Welcome back Colorado State basketball.
In an 87-50 win, CSU women’s basketball defeated the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in an exhibition match.
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While the game won’t count toward official stats, there was plenty to be excited about in CSU’s return to Moby Arena. The Rams showcased their talent, with most of their production coming from their returning players.
Marta Leimane was part of those players who returned this season. She had a good night, posting a stat line of 11 points, two rebounds, two assist, a block and a steal.
Leimane saw just six and a half minutes in her inaugural season with the Rams. She’s poised to have an increased role for the team this year.
“I’m so excited to help the team and play more with my teammates,” Leimane said. “Last year I watched more from the bench, but it was still awesome. Now it’s going to be even more awesome.”
McKenna Hofschild picked up right where she left off, finishing with 19 points, three rebounds and six assists in her 26 minutes. Hofschild has been, and will continue to be, one of the main driving forces behind the Rams lethal offense.
Part of being so lethal on offense is the perimeter shot for the Rams. They showed out from beyond the arc hitting 41% of their 3-point shots.
Hannah Ronsiek is going to be a part of that lethal-perimeter play that the Rams aim to have this season. She joined Hofschild as the second starter in the backcourt against UCCS and showed why she’ll be a big part of the offense this season. The sophomore showed her shooting prowess, hitting 50% of the 3-point shots that she took.
“She’s starting — she’s going to play a lot of minutes,” coach Ryun Williams said. “She’s a really big-time threat from the perimeter. … I think Hannah’s primed to have a really nice year.”
With Ronsiek unable to be left alone on the perimeter, that frees up space in the paint. Cailyn Crocker — a key player returning to the Rams this season — made it a point to get to the basket Thursday night.
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Crocker was the second-leading scorer on the team, scoring 15 points and only missed one shot, which was a 3-pointer. Crocker said she worked on her 3-point shot this offseason because teams were keying in on her driving to the rim. But she’s still focused on reading what the defense gives her.
“I am focusing on doing whatever I read the defense to do,” Crocker said. “(UCCS) played more off of me. … I think just being able to attack the gaps and see how that works, but I’m just trying to do whatever needs to be done.”
While the Rams mostly saw success in their exhibition match, Wofford transfer Jackie Carman struggled. Carman played 23 minutes Thursday night, going 0-7 from the field and recording only one rebound and one turnover.
While it wasn’t the best debut for Carman, Williams said that he’s not worried about her one bit.
“It’s Moby Arena (for the) first time,” Williams said. “And you kind of want to show out, and so I’m not worried one bit about Jackie. That kid’s a rock star.”
Another struggle for the Rams came in the rebound battle, where they were out rebounded 38-33 by the Mountain Lions.
That’s likely something the Rams will have to overcome again this season. Last year, they ranked toward the bottom of the MW in rebounding margin, tallying a -4.94 differential.
While that’s a problem the Rams will have to address during the season, Crocker and her teammates were just excited to get back on the hardwood.
“It’s extremely nice,” Crocker said. “Just the vibes of the whole day was just like, ‘Game day is finally back here.’ It was super exciting. I know we’re excited to play against other people other than ourselves.”
CSU officially opens up their season against Le Moyne College at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in Moby Arena, kick-starting a four-game homestand.
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
