Women’s basketball takes down Nevada, faces New Mexico next
Collegian | Serena Bettis
Kendyll Kinzer (0), Colorado State University forward, looks for a teammate to make an inbound pass to during the Rams’ game against the United States Air Force Academy Jan. 13 The Rams lost to Air Force 52-77.
CTV Sports
January 28, 2022
Moby Madness continued as the Colorado State University women’s basketball team battled against the University of Nevada, Reno, and came out on top with the win. The Rams sported Colorado State alumnus and basketball icon Becky Hammon jerseys for this game.
Ready to Show These Off Tonight ✨#CSURams x @CSUEquipment pic.twitter.com/vXTnrkkqYl
— Colorado State Women’s Basketball (@CSUWBasketball) January 27, 2022
The game started off with fast pace excitement with Nevada in a full-court press. Despite the pressure, the Rams seemed to be working in the paint, playing off Karly Murphy, hoping she would create space for the shooters on the team.
Nevada’s Wolf Pack had a fast-paced offense that impacted the Rams, whose defense lost track of who they were guarding. The Rams attacked off this, though, and had several offensive rebounds and open shots when crossing the half-court line.
The Rams had no answer for Da’Ja Hamilton, as she had already contributed nine of the Wolf Pack’s 14 points in the first quarter. Colorado State subbed in Anna Prim to put pressure on Hamilton. This decision worked in favor of the Rams because Hamilton only made one basket in all of the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Rams shot well and hit several threes, finishing the first half over Nevada at 30-24.
Nevada started on defense in the second half, but they were trying to play off Hamilton to score most of their points. The Rams showed their amazing team offense by pushing back and showing that everyone was a threat at scoring the ball.
The Rams were catching the Wolf Pack on back-door passes. This gave the Rams easy layups, since Nevada seemed only focused on the ball and not the player they were guarding. Although both teams were having a great offensive showdown, there did not seem to be a ton of scoring in the third quarter. Nevada caught up late in the quarter, making it a close call at 43-39 Rams.
McKenna Hofschild was not getting any calls to go her way as she pushed through players to get to the paint, but the team set her up with screens, giving her mid-range shots that were rarely contested.
The Moby Madness grew as fans went into the fourth quarter screaming and cheering for the ultimate push-through win. Nevada seemed to rely on Hamilton to be the scorer to beat the Rams. The defense that the Rams played prevented her from doing much in the quarter, though, and she could not secure the win on her own.
The Rams were having problems with the shot clock with two plays reviewed. Both were overturned and called for shot clock violations.
Nevada, in a crunch, decided to put more pressure on their full-court press. This led to the team having more aggressive fouls, putting the Rams on the free-throw line. The game ended with a Rams victory over Nevada, 66-55.
The Rams will take to the road and face off against the University of New Mexico on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
Reach Bryson Schminke at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @brysons81.