Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics – 

SAN DIEGO – Talk about a tone setter.

Colorado State women’s basketball jumped all over Georgia in an 18-4 opening quarter, building a sizeable lead that the Rams would never surrender as they dominated the SEC foe, 72-56, on Friday afternoon at the San Diego Classic. It marked the first SEC victory for Colorado State since 1998 when program legend Becky Hammon led CSU to a win over No. 20 Florida.

The Rams deployed a stingy defensive scheme aimed at limiting the production of the Bulldogs’ quick guards, and it worked to full effect as they forced 15 turnovers and held their opponent below 60 points for the eighth time this season.

The defense laid the foundation for a dominant first quarter in which CSU took a 14-point lead, thanks in addition to four first-quarter 3-pointers from the game’s leading scorer Emma Ronsiek (24 points on 9-for-13 shooting). The grad-transfer was far from alone on the offensive side of the ball as her sister, Hannah Ronsiek, dropped 10 points while freshman guard Brooke Carlson chipped in 11.

How It Happened
Much like their game against UTEP on Monday, the Rams (9-3) raced out to an early lead by dominating both ends of the floor in the first quarter. CSU forced Georgia (7-6) into shooting just 2-for-15 in the opening period, while Emma Ronsiek scored 12-straight points thanks to four 3-pointers to power the Green and Gold on the offensive end. Over the past two games, Colorado State has stifled opponents to a combined nine points on 3-for-28 (10.7%) shooting from the field in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs did anything but back down despite the first-quarter challenges as they found a groove offensively to the tune of 60% shooting from the floor in the second.  Colorado State shot 50% itself, but no threes in the quarter helped Georgia chip into the lead, 36-24, before halftime.

A three-pointer from the Bulldogs’ De’Mauri Flournoy (20 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) right out of half brought it to a single-digit affair quickly, and after the teams traded buckets the Rams were defending a 10-point lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Hannah Simental and Marta Leimane teamed up to deliver another blow for Colorado State as the guards combined to outscore Georgias 12-3 over the next 3:51 of game time, bolstering their team’s lead back to 19 points entering the final period.

CSU kept its foot on the gas in the fourth quarter as the Ronsiek sisters worked together to score five quick points and give the Rams their biggest lead of the night at 24. Georgia made its efforts to crawl back in the game, but thanks to seven fourth-quarter points from Carlson, Colorado State was able to keep the Bulldogs at an arm’s length to secure its third-straight win.

Up Next
Colorado State faces a short turnaround as it faces Stephen F. Austin tomorrow at 2 p.m. MT in the final non-conference game of the season.