The Colorado State University women’s basketball team played their fourth and final game of their road trip against the University of Northern Colorado Bears. In a triple overtime thriller, the Rams failed to bring home the win, losing 102-91 and dropping to 4-3 on the season.

“Hofschild scored 27 points and added seven assists to continue her stellar season, but despite the Rams’ efforts, the team wasn’t able to overcome (Gabi) Fields, who had a night for the Bears, scoring a game-high 36 points. Her pure offensive dominance proved too much for the Rams to overcome.”

The killer for the Rams was their poor shooting to start the game. At halftime the Rams had shot only 2-13 from the 3-point line, making it one of their worst shooting halves of the season. Despite the Rams’ poor shooting and UNC shooting 50% from three at halftime, the Rams were able to keep it an eight-point game at the half with good defense. 

The Rams missed a lot early on, setting the tone for the first half. They didn’t make a field goal until five minutes into the game, and they were still trailing by 11 points. While the Rams ended up making some shots after that time, they were not able to knock down a three in the first quarter, which is something they’ve done well this season. The Rams ended the quarter shooting 0-7 from beyond the arc. 

The Rams started the second quarter with an urgency and at one point got the game within two points, but they failed to capitalize on it. This was the story for the Rams for the rest of the night, as they had several chances to either take the lead or make the game out of reach but failed to do so. 

One of those moments came in the first overtime, when the Rams were up by two points late in the frame. UNC redshirt freshman guard Averee Kleinhans missed a layup but rebounded her miss and put it back to tie up the game at 78 points. Had the Rams been able to rebound the ball, they likely would have been fouled and had a chance to clinch it with free throws. On the very next play, McKenna Hofschild turned the ball over. 

The Rams had the chance to put the game away at the end of the second overtime, but Cailyn Crocker missed a contested jump shot, which forced a third overtime. The third overtime is when things went downhill for the Rams: At the very beginning, Rams redshirt senior guard Sydney Mech injured what appeared to be her ankle on a layup. 

At the time of her injury, Mech was the Rams’ second leading scorer of the game with 19 points. Mech’s offense was missed down the stretch, as the Rams went scoreless for nearly three minutes after Mech left the court. While the Rams were able to keep it close for a couple minutes after her injury, Kleinhans hit a contested three, and UNC freshman guard Gabi Fields hit another three to put a dagger in the Rams’ hopes of recovering. 

Hofschild scored 27 points and added seven assists to continue her stellar season, but despite the Rams’ efforts, the team wasn’t able to overcome Fields, who had a night for the Bears, scoring a game-high 36 points. Her pure offensive dominance proved too much for the Rams to overcome. 

The Rams will look to bounce back after a tough loss when they return to Moby Arena after the long road trip. They will take on the Western Michigan University Broncos at noon Dec. 3. The Broncos currently sit at 2-3 on the season. 

Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.