For Colorado State women’s basketball, the key to success Friday night was none other than family. This philosophy presented itself in the literal sense in CSU’s sister duo: Emma and Hannah Ronsiek. 

Going up against a team that competed in the 2024 NCAA Final Four is no small task, even with a home-court advantage. There was one thing CSU knew it had to do from its first game of the season: Clean up its offense and maintain consistency.

Throughout the Rams’ second game of the season Friday against Oregon State, the problems were practically resolved, evident through their 65-59 victory.

Confusion reared its head for the team during the first game of the season; the team acted quickly in all the wrong ways. Yet, in just the second game of the season, the Rams pulled themselves together and played cool, calm and collected.

“I think the biggest thing — and we talked to our kids about it — is you can’t get in your own head, you’ve got to get the game calmed down,” coach Ryun Williams said. “The only way you do that is just by keep working in practice, developing and building a chemistry. And I think you saw that tonight; we made some extra passes, we shared it a little better.”

Who better to have chemistry than two sisters? Sisters who feed off one another’s energy, using that fuel to perform better. 

Emma and Hannah Ronsiek were the epitome of star players in the game, leading both teams in points and scoring 50 of the 65 points from the Rams’ side. Emma Ronsiek slightly outcompeted her sister on Friday, scoring a total of 26 points, shooting 10-of-17 from the field and 6-of-11 from 3. 

“They had a nice little thing going tonight,” Williams said. “They were having fun, and they fed off of each other, and it was nice to see the ball go in early. We’ve really had some struggles in the first quarter, but they both came out with the right mindset.”

Although Emma Ronsiek led in baskets, Hannah Ronsiek ruled with her versatility. Williams noted that she may have been even better at playing defense than offense against OSU. 

Alongside the two stood Marta Leimane. Although she did not score double-digit points for her team, she led in rebounds, reaching 10 by the end of the night. 

“Marty did a great job,” Williams said. “We’re asking Marty to do some things like lead us at the point, and so she’s still figuring that out a little bit. And they had a tough guard on her all night. … There’s all kinds of ways to help a team win, and I love the fact that Marty — she can impact the game so many different ways, and it doesn’t have to be scoring.”

Although there was a solid margin between the scores, OSU managed to keep the majority of the game neck and neck. It even took the lead for a short time at the end of the second quarter and part of the third.

Williams described the Rams as impatient at the beginning of the game, but they managed to regroup, leading to their second win of the season, marking the start of a winning streak. 

“Obviously we can look back at the exhibition against Regis: We played really worked up, really fast, still won, but it wasn’t a great game for us,” Emma Ronsiek said. “Then I think against San Francisco we did a little bit of what we did at Regis. We kind of played fast, but then we ended up winning the game. … Going (into) technically our third game, I just think we played very calm.” 

A statistic to demonstrate CSU’s excellence throughout the game was the number of times OSU was able to turn the ball to its side: two. 

CSU had a clean game, forcing 13 turnovers from the Beavers. OSU made its way into the fourth quarter with zero under its belt, barely garnering two before the night was over.

“I think it’s important that we kept our head and we just played the basketball that we wanted to play,” Hannah Ronsiek said. “We got all the shots that we really wanted to. I mean, sometimes they didn’t go in, but I thought we really kept our cool. So I guess that (turnover) number doesn’t shock me, but I don’t know if I’ve ever played a basketball game with that (amount).” 

The Rams said they plan on continuing this cool streak instead of the frantic playing they experienced in both their exhibition and first game of the season. 

If they are able to keep up this winning streak, it will give the Rams the confidence needed to win when competing with teams outside of the Mountain West. 

“(It was) just a fun night in Moby,” Williams said. “It was great to get Oregon State in here, and obviously a fun victory. (I) thought our kids performed quite well throughout the game, highlighted by the sister act.” 

Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @sophgwebb.