Colorado State women’s basketball defeated Regis University 68-57 in an exhibition match Tuesday, making a statement to start off the 2024-25 season.
The Rams were led by recent graduate transfer Emma Ronsiek, who led the team in scoring with 17 points, adding along 11 rebounds and three assists.
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Being an exhibition match, the Rams will not add a tally in the regular season win column for tonight’s game. Nevertheless, there was much to take in and appreciate from tonight’s win for coach Ryun Williams and his staff, including the large contributions from two first-year players: Brooke Carlson and Kloe Froebe.
Carlson came off the bench and provided a spark in her 10 minutes tonight, adding eight points and a steal to help the Rams. Froebe also came off the bench and played a large role, logging 29 minutes to finish with 13 points and seven rebounds.
“I think they showed what they are all about,” Williams said. “Kloe and Brooke were outstanding, they are going to make something happen. … It’s evident they’ve got to be on the floor a lot, if not in the starting lineup.”
For Carlson and Froebe, not only did their box scores from Tuesday night look good, but they gave as much effort on the floor as a coach could ask for.
Froebe racking up seven rebounds at 5-foot-8 was a clear display of her all-around game and how she checks into a game ready to do whatever she needs to in order to help her squad.
“Coach always just says do your job, and before the game he told me that he needs me to rebound,” Froebe said. “That’s really what I was working on this game, just getting those boards and contributing that to the team.”
Carlson made her mark on the floor tonight, intercepting a pass leading to a fast break layup the second she checked in for her debut. Forcing jump balls, being physical driving to the rack and taking charges all added up to the positive impact she had on the floor.
In an exhibition game, Williams decided to play a 10-woman rotation and give heavy minutes to some of his players. Ronsiek played 36 minutes, Marta Leimane played 33 and Hannah Simental played 29.
“They went small ball a lot, and so we had to play that way,” Williams said. “And then you think, who’s in and who’s not. Who is performing, and who’s not. And the good thing about that is, you have options. We have options.”
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Leimane, a junior guard, is expected to have a larger role this year and is coming in with momentum, having scored in double-figures in each of her last 10 games of the 2023-24 season. She continued that streak with 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, and is embracing a larger role entering non-conference play.
“I think it is a little more pressure when everyone is expecting things from you,” Leimane said. “But I just got to be tough. I’m not a first-year, but I just got to be tough and execute and transfer that from last year to this year. Obviously, I have a bigger role this year helping everyone, the freshmen too, and I’m happy I can help (Froebe) and encourage her.”
The Rams will officially begin their regular season on Nov. 4 in Moby Arena against visiting San Francisco in hopes of advancing from a game that gave good looks at how this team can potentially gel together this season.
“It’s gonna take us a while obviously to find our way with this group,” Williams said. “We’re still finding the right kids to have out there at the right time, who can be productive. … We’ll learn a lot from this.”
Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @DImsirpasic
