Some wins are earned the hard way.
Colorado State women’s basketball toughed out a victory over Nevada 70-59 Wednesday after a less-than-ideal first half and a big second.
“We could have easily lost that game,” head coach Ryun Williams said. “We could (have) easily (lost), but we didn’t. You know, they slugged that baby out. They found a way.”
The first half was not CSU’s best showing by any means. UNR came to play, which the coaching staff predicted, but the players needed some time to take UNR’s threat seriously.
Maia Rosarion and the rest of the Wolf Pack out-muscled the Rams in the first 20 minutes. Rosarian shot 5-of-7 with 12 points by the end of the first half, one point behind CSU guard Kloe Froebe, who shot 3-of-3 from deep to keep the Rams afloat while they got cramped defensively.
“We had a lot of breakdowns, a lot of missed assignments,” Williams said. “But (the players) did a great job of correcting it.”
The Rams have recently loved having big third quarters. The team came out of that tunnel after regrouping and dominated the next 10 minutes of game time.
CSU locked in offensively and defensively and closed out the quarter on a 17-2 run with 15 rebounds, and the Wolf Pack only totaled five points compared to the Rams’ 20.
“They know how to respond,” Williams said. “You saw a different mentality.”
Williams was hesitant to reveal the whole secret formula that boosts the team to such efficient thirds, but he did attribute their recent successes to the maturity of the group.
“Anybody that knows coach Williams knows he can get a little feisty, especially when we’re not playing to his standards,” center Madelyn Bragg said. “If he didn’t care about us the way that he does, he wouldn’t get after us the way that he does.”
Halftime is about helping the players realize what will happen if they don’t change.
And Williams doesn’t want his players looking back at these last few conference games and regret not fighting hard enough to improve their standings. With this win, CSU has the four seed locked, meaning this team is a moving target when the Mountain West Tournament tips off in two weeks in Las Vegas.
“I think we just have to stay mentally tough; we’ve got to stay together,” Froebe said. “Those teams have nothing to lose, so we need to come out and perform every night.”
Williams praised the game-saving performances from both Froebe and Bragg.
The two players finished with 17 points each, but Bragg also got her second double-double of the season with an additional 10 rebounds.
A key to the Rams’ offensive growth is knocking down 3’s, and according to Williams, this is something the team has been doing well lately.
Froebe went 3-of-5 beyond the arc, and the sophomore has seen the 15.2% 3-point conversion from her freshman season jump to 40.4% in 2025- 26.
“I think being able to play freshman year just really helped grow my confidence going into this year,” Froebe said. “Having spring and summer to really just develop with the coaches and learn what they wanted for me has really helped.”
Bragg has also put up consistent numbers in recent games and stepped up again Wednesday.
“When I’m playing well in the paint, that brings a double,” Bragg said. “We’re going to get open looks on the perimeter, and then once we start making it, it’s kind of hard for teams to guard us.”
Coming up, CSU will travel to Laramie to take on Wyoming Feb. 21. The Rams will look to rectify their recent 30-point loss against the Cowgirls and get one step closer to finishing out the season.
Reach Jenna Jenkins at sports@collegian.com or on X @JennaCollegian
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