Fourth Quarter Rally Falls Short at The Pit - CSURams.com

Box Score ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Despite a 21-point second half deficit, the Rams made it a one possession game late against New Mexico, but ultimately fell 81-73 to the Lobos on Wednesday evening at The Pit.

The Rams closed the third quarter on a 18-6 run including the final four points to bring the game back under double digits at 62-53, which game the Rams some believe. After the quarter break, Kendyll Kinzer and Upe Atosu drained back-to-back 3s to ignite the bench and make it a one-possession game for the first time since the midpoint of the second quarter. In true Lobo fashion, they answered with two treys of their own. The Rams brought the game to a four-point deficit four more times in the final minutes but could not get it any closer as NM was able to seal the victory down the stretch.

The Rams dropped to 14-6 overall and 5-5 in Mountain West play, while the Lobos improved to 19-6 and 10-1, respectively. New Mexico, the top scoring offense in the MW, shot 50.8% from the floor and 40.6% from deep, while CSU was 43.8% and 39.1% in those categories. For the seventh time this season, McKenna Hofschild scored over 20, finishing with 28 tonight along with eight assists. NM's Antonia Anderson dropped 33 points – the most an individual has scored versus CSU this season.

"The second half was an entirely different story," Williams said. "We put ourselves in a hole after that second quarter though. We broke down defensively a few times on Anderson. She's going to make shots certainly, but we can't give her that many good looks. In that period, our shots weren't falling, and our defense was affected by it. After the half, we regrouped and responded well. We won the second half. We played harder and I'm proud of how we answered in that aspect. New Mexico is a team that you must keep scoring and putting the foot on the gas, because they will take advantage like they did late when we went empty on a few possessions. The mentality in the second half was prideful and we will take that into Air Force on Saturday."

A lopsided second quarter gave NM a resounding 47-32 lead going into the half after hitting eight total 3s. The Lobos even snatched an offensive rebound and put up to cap a 9-0 run prior to the buzzer. Seven of NM's 13 treys came in that quarter to build its lead. However, CSU outscored the Lobos 21-15 and 20-19, respectively, in the final two quarters.

Next, the Rams will play at Air Force on Saturday, Feb. 5^th with a 1 p.m. tip inside Clune Arena.

For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball

Print Friendly Version

Adblock test (Why?)