CSU women’s basketball remains undefeated in Moby

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Collegian | Serena Bettis

Colorado State University guard McKenna Hofschild (4) drives to the basket as Western Michigan University forward Taylor Williams (33) chases after her at Moby Arena Dec. 3, 2022. Hofschild recorded a season-high 31 points alongside nine assists in the Rams’ 85-65 win.

Kaden Porter, Staff Reporter

Colorado State University women’s basketball hosted Western Michigan University in Moby Arena on Dec. 3, looking to get back on track after winning just one of their last four games. The Rams were able to do just that, beating Western Michigan 85-65 to move to 5-3 on the season.

The Rams have yet to lose a game in Moby this season, with all three of their losses coming at road and neutral sites. They also have yet to win a game by less than 20 points, with all five victories so far this season coming with a wide margin.

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“We had two starters out tonight, so I knew that we’d be missing a little bit of scoring. We all kind of stepped up and took a little more on our shoulders.” – CSU guard McKenna Hofschild

“(We had) a couple of tough losses. The Auburn game was quite deflating, and Northern Colorado was a hard-fought, emotional game,” head coach Ryun Williams said. “So we just needed a win to get that taste out of our mouths.”

Destiny Thurman and Sydney Mech, who both typically play significant minutes for the Rams, were game-time decisions with undisclosed injuries. Both were ruled out for the game.

“We had two starters out tonight, so I knew that we’d be missing a little bit of scoring,” CSU guard McKenna Hofschild said. “We all kind of stepped up and took a little more on our shoulders.”

Eager to start the game with momentum, CSU led the Broncos 25-18 after the first quarter. Hofschild scored just under half of the team’s total points through the quarter with 12. 

Hofschild continued her dominant performance into the second quarter, putting up 21 total first-half points to lead the Rams to a 49-32 halftime lead.

Western Michigan kept it closer in the second half, but the margin was already too large for the Broncos to come back. CSU slightly outscored Western Michigan, 36-33, in the second half to secure a comfortable victory.

Hofschild, who led the Rams in scoring with a season-high 31 points, also led the game in assists with nine. Forward Cali Clark and guard Meghan Boyd were the only other Rams to score in double digits, both contributing 11 points. 

“We really challenged (Hofschild) to be aggressive early; she was really that lone playmaker out there,” Williams said. “I’m really proud of how she came out and competed.”

As a team, CSU made 31 of 60 field goals, including shooting 50% from three with 11 makes on 22 attempts. The Rams also rebounded strongly, out-rebounding the Broncos 43 to 28.

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CSU will look to carry the momentum from this victory to a win in their next game, a home matchup against the University of Denver on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The Rams may be without Thurman and Mech for that game as well.

“It’s probably too early to tell, they haven’t been on the floor for us to even see where they’re at,” Williams said. “It’s a short turnaround again Tuesday, so I’d anticipate that you’ll probably see what you saw tonight out there.”

Reach Kaden Porter at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @kqporter5.