Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
7-6 (1-1)
New Mexico
12-3 (2-0)
New Mexico Sharpshooting Too Much For Rams
1/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
Despite a strong start that saw the Rams take a 13-3 lead just six minutes into the game, Colorado State was unable to hold off the No. 20/21 ranked New Mexico Lobos, falling 73-57 Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena. The Rams are now 7-6 (1-1 MWC) on the season and the Lobos improve to 12-3 (2-0 MWC).
Four Rams finished with double figures in scoring on the afternoon, led by senior Melissa Dennett who finished with 15 points, 11 in the second half. Senior Lindsay Thomas scored eight of her 14 points in the first half and Junior Molly Nohr chipped in 12 points and a season-best eight rebounds. Vanessa Espinoza also finished in double figures for Colorado State with 11 points.
Five different players scored the first 13 points for the Rams, as the Rams jumped out to an early 10 point lead. New Mexico, however, responded quickly, staking to a 18-2 run, putting the Rams in a six point deficit that they would never overcome. Overall, the New Mexico outscored the Rams 32-12 in the final 14 minutes as its outside shooting took over the game.
The Lobos shot 6-for-14 from three point range in the opening stanza to take a 10 point lead at halftime, 35-25, while the Rams' outside shooter struggled going 0-for-5 in the first half. New Mexico tied a season high with nine three point baskets on the afternoon and the Rams' 2-for-13 three point performance was the worst of the season for the team which entered the game leading the Mountain West Conference shooting just under 40 percent on the season from beyond the arc.
The Rams made another run, opening up the second half with a 8-2 run to cut the Lobos lead to four points with 18:10 remaining in the game. However, New Mexico responded with a 20-5 run of their own to push Rams deficit to its largest point, 57-38 with 11:56 left in the game. Over that stretch, the Lobos leading scorer, Dionne Marsh who was held to just one point in the first half, scored nine of her 16 points. It was New Mexico Senior Abbie Letz who caused the most damage, with a 22-point effort that included 4-for-8 shooting from three point range. Both Marsh and Letz also posted double-figures in rebounds with 11 and 10 respectively.
The Rams did protect the ball throughout the game, turning it over as season-low 14 times, well under their average of 19.25 turnovers per game, but were unable to keep New Mexico from those large scoring runs midway through the first and second halves.
Next up, the Rams will face Utah (9-4, 0-2 MWC) on Saturday, Jan. 14 in Salt Lake City. Utah dropped its first two conference games, on the road against New Mexico (59-42) and at home against BYU (61-60). The Utes are also slated to play at San Diego State on Jan. 11 before squaring off against the Rams.
