Connor Roche
Colorado State University guard Lexus Bargesser (3) drives past Colorado Christian University point guard Ja'Shelle Johnson (4) during their game in Moby Arena Oct. 29. CSU won game 81-26
Colorado State women’s basketball claimed victory in its exhibition game against Colorado Christian in dominant fashion 81-26 Wednesday in Fort Collins.
The Rams’ first Moby Arena showing of the year ended as expected, as they faced the in-state Division II Cougars. This game, although an exhibition, still showed the team what intricacies must be worked on.
“Yeah, I thought we should have won the game, but I thought we did it the way we wanted to do it tonight, which was just really solid,” head coach Ryun Williams said. “Contained defense, valuing the basketball, kind of spreading out the scoring.”
A well-spread distribution of playing time for the Rams certainly helped with spreading the scoring, as a total of eight players played more than 15 minutes each.
“It was nice to continue to grow our depth,” Williams said. “That’s what you can use these games for, and everybody has a strength and everyone has an area where they could get exposed. And I thought the areas where we got exposed last Saturday were much better today in this exhibition.”
A standout player in today’s game was redshirt freshman McKenna Murphy, who went 4-of-6 from three. She also made her first four shots off the bench, further showing she has the potential to be a great rotational piece in this year’s squad.
A pair of sophomores in Kloe Froebe and Brooke Carlson also showed reliability, and a sense of chemistry was seen yet again with the two returners. Carlson, who had eight assists, connected well with Froebe, lobbing a pass to her in the first half with a great finish. And that sort of communication is something that Williams said the Rams never stop working on.
“It’s never good enough for a coach, the communication piece,” Williams said. “So, we’ll keep getting better at that.”
Alternatively, new light shines on forward transfer Lexi Deden, who was a top scorer against CCU, showcasing the growth of team chemistry with both old and the new faces. CSU’s depth played well and continues to build on top of new starting pieces like Deden.
On the other end, All-Mountain West Preseason selection Hannah Ronsiek, struggled. The veteran only scored five points, despite leading the team with minutes. However, Williams knows what these exhibition games are useful for.
“It’s nice to get the young ladies out there and have them get the feels again of what it’s like to play in front of our fans,” Williams said. “And (we) kind of worked out some of those kinks, those nerves that you might have on an opening night. So, we’re (aiming to be) a little more poised on Tuesday.”
Murphy, a returner, not only knows the firepower that this year’s squad has but also what has been developed from last season.
“Just like last year and this year, we just have a lot of pieces,” Murphy said. “So, I think (we are) just like piecing them together, and that’s what we’ve done like all preseason. We’re pretty deep (depth-wise) and just getting to play with everyone, getting everyone’s feels, it’s pretty fun. We have a good group of girls and a lot of talent on the team.”
The Rams are set to open up their regular season Nov. 4 in Moby Arena against Weber State.
Deden is a new to the team and got her first glimpse of Moby during the exhibition; now she is set to make her first season debut as a Ram.
“Moby Madness is pretty special, so I am really excited to get out there and play,” Deden said. “Coach says it’s sacred in there, and it is. It is really fun. The crowd gets going. So, (I’m) just really excited.”
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Reach Aron Medrano at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @AronMedrano27.