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Behind double-doubles from seniors Elin Gustavsson and Ellen Nystrom, the Colorado State women’s basketball team downed the San Jose State Spartans, 65-60, on Tuesday from the Thomas & Mack Center to advance to the semifinals of the Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship.
Gustavsson finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Nystrom recorded her 10th double-double of the season on 17 points and 12 boards. Gustavsson’s 26 points are the most scored in a single MW tournament game in program history (25, Sara Hunter vs. BYU on March 9, 2005). Juniors Stine Austgulen and Hannah Tvrdy joined the seniors in double-figure scoring, tallying 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Colorado State (24-7) had as a lead as large as 13 points with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Rams had to fend off a late surge by the Spartans (11-21), who got three-pointers from each of Taylor Turney, Hallie Gennett and Paris Baird to fuel a 10-0 run and cut the CSU lead to 45-42 heading to the fourth quarter.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the fourth quarter, with the Spartans cutting the CSU lead to as little as one at 55-54 with 3:06 to go. A Tvrdy jumper push the lead back to three at 57-54, but SJSU guard Dezz Ramos responded with a pair of free throws to cut the lead back to one.
From that point, the Rams scored on a jumper from Gustavsson and a pair of Nystrom free throws to take a 61-56 advantage. The Spartans’ Ramos converted on another jumper to cut the CSU edge back to three, but Gustavsson and Austgulen combined to go 4-of-4 on free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the 65-60 win.
CSU never trailed on Tuesday, taking early control of the matchup with the first seven points of the game. The Rams extended that advantage to eight points at 14-6, and capped the first quarter with a 16-9 lead. The lead narrowed to five with just over three minutes left in the second quarter, but CSU closed the half with a 31-21 lead on free throws from Veronika Mirkovic and Nystrom, as well as a Gustavsson layup. Gustavsson scored 10 of her points on Tuesday in the second quarter.
