LAS VEGAS —Swiss Army knives aren’t the first thing people reach for.
They aren’t always the flashiest and won’t always steal the show, but they’re there, ready for the task at hand. Marta Leimane has given Colorado State women’s basketball consistency through all four years of her career, playing with certified stars like McKenna Hofschild, Emma Ronsiek and often slotting in where needed.
Leimane wasn’t expected to top the team every night, but when the season’s scoring leader Lexus Bargesser went down in CSU’s Mountain West semifinals bout Monday, the Rams needed a new answer. And the Rams’ Latvian jack of all trades stepped up, igniting the team to a 66-59 victory over UNLV with 4-of-5 3’s and a little bit of everything else.
For an overseas recruit who wasn’t always the flashiest, Leimane has been a rock for CSU.
“It was in the summertime and we’re watching film of Marty, and basically I asked my assistant at the time, Kylie Bachand, I said, ‘The call is yours,’” head coach Ryun Williams said. “Kylie made the call. I think we owe Kylie a dinner or something, because that was a very good recruit. And Marty has been special, you guys. You can tell by the way she talks. She’s all team-first. Always has been.”
Whatever the Rams have needed across Leimane’s four seasons, she’s typically done it. The senior guard from has moved between starting roles and bench minutes, taking defensive assignments, facilitating possessions and filling whatever gaps the team needed on a given night.
That flexibility made her valuable long before Monday.
It just became far more visible when the Rams suddenly needed it.
Bargesser exited early in the first half after what appeared to be a non-contact injury, hopping toward the locker room tunnel and leaving the Rams without their leading scorer and primary offensive engine.
CSU trailed at the time and had struggled to generate much of anything through the opening minutes. UNLV’s defense came out aggressive right away, swatting away a pair of early shots and forcing the Rams into a slow offensive start that left them with just two points through the first five minutes.
Even when CSU tried to adjust, the rhythm wasn’t really there yet. Even with early doubles on Meadow Roland, the Lady Rebels still managed to find space inside, and for a stretch it looked like UNLV might be the more physical team.
“We were just talking about how we are going to play together, keep it up,” 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. At the end of the day, we came together and got it done.”
For a while the game stayed that way. UNLV led for much of the first half, and the Rams kept searching for something that would stick offensively. CSU continued to work the ball around and take open looks, even if the scoreboard didn’t move much early on.
McKenna Murphy ended up being part of the stretch that settled things down.
The junior guard checked in and knocked down a couple of shots that helped stabilize the offense after the slow start. It wasn’t a long run or anything dramatic, but the makes kept the Rams within reach while the rotation adjusted to Bargesser being out.
“Murphy is a very confident young lady,” Williams said. “Arguably you could say McKenna Murphy is one of the highlight players of this game. She hit the big one in the second half. She does a great job reading screens. I thought she guarded really well tonight. She kind of got us off that schneid as well in that first half.”
Eventually, the shots started to fall with a little more consistency.
“I think I was a little stressed before the game, and I think it actually helped me a lot walking into the game,” Leimane said. “I think I have to thank my teammates a lot for good ball movement and playing for each other, not just individually. I think that’s why I got those threes off. Once I hit that first one, I think that really boosted my confidence.”
Leimane hit three 3-pointers in the first half alone, accounting for all of CSU’s made shots from beyond the arc before the break.
The Rams went into halftime tied 28-28 after finishing the half on a small surge, hitting their final four field goals and beginning to look far more composed offensively.
“Totally, and that was the big message at halftime,” Williams said. “Your role is this now, so embrace it. Don’t be afraid of it. Go. We were sitting there on the bench early thinking we were getting good looks, just somebody make one and it will become contagious.”
Leimane kept delivering.
The Latvian senior finished with 16 points, four assists and three rebounds while playing 32 minutes, above her usual workload this season. For much of the night, she became the calm presence holding CSU’s offense together.
“I knew that I have like a big role to fill, because like Lex is a really, really good player for us, and she’s been kind of leading our team,” Leimane said. “(I) just wanted to do it for her and for our team, because if she goes down we have a lot more players that want to help each other up and pick each other up.”
But the team needed a closer, too.
Brooke Carlson has had some big games for CSU through MW play, and she kicked it up a notch to close the curtain on the Lady Rebels, putting up a team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter and sealing the game at the line.
Her poise down the stretch helped her to 7-of-7 free throws while finishing with 19 points, five assists and three rebounds in a game-high 39 minutes.
The sophomore guard had struggled early, missing her first five shots and repeatedly challenging UNLV’s rim protection without much success.
And she kept attacking.
“I feel like it’s one of those games where that’s going to happen,” Carlson said. “You (have) got to just keep playing through it. You 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.”
That persistence paid off in the final quarter.
CSU opened the fourth on a quick run, turning a tight contest into a nine-point lead just over a minute into the period. Even as UNLV increased its defensive pressure and forced a few turnovers late, the Rams maintained their composure.
“I feel like I was just trying to calm myself down, control it,” Carlson said. “Those type of situations I like to be in just with that pressure, so however I can figure out to calm myself down.”
Behind those free throws, and a defense that held UNLV to just 31.7% shooting, the Rams gradually closed the door.
Inside, CSU’s frontcourt took on the physical challenge of slowing Roland and Shelbee Brown, two of the Lady Rebels’ most imposing interior players.
The duo combined to shoot just 6-of-25 from the field, a result of constant pressure from Hannah Ronsiek, Madelyn Bragg and the Rams’ rotating defenders throughout the night.
“I thought the kids that battled Roland and Brown tonight were phenomenal,” Williams said. “That is some toughness right there. Those two are very, very difficult to handle. They play with incredible force. They’re both very skilled.”
Carlson’s final free throws pushed the lead to seven, sealing a win that required nearly every piece of the roster after Bargesser’s exit.
The Rams had spent most of the first half searching for an answer. By the final minute, they looked like a team that had simply decided to become one.
“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,” Williams said. “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.”
The Rams could have unraveled when she left.
Instead, they rallied around each other. And they will need to do it again against an Air Force team who has clawed its way from the No. 9 seed to the championship round, toppling MW powerhouse San Diego State just days ago.
“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,” Williams said. “Really neat to see. Yeah, couldn’t be more proud.”
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on social media @michaelfhovey.
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