Rams Get Defensive To Win Mountain West Championship

LAS VEGAS – Two teams separated by 133 miles of I-25, squads which have played 76 times in their history, both traveled more than 800 miles to play for the biggest prize the Mountain West has to offer and something even bigger.

A trip to the NCAA Tournament.

They played through six ties and five lead changes, the final advantage taken by Colorado State with 7:33 remaining in the third quarter, though very little of that time remaining was ever really spent comfortably as the Rams advanced to March Madness for the first time since 2016 with a 56-42 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The best defensive team in the league won a defensive game by doing what they do best and executing it against the hottest player in the field, Air Force guard Milahnie Perry.

Perry led the Falcons with 14 points as she set the tournament scoring record with 92 in the amazing four-game run for the ninth-seeded team, earning her tournament MVP honors.

If her shadow has a name, it's Marta Leimane, who guarded her most of the night, forcing her into a 6-of-18 shooting performance, her lowest output of the four tournament games and all three contests against the Rams.

Ask the Falcons, even Perry, it was all on them, mainly the fatigue of playing four days.

That was their take, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. The Ram had one, as well, believing the truth fell somewhere in the middle.

"Those kids play with such incredible effort. I'm sure they had to be somewhat fatigued, but I would like to think that the Latvian Bear here had a lot to say about that," Williams said, referring to Leimane. "And our entire team, we were really connected defensively. Everything was well-contested, and I thought once we started rebounding the ball better in the second half, we finally got some traction offensively. These kids find a way. Some nights it's scoring it; some nights it's guarding. Tonight it was the team D."

Entering the game, Colorado State was playing once again without the league newcomer of the year, Lexus Bargesser, and it was she who mainly drew the assignment of guarding Perry.

For Williams, there was only one option – Leimane – and she played all 40 minutes.

"There was no question. You need length. You need experience on Perry," he said. "She is unbelievable. You know, when Lex is out of the game, especially at Moby, (Leimane) did a great job on her, and that's when we kind of got some separation two weeks ago. So we had all the confidence in the world in Marty, but she was always fresh when she guarded Perry a couple of weeks ago. I mean, there were a couple of times I looked at Marty, she couldn't even see straight she was so tired. We played her 40 minutes. She was the one kid that we felt could really kind of bother her getting to the pull-up. Marty is a very instinctive, smart defender. That's what you need to have on Perry."

The Rams knew Perry's offense was generated by going to her right, and Leimane – who scored eight herself -- just didn't allow it to happen without resistance. Her positioning was perfect, her ability to fight through screens stalwart.

There were switches, so multiple people played a role. But Leimane had a plan and never strayed.

"I think she has a really great pull-up, and she has that little cross to her pull-up, and I think I kind of studied that before and just locked in on D," Leimane said. "It was a good day. It was a good day for defense."

A winning effort had to start there, but on a night where buckets were hard to come by, Colorado State had one constant, Madelyn Bragg inside. She scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was so tough to handle, conference defensive player of the year Jayda McNabb fouled out in trying to slow her down.

The performance came two nights after draining the game winning basket in the opening win against Grand Canyon, and she delivered in the second half with nine of her points on her way to making the all-tournament team.

It was the first time in five games the post scored in double figures, combing the output with her normal strong defensive presence, leaving her feeling on the upswing.

"Better tonight than the last two nights. Or last night, I guess," Bragg said. "Yeah, I feel good. I'm happy that I was scoring well and I'm happy that my teammates were trusting me with it in my hands tonight."

MW champs

It took awhile for the Rams to get out of their own way. They yielded 14 offensive rebounds, giving the Falcons plenty of extra shots – 21 more than CSU – but the positive was it only led to 11 extra-chance points. The 12 turnovers were problematic in spots, too.

A 36-35 lead with 7:13 in the game became a 45-35 advantage with Bragg scoring five of those points. Carlson, who struggled early to finish at the rim, scored eight in the final stretch to lead all scorers with 17, landing her a spot on the all-tourney team.

Finally a chance to breath, but Bragg never questioned the heart, however.

"I knew that we were going to be good, and I knew that we had a shot. Honestly, throughout this whole tournament I've never doubted it," Bragg said. "I've never had that feeling where it's, like, OK, they might sneak up and get the upset. In any of these games, UNLV too, it was the same mindset. I'm so confident in this team's abilities. We've persevered throughout trials and tribulations all year long. That's what we do. We're scrappers. We've got all the pieces to be successful. I'm just really proud, and I knew that we were capable of doing this from the jump."

Now, 10 years after guiding a team to the NCAA Tournament, Williams gets to do it again. Time, place and opponent haven't even started to matter yet. Getting back took a heck of an effort on a Tuesday night, and the first priority was to celebrate.

Not just the win, but the people who were celebrating.

"I'm just so happy for those kids. To see Hannah Ronsiek smile like that, to see Marty, Jadyn (Fife), those kids who have been here for four years, I mean, that is … Just to see the joy on their face," Williams said. "That means a lot to a coach. And I like that it wasn't easy, right? It was not easy. Mainly that. I was happy for those young ladies. They work. Our team really, really works. They deserve this. They've earned it, and hard work paid off."

One by one, they took the steps up the ladder to cut off a piece of the net, Williams wearing it around his neck during the press conference. For someone like Leimane, it was four years in the making, but the last 40 were possibly the most challenging.

"Honestly, I had no idea what to do. I didn't know how to cut the net," she said. "I was just doing something, but it was really, really fun. I'm glad that I get to share it with these people and get to call them my second family."

And in their last season in the Mountain West, the Rams gained another game to play after claiming a third tournament title. Totally worth the trip.

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