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Seniors Elin Gustavsson and Ellen Nystrom combined for 44 points to lead the Colorado State women’s basketball team to a 61-54 win over the Wyoming Cowgirls in a Border War matchup at Moby Arena on Wednesday.
Gustavsson led the Rams (20-6, 12-2 MW) offensively with 26 points on 13-of-19 shooting and added eight rebounds. Nystrom tallied 18 points with nine rebounds and six assists. Nystrom shot 6-of-13 from the floor and converted on all six free throw attempts. The two seniors helped the Rams to their seventh consecutive Border War victory.
Trailing 45-43 entering the fourth quarter, the Rams used a dominant fourth quarter to put the Cowgirls (18-7, 10-4 MW) away. One of the key early moments in the game’s decisive period was at the 9:32 mark, when Wyoming guard Liv Roberts left the game with an apparent injury. After Roberts was sidelined, the Cowgirls went scoreless until the 4:18 mark and the Rams built up a six-point lead.
Wyoming chipped the lead down to four with 2:38 remaining, but Gustavsson, Nystrom and Hannah Tvrdy all scored down the stretch before the score was final at 61-54. Tvrdy shot 3-of-4 in the fourth quarter and scored seven of her nine points in the final period. As a team, CSU shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) in the fourth quarter and outshot Wyoming 50 percent to 44.9 percent for the game.
The Rams fell behind 7-2 to start the first quarter of Wednesday’s action, but paired lockdown defense with sharp shooting to take a 17-11 lead after the first quarter. CSU held the Cowgirls to 2-of-11 shooting to end the first period, going on a 15-4 run over that stretch.
Despite a Wyoming three-pointer to open the second quarter, the Rams continued to increase their lead to 25-14 with an 8-0 run over the first three minutes. The 11-point advantage at that point was the largest by either team on Wednesday. However, the lead shrunk to four at halftime before the Rams trailed by two heading to the dramatic fourth quarter.
Featured Video Credit: Colorado State Rams, YouTube
