The Colorado State University women’s basketball team faced off against the University of Wyoming for their pink out game and the first Border War battle of the season. Colorado State secured the Border War, winning 56-45.  

Colorado State is now ranked fourth in the Mountain West Conference with a record of 17-7, while Wyoming is ranked sixth in the conference with a record of 12-11. 

Both teams came out ready to play with Upe Atosu making the first bucket of the game and the Cowgirls making 3-pointers to start off the quarter. Just before the buzzer of the first quarter, junior forward Kendyll Kinzer hit a 3-pointer, making the Rams’ lead 13-9.

The first few drives the Cowgirls had in the second quarter cut CSU’s lead to one point, but that did not seem to faze the Rams. 

Both teams were forcing many turnovers and showed their effective defenses. During the battle, the Rams found themself in fouling trouble, causing head coach Ryun Williams to make multiple substitutions.

The Cowgirls had many offensive rebounds, giving them an opportunity to score second-chance points. This ended with the Cowgirls tying the half 21-21. 

The third quarter started off slow, but McKenna Hofschild did not like that and went down the court to score the first point of the quarter, an easy layup.  The Cowgirls were still aggressive on offensive rebounds, allowing them to score more second-chance points.

The Rams played good team ball and extended their lead with a three by Atosu for a 12-point lead. Atosu made three 3-pointers the last few drives the Rams had of the third quarter, pressuring the Cowgirls to a timeout. No one scored after the timeout, and the Rams lead the Cowgirls 45-33 at the end of the quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the efficient defenses on both sides showed through. The first points were scored by Kinzer on her second free throw nearly two minutes into the quarter. Kinzer also made the first field goal, a 3-pointer, four minutes into the quarter.

The Cowgirls finally made their first non-penalty shot of the fourth in the paint with just over four minutes left in the quarter. They tried to cut the lead the Rams had over them, but were only ever able to get it down to 10 points. 

The Cowgirls did not have enough to bring the Rams down and lost the Border War 56-45 in Moby Arena.

The Rams will be heading to the University of Nevada, Reno on Feb. 20 at 3 p.m.

Reach Bryson Schminke at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @brysons81.