Balanced Ram Attack Sinks Aggies, 88-73, to Complete Sweep - CSURams.com

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1/27/2021 | TBA

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Ryun Williams did not want Tori Williams to hear what he was about to say.
 
The reason: It was going to take away all of his ammunition at practice.
 
"Don't write this, and I don't want Tori to hear this, because I always joke with her about, 'you're not a basketball player,'" the Colorado State women's coach said about his shooting guard. "She thinks that I think that she's just a good shooter, not a good basketball player. Tori is a really, really good basketball player. She anchors our defense; we ask her to do a lot defensively. She rebounded the ball great both games, and then we ask her to make shots."
 
Friday afternoon, she did it all for the Rams, stuffing the stat sheet which included her second double-double in an 88-73 victory over Utah State. They know stand at 10-2 overall, 6-2 in Mountain West play, giving them a share of first place via winning percentage with New Mexico (3-1).
 
Coach Williams has asked his guards to be more active on the glass, and Tori has been doing her part. Still, it is rare when she has the chance to collect 10, and when she was at nine, she saw her chance.
 
And Lore Devos took it away the first time
 
"I call myself the little big body," said Tori, who also scored 13 points to go with 10 boards. "Lore took my first rebound, and I was like, 'why didn't you let me get that?' The second one, we were both up in the air and I was like, 'Lore, Lore, Lore.'"
 
It was a reminder for the forward in midair.
 
"I didn't know she had nine," said Devos, the team's leading rebounder. "Then she told me on the free throws, so, OK, I've got you next time. We were both up there, so I was like, 'here you go.'"
 
That's called looking out for your teammates, and the sweep of the Aggies proved the Rams are really starting to come together offensively. The Friday matinee really was a late-lunch smorgasbord on the offensive end, with freshman post Cali Clark pacing the effort with 14 points. It was the first time in her short career she's had consecutive games in double figures, but there was plenty of help, as six Rams hit double-digits in scoring.
 
Murphy joined Williams with 13 points, Devos chipped in 12, McKenna Hofschild 11 and Petra Farkas 10 as they shot 48.5 percent as a team from the field. Ellie Boni was a point away from making is seven. The third quarter was the pinnacle, as the Rams scored 32 points, hitting 12-of-16 from the field.
 
That is the blueprint of what Coach Williams sees from his team offensively, but it doesn't happen overnight.
 
"It does take a while. Maybe that's what I'm so pleased with this bunch," Coach Williams said. "With all the newness that we have – newness at the point-guard spot with McKenna, and Cali and Karly and Petra and Bengisu Alper hasn't played and Sydney Mech – there's a lot of kids. For these kids to jell as fast as they've had, you have to give them a lot of credit. They're good teammates, they're all very, very coachable, they listen to each other and I think that's why our team continues to get better. Which we need to. We need to continue to get better."
 
The Rams never trailed in the game, but it wasn't until the third-quarter output they put the game away. It was consistent spurts, as CSU never produced more than a 9-0 run, but early in the fourth quarter, they held a 29-point lead. At the end, they just missed scoring 90 points for the second consecutive outing.
 
It was enough to withstand a 15-0 run by Utah State in the fourth, and when it happened, there was no worry. The Rams had already done extensive damage.
 
"This is just so much fun. The danger comes from everybody," Devos said. "We play well together, and they can't stop that."
 
Williams also had six steals in the game – a career best – and provided a trio of assists.
 
There is enough firepower to go around, and she feels they are getting to the point where they don't have to rely on any one aspect of the team. In the early going, she and Hofschild were doing the heavy lifting. Wednesday, the post play took center stage.
 
Friday, it was a three-ring circus in a good way, and the Aggies didn't know which action to watch.
 
"Our team is very deep, and we have weapons on our team. I'm not surprised that we had double digits for a lot of people on our team," Tori said. "We know that we need to keep working every day. We just try to make each other better in practice, and I think that's showing on the court, just competing at practice all the time. We're just excited to play."
 
Her coach could tell she was, especially. Wednesday was not her best shooting night, so she wanted to correct that. She made a couple of 3s late in that game, then came out and hit her first two Friday. From there, her game just flowed. All of it.
 
Not that her coach wants her to know that exactly.
 
"Tori showed some great toughness these two games, especially today," he said. "I thought really good leadership. Great performance by Tori Williams. That's a basketball player's performance.
 
"Again, do not write that."
 
Next, the Rams will travel to Boise State for another Wednesday and Friday two-game series, starting a 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The Broncos are 5-2 in the conference with a game tomorrow against the other 5-2 team, Fresno State.
 
For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
 
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