March 14, 2008

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Colorado State women's basketball team's improbable run through the 2008 Phillips 66 Mountain West Conference Championships came to an end on Friday with a 65-41 loss to the New Mexico Lobos at the Thomas & Mack Center in the semifinal round. 

From the opening tip, it seemed as if the Rams' run would continue into the conference finals, as CSU began the contest on a 6-2 run thanks to some cold shooting from the No. 4-seeded Lobos.  The Lobos eventually found their shots, hitting six 3-pointers as part of a 28-4 run that put the Rams behind 30-10 with 2:27 remaining in the first half.

"I was really pleased with the way the game started," said Head Coach Jen Warden.  "Defensively we came out and probably gave them something they hadn't seen before.  I think at that point is when you have to take advantage and make sure you take advantage of your offensive possessions while you're making those defensive stops to open the game."  

The Lobos went into the locker room holding a 33-12 advantage.  The Rams did not quit, fighting back into the contest with a 16-5 run of their own, capped by a Sara Hunter 3-pointer - one of three for the Fort Collins native.  The Rams' run covered the first 8 minutes of the second half and cut the New Mexico lead to 10 points, 38-28. 

The Lobos answered with six straight points to push the lead back to 46-30 and the Rams never got closer than 14 points over the game's final 9 minutes, eventually pulling away for the victory. 

Hunter, who moved into 11th on the Rams' all-time scoring list in her final game at CSU,  led the Rams with 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the floor and 3-for-8 from 3-point range. 

"We couldn't have fought harder," commented Hunter.  "Obviously we'd all want to take the first half back.  I'm just proud of our team, really.  I'm glad we did what we did here.  We had fun.  I wish it could have ended differently, but we fought hard." 

Junior forward Amaka Uzomah pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, establishing a new Mountain West Conference tournament record with 37 rebounds in her three games. 

The Rams closed the season 4-28, highlighted by a 60-52 victory over No. 12 Utah in the conference tournament quarterfinals.  The win by the Rams snapped a 22-game Utes winning streak, the longest active streak in the country.