In a game where players could barely communicate, Colorado State’s chemistry prevailed.
CSU women’s basketball triumphed over Utah State 72-54 Wednesday in an early-day matchup taking place on the team’s special Education Day.
“That was an energetic, loud, at times stressful four quarters of basketball,” coach Ryun Williams said. “I know this is one of their biggest field trips of the year, and I know that the students look forward to this game … It’s two hours of fun.”
After every make, miss and stoppage of play, the elementary schoolers of the local school districts in the building for Education Day made their presence known, with screeches loud enough to throw off everyone involved in play.
“That was a lot of fun, the energy was fun with all those kids too,” guard Hannah Simental said. “When you hit a shot, everybody is screaming. It was funny when we came out in warmups and all the freshmen were like ‘Oh my gosh, they’re just screaming.’ It’s the kids’ best day, they love it, so it was a fun game and they fed off of us and ultimately we got the win — they were cheering either way.”
A second-quarter explosion from the Rams paved the way for the landslide to begin after a tight first quarter.
CSU went on a 15-0 scoring run through the first eight minutes of the quarter, with USU not scoring their first points of the second period until the 2:19 mark.
“We just got the game calmed down in our head a little bit, which allowed us to play the way we normally play,” Williams said. “The ball moved, we found the right kid, we read the game correctly and Simental didn’t hesitate. … That was a big run for us, to just get some calm.”
Simental ignited the run in the first half, scoring 13 in the first 20 minutes of action with three field goals made from beyond the arc. She finished with 13 for the game as well.
“They left me open a couple times, and I let that thing go,” Simental said. “Sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don’t — and it just really helped us today. My teammates also do a great job finding me. Just feeding off my teammates’ energy and them being able to find me, that’s how I really get going.”
The Aggies — who came into this game with a 2-21 record — did not shy away. They stopped the Rams from running away with the game and kept the score within striking distance for a large majority of the second half.
USU got some threes to fall, had a bit of defensive success early on with a full-court press but never found a breakthrough as the Rams held strong.
“(Utah State) is a team that just creates havoc,” Williams said. “They’re a little unpredictable in what they’re gonna do defensively, so they just keep you off balance enough. At times, I felt like this game was a two-point game, and you look up at the scoreboard and it’s 16. It just had that feel to it, and then you look at the stats where we shot incredibly well … that just tells us we played poised enough and did some good things.”
It was Kloe Froebe who flourished Wednesday, continuing to show off her surreal ability to play physical inside today. She finished with 20 points alongside 11 rebounds — six of those being offensive boards — to end with her second double-double of the season.
“I’ve been a little off on my three, so I’m just trying to find ways that I can contribute,” Froebe said. “If that’s getting an offensive rebound and putting it back up, that’s what I’ll do.”
After a previous five-game stretch of being in the starting lineup, Froebe came off the bench for the Rams’ current three-game winning streak.
Playing through a fluctuating role all year, she continues to add her solid contributions to a now second seed in the Mountain West CSU team that has needed these inputs from their first-years all season.
“It really just stems from my support system that I have around me,” Froebe said. “My family has been really supportive, telling me to go out there and do my best every single game. And the coaches have been there the entire way, just helping me find my role and what I need to do to contribute to the team.”
With road wins last week against New Mexico and Boise State, the Rams now boast a 9-3 record in conference play this season as they push their foot on the gas for a final February push.
They will stay in-state and head south, as they prepare for a rematch against Air Force — 14-9, 4-7 MW — who they lost to a couple weeks back in Moby Arena.
“There’s some similarities, Air Force, to a couple other teams we just recently played,” Williams said. “They can put a lot of pressure on you defensively, but offensively we gave up 74 points here in Moby, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”
Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @DImsirpasic.
