally behind that, that just shows you how much they really care for each other right there. Really neat to see. Yeah, couldn't be more proud."

Or happier for a player. Leimane's 16 points were the most by a CSU bench player in the tournament since 2008 (Emily Neal, 17).

"Totally, and that was the big message at halftime. Your role is this now, so embrace it," Williams said of his halftime talk with Leimane. "Don't be afraid of it. Go.

"Yeah, it was needed, obviously. We were sitting there on the bench like, let's go, let's make some of these. I think once we -- and we said in the timeout, just somebody make one and it will become contagious. Lo and behold, it was Marty that got us going. It was neat to see her just build the confidence for our entire group."

Most definitely. A thank you text was in order.

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Brooke Carlson

Marta Leimane

Hannah Ronsiek

McKenna Murphy

Players Mentioned

Lexus Bargesser

Madelyn Bragg

Brooke Carlson

Kloe Froebe

Marta Leimane

McKenna Murphy

Hannah Ronsiek

Players Mentioned

Lexus Bargesser

Madelyn Bragg

Brooke Carlson

Kloe Froebe

Marta Leimane

McKenna Murphy

Hannah Ronsiek

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