Led by 31 points from Patrick, Colorado State women’s basketball captured its first win of the season Tuesday night, overpowering Division II Colorado School of Mines Orediggers Tuesday night with a 99-45 win.

The Rams dominated control from the opening tip, starting the game on a 12-0 run fueled by five points from Patrick on a layup and the first of her school-record tying eight three pointers in a single game.

Courtney Martin, sister of former Ram forward Sam Martin, put the Orediggers on the board with a post a move before the Rams went on another 9-0 run to push the score to 21-2 in the game’s opening minutes.

CSU found its way to the rim for close baskets with ease. After the Rams’ hot start, Keyora Wharry came in off the bench to make an immediate impact, finding Patrick for another three and setting up Elin Gustavsson with a pass that split Mines’ zone, the Rams were up by 25 before the Orediggers scored again.

Patrick continued her scoring exhibition as the first half came to an end, hitting her fourth and fifth three-pointers in succesion and then scoring on a drive into the lane before getting to the line for her 20th point of the first half.

Taylor Helbig kept the Orediggers within 30 as the half ended when she hit a deep three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to make the score 50-23 at the break.

The Rams kept their foot on the gas pedal to begin the second half, as Patrick hit her sixth three in the opening minutes. Wharry continued to slice through the Orediggers’ defense at will as well, getting to the rim several times with a couple spin moves, finishing over the top of defenders. Wharry finished with 21 points and seven assists in only 19 minutes.

Patrick hit her record-tying eighth three pointer of the night with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Patrick now shares the single-game record for three pointers with Kim Mestdagh, Sara Hunter and CSU legend Becky Hammon, who accomplished the feat twice in 1996 and 1997.

“I was feeling it tonight,” Patrick said of her shooting. “They were open shots. Without my teammates, I couldn’t have done that.”

Colorado State found its way to the 54-point win without much help from senior veterans Gritt Ryder and AJ Newton. Ryder saw no action at all as she sat out with an ankle injury suffered in Friday’s loss in the season opener versus Hawaii, and Newton saw only seven minutes as head coach Ryun Williams said she was battling “a funny injury.”

“It was so nice to win by 50,”  Gustavsson said. “As a team we needed it.”

Williams was pleased with how poised his team looked Tuesday night. After the Rams’ loss to Hawaii this weekend, Williams stated he was disappointed with his team’s decision making, especially in transition. But he saw a step in the right direction against the Ordediggers.

“I thought we were really good in the push tonight, really good in transition,” Williams said. “It wasn’t always really fast, it was very controlled tonight. Our decision making was a lot better tonight than last Friday.”

Colorado State finishes up a three-game home stand to open its season Sunday against Illinois State. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. tipoff.

Collegian Sports Reporter Sam Lounsberry can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @samlounz.