CSU falls to CU, Andrea Brady scores career-high 26 points

Bailey Shepherd

November 23, 2019

Any head coach will tell you that every game on the schedule is important, but there’s always going to be those few games that carry extra weight. That’s what the atmosphere felt like on Friday when the University of Colorado women’s basketball team came to town to take on Colorado State.

Despite playing with high intensity the whole night and Andrea Brady scoring a career-high 26 points for the Rams, the rival Buffs came out on top with a 79-75 win.

Both teams looked evenly matched up, sharing near-identical shooting stats. The 3-point shot was working early on for both teams, seeing the Rams and Buffs shoot 50% from behind the arc off of 2-4 and 4-8 shooting respectively. High-intensity defense down low helped the Rams force eight turnovers in the first quarter, leading to nine points from turnovers for CSU early on.

Andrea Brady (32) drives towards the basket and shoots a layup while drawing a foul — Andrea Brady (32) drives toward the basket and shoots a layup while drawing a foul during Colorado State’s game against the University of Colorado on Nov. 22. CSU fell 79-75. (Devin Cornelius | Collegian)

It slowly became clearer and clearer who was going to step up for the Rams in this game. After starting 2-6 (33.3%) from the field, redshirt senior Brady went a perfect 3-3 in the second period, including two well-executed shots from deep to add to the Rams’ resurgent effort in the second.

Graduate forward Makenzie Ellis added an impressive nine second-quarter points off of 4-5 (80%) shooting from the field. These performances, coupled with an impressive 75% 3-point shooting percentage in the quarter, were enough to give the Rams a 37-36 lead going into halftime.

While the Rams put on an exhilarating flurry of potent offensive possessions late in the second, CSU seemed to lose a little bit of their edge in the third quarter. Colorado guard Quinessa Caylao-Do proved instrumental to the Buffs’ offense in the third quarter, asserting herself with seven points off of 2-3 (66.6%) shooting and a perfect percentage from the foul line.

The real show began in the final quarter of play. Both teams put in an impressive shift, shooting over 63% from the field in the fourth. Brady secured her career-high points tally after adding nine points in the final period to give herself 26 points in the game.

The difference-maker late on was the 3-point shot, as Colorado shot an astounding 80% from deep in the final frame to finish the game. After eight lead changes in the quarter and the desperate exchange of fouls later on, the Rams’ effort wasn’t enough, as Colorado edged out a 79-75 win in Moby Arena.

“Everything was so timely tonight,” head coach Ryun Williams said. “Give CU credit; they made some timely threes late, and we had some timely turnovers and missed free throws, but those won’t last. We’re going to grow up because of this. I love how we fought.”

Megan Jacobs (3) shoots the ball from just inside the freethrow line — Megan Jacobs (3) shoots the ball from just inside the free-throw line as Colorado State takes on the University of Colorado at Moby Arena on Nov. 22. CSU fell 75-79. (Devin Cornelius | Collegian)

While Williams and his team were disappointed to not get the win against a rival team, Williams still had high praise for how his team played and how he expects them to play in the future.

“I like this basketball team,” Williams said. “I really like my basketball team. We’re coming.”

Friday’s loss means CSU has lost three games in a row now, bringing their record to 3-3 while CU improves to 4-0 on the season. However, this was by far the best game the Rams have played this year, and there’s no doubt they’ll be looking to prove and show exactly the kind of team they are as they prepare to take on Incarnate Word on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

Bailey Shepherd can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @B_Sheps.

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About the Contributor

Devin Cornelius, Digital Managing Editor

Devin Cornelius is the digital managing editor for The Collegian. He is a fifth-year computer science major from Austin, Texas. He moved to Colorado State University and started working for The Collegian in 2017 as a photographer. His passion for photography began in high school, so finding a photography job in college was one of his top priorities. He primarily takes sports photos, volleyball being his favorite to shoot. Having been on The Collegian staff for 4 1/2 years, he's watched the paper evolve from a daily to a weekly paper, and being involved in this transition is interesting and exciting. Although Cornelius is a computer science major, his time at The Collegian has been the most fulfilling experience in his college career — he has loved every second. From working 12-hour days to taking photos in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference, he cannot think of a better place to work. Working as a photographer for The Collegian pushed him outside of his comfort zone, taking him places that he never expected and making him the photographer he is today. As the digital managing editor, Cornelius oversees the photos, graphics and social media of The Collegian along with other small tech things. Working on the editorial staff with Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis has been super fun and extremely rewarding, and together they have been pushing The Collegian toward being an alt-weekly. Outside of The Collegian, he enjoys playing volleyball, rugby, tumbling and a variety of video games. When in Austin, you can find him out on the lake, wake surfing, wake boarding and tubing. You can expect that Cornelius and the rest of The Collegian staff will do their best to provide you with interesting and exciting content.

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