As Colorado State‘s women’s basketball broke their huddle after practice, each player yelled “family” and raised their hand.
For CSU, that’s more than a way to cap off a great practice — it’s a defining principle. In a landscape filled with competition and criticism, the Rams found a way to embody the term more fully than a typical team would. As the athletes gear up for a challenging 2024 schedule, they welcome plenty of new faces into the household.
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With the departure of eight veterans from last year’s lineup, the women’s basketball team has looked to younger players to step up alongside key transfers.
Two journeywomen, Hannah Ronsiek and Marta Leimane, have gone from sophomores with more positional roles to the athletes most familiar in the system. Their part on the team will evolve this season, as the team lost their superstar, McKenna Hofschild, this past offseason. Hannah Ronsiek’s reunited sister, Emma Ronsiek, will also assert herself as a big part of the game plan as a transferring graduate and seasoned veteran.
“One reason I actually chose Colorado State was because it reminded me a lot of my high school back home, and really, Colorado State has lived up to all my expectations.” –Kloe Froebe, guard
Coach Ryun Williams is familiar with the team and its transitions, as he’s going on 12 seasons with the program and withstood several cast adjustments.
“Marta’s going to have to make that next step,” Williams said. “She had a great finish to the season, and it looks like that’s carrying over to this year. Emma Ronsiek is obviously very, very good. She’s probably a little better than I thought she was, so that’s been a fun surprise.”
While experienced anchors are crucial, new and exciting talent opens doors for the future. Kloe Froebe and Caitlin Kramer are among the first-years joining the team, and both are coming off highly successful high school careers. Froebe was named the 2024 Illinois Miss Basketball and 2024 Gatorade Illinois Girls Basketball Player of the Year, while Kramer was named Player of the Year by The Gazette in 2023.
With some vacancy on the CSU roster, fighting for a starting position isn’t out of the question. Preseason is still well underway, and adjusting to the system will be their main focus.
“I think, obviously, the intensity is going to increase as you step to that next level,” Froebe said. “It’s definitely been a challenge. Just the first few weeks were definitely different, but I think that overall it’s been great and super positive.”
Williams doesn’t cut new players any slack; however, he places an emphasis on teammate support. The women ended their first open practice by gathering in a circle and highlighting different players’ strengths from the session. The start of the season has tested the athletes but has brought them together, too.
“Yes, we are competing against each other in a way,” Hannah Ronsiek said. “But at the end of the day, we’re all on the same team and competing for the same thing. So it’s all love at the end of the day — it’s nothing against one another.”
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The Rams have a tough ordeal ahead, so elevating each other through competition will likely help. The nonconference schedule features San Francisco, Oregon State, Gonzaga and UTEP, among other teams.
“Hopefully it prepares us really well,” Williams said. “The Mountain West has really been pretty tough over the last three, four years. I like the schedule — it’s challenging. I think we’ve got some kids that really are hungry to play that schedule, so it’ll be fun.”
Last season, the Rams ended up losing to UNLV in the second round of the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament after a solid season. Acquiring an automatic ticket to the NCAA tournament comes with winning the Mountain West Championship, which is always a goal. The team will have to take the year game by game and work on the small things.
“We’re still learning as a group, collectively, the importance of every single possession and how detailed you have to have to be in our concepts,” Williams said. “They had a good, hard practice today. They went hard, but you (have) got to perform the details. And we’ll surely grow into that.”
The team’s season kicks off in an exhibition game against Regis Oct. 29, followed by the nonconference lineup. A new chapter in women’s basketball is ready to unfold at CSU.
“One reason I actually chose Colorado State was because it reminded me a lot of my high school back home,” Froebe said. “And really, Colorado State has lived up to all my expectations — it’s a great community, and this community support is amazing.”
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @michaelfhovey.
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