A new era for Colorado state women’s basketball has begun in a strong way.

A dominant third quarter paved the way for a 78-47 Rams victory over Southern to improve to 4-1 on the young season.

The Jaguars held a 5-4 lead at the 7:14 mark of the first quarter, and that was the last time they would be in front for the remainder of the contest.

Fueled by an 11-0 second quarter run, the Rams were able to hold a 13-point lead heading into the half, and just continued to add on to their point total after winning the third quarter 23-9.

The Jaguars only scored 18 points total in the second and third quarters, and committed 16 turnovers in the game as a result of a high-intensity defensive performance from the Rams.

“They take pride in defending, and they were really focused on just doing their job,” coach Ryun Williams said. “We are just really connected, and we did our job. We didn’t miss many switches in that first half, we kept the ball in front of us.”

Neither team was able to get their outside shots to fall on Tuesday, especially the Rams who could not buy a 3-pointer in the first half, going 3-of-17 in those first 20 minutes of play.

CSU’s ability to firmly close out the game in the second half came from a far more positive 3-point shooting outcome, going 6-for-11 from beyond the arc in the final half of play.

“On the offensive end, the dribble-drive and also that we are all threats from the 3-point line and on the drive, so they have to help and that opens it up,” guard Sanna Strom said. “When we start to play for each other, that’s when our shots are open and they start to fall as well.”

Emma Ronsiek led the scoring for the Rams on Tuesday with 14 points – chipping in seven rebounds – but other contributions came from her sister, Hannah Ronsiek, as well as Strom, each chipping in 13 points of their own.

“We have a lot of weapons this year,” Hannah Ronsiek said. “And I think that once we just settle into our offense and – I mean, game-by-game, we are going to get better, so every single day we are going to get better shots and they’re gonna fall.”

As she has done all season so far, the first-year Brooke Carlson came off the bench and provided a spark that led to the Rams 11-0 second quarter run. She finished with 11 points in only 19 minutes, adding two rebounds, two assists, and a 3-ball.

“It’s really nice to see these last couple games, Brooke Carlson has been Brooke Carlson,” Williams said. “And that’s what I challenge her to be – just go be Brooke. I think you are seeing her really settle into this season and we need it, because she can really change the game.”

On a current four-game home stand, the Rams have now forced 37 combined turnovers in their first two games of the stand, and have really proven their identity as a defense-oriented team for this season.

CSU prevented a single Jaguar player from scoring in double-digits Tuesday night, and had their number all night after knowing what they had to stop from a high-powered Southern offense coming into this one.

“Every single game I think that chemistry is growing, especially facing off different styles of play each night,” Hannah Ronsiek said. “This is a team we’ve never really faced anybody this athletic, this quick, so just getting used to different styles of play has really helped us.”

Seeing contributions from the first-year all the way to the graduate players is what has excelled the Rams to a 4-1 start. Having so many pieces to rely on this year has been a large joy in Williams’ system.

“The biggest thing is they really compete,” Williams said. “That’s what I really enjoyed about this group, is that they really really compete, they take pride in stopping somebody. … Our communication has really elevated, and that has become contagious in practices and in games, and has allowed us to perform well defensively.”

The Rams will have their third game of the home stand against Northern Arizona at 6 p.m. on Saturday and wrap things up at Moby Arena at 6:30 p.m. on Monday against Black Hills State University.

Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @DImsirpasic