In the battle of Mountain West titans, only one champion can emerge victorious.
Colorado State women’s basketball was defeated by the University of Las Vegas Nevada 69-65 in a Saturday afternoon battle, where the Rams’ sluggish start prevented a comeback from transpiring.
Entering the matchup, the Rebels were ranked No. 1 in the MW, with the Rams only two games behind them, sitting at No. 2 — this game being an opportunity to close the gap as the MW tournament nears.
“It was a big game,” guard Marta Leimane said. “We always play UNLV pretty close, they are really, really good players. We just need to find those areas we can punish them. … We just kind of didn’t find it tonight.”
The Rams tied the game at one point in the second quarter but never led.
Hannah Simental had one of her better games of the season, leading the scoring for the Rams at 19 points with 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Emma Ronsiek chipped in 16 of her own, as well as Leimane putting up 15 during her 38 minutes on the court.
“Tonight, coach liked the pace that we were getting with me at the one,” Simental said. “I got to a lot more ball screen stuff. … I’m always ready to play either position.”
UNLV had four players score double digits, and forward McKinna Brackens led the way for the Rebels with 18 points alongside forward Alyssa Brown who achieved a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds.
The three-time defending MW champion Rebels had four players averaging double digits entering Saturday’s battle, and hitting that mark again seemed to be the key to victory.
“They’ve got so many weapons; it’s like you kind of pick your poison a little bit,” coach Ryun Williams said. “We just tried to limit as many touches in the paint as possible, whether that’s post touches or they’re driving the ball in there, and then they just sprayed it — and we just didn’t get to the shooters soon enough.”
In a game of runs, the Rebels got their big lead early through pushing the ball and tightening up defense.
UNLV went on a 13-0 run over a near five-minute stretch in the second quarter, and another 10-0 run over a four-minute stretch in the third quarter, blocking CSU from making any potential pushes.
“I thought we had a couple phases in that game where we just probably got a little stagnant,” Williams said. “We threw the ball to the pro probably too early in the possessions to grind them into the motion, and being aggressive, making (UNLV) move.”
Regardless of the Rebels’ ability to quickly catch fire, the Rams fought back in an extremely valiant way, winning the fourth quarter 24-15 — cutting the lead to just two points with 27 seconds remaining.
A lineup involving forwards Joseana Vaz and Emma Ronsiek alongside Simental at the point guard position was a catalyst for the large comeback after being down 17 in the third quarter.
“Brackens, (Meadow) Roland and Brown — just physically — they have a little more than we have,” Williams said. “That’s why we went with Jo, just to maybe establish a little more force. … I thought Jo was really good defensively.”
Simental scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half, playing a large role in keeping the game competitive down the stretch.
“(Simental) is just a tough kid, a competitive kid, and I liked the aggressiveness that she played with late,” Williams said. “She was the best kid in the huddle too. She was the one leader that we had that was like, ‘We’re still okay, let’s go, get your heads up, get your heads in it’.”
With this loss, UNLV completed the regular conference season sweep of the Rams. But a late push turning into a dominant fourth quarter is telling for CSU that it can give the top team in the conference a run for their money as the MW tournament approaches.
“I think there’s a lot of positive things we can take, and a lot of things we can take into the end of the season and even the tournament,” Simental said. “You can’t just come and compete and play hard to win games. Coach always tells us that we got to hit shots, we got to be players and at the end of the day we got to put the ball in the hole.”
CSU now prepares for its final three games of the regular season, starting with a road trip to take on Nevada Feb. 26.
The Rams will then return home to face Wyoming Saturday, March 1, and finish with an away game against San Jose State Tuesday, March 4.
“We’ll review this and we won’t hang our heads over it,” Williams said. “We’ve got Nevada on Wednesday, and they’ve been a grizzly bear for us in their arena, so we’ve got to get right on Monday and have a good practice and get ready to go.”
“I still really love my basketball team — we got beat today, (but) it doesn’t mean we’re not good. We’re gonna keep getting better and hopefully we get a chance at them in the tournament as well.”
Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @DImsirpasic.
