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The Colorado State women’s basketball team rallied back from a deficit as large as 13 points as well as an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to seize a 67-64 comeback win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Thursday in round one of the Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at Moby Arena.
With the win, Colorado State (21-11) advances to round two of the Postseason WNIT to face the South Dakota Coyotes (27-6) at 12 p.m. MT/1 p.m. CT on Sunday at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, S.D.
Colorado State closed with a 27-point fourth quarter, shooting 64.7 percent (11-for-17) over the final 10 minutes. The Rams were led by junior forward Annie Brady, who finished with 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting and added 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior guard Sofie Tryggedsson also registered a double-double, tallying 12 points on 4-for-7 three-point shooting along with 11 boards and a team-high four assists. Freshman guard Lore Devos scored a game-high 19 points on 9-for-19 shooting, while senior guard Hannah Tvrdy scored 10 points with eight rebounds and a game-high five blocks.
Colorado State trailed for 27:54 on Thursday, leading in only the first and fourth quarters. CSU fell behind by as many as 13 points over that stretch, but narrowed the deficit down to 44-40 entering the final quarter. Western Illinois (22-10) expanded its lead back to 50-42 with just over eight minutes to go, but it was at that point that CSU made its run en route to its 27-point fourth quarter. The Rams got a point back on a made free throw following a WIU technical foul, and then six more over the next minute on threes from Tryggedsson and Tvrdy. Devos tacked on a pair of baskets to cut it to a one-point game by the six-minute mark, setting up a go-ahead jumper by Brady to put the Rams ahead, 55-54, with 5:23 to play.
The lead changed hands three more times over the next four minutes until swinging back in the Rams’ favor for the final time in the last minute. With 41 seconds to go, Devos forced a WIU turnover and took off on the fastbreak. Tvrdy joined her to make it a two-on-one opportunity, and Devos dished the senior the ball to give the Rams a 65-64 advantage with 35 seconds left.
The Leathernecks ended up with three more possessions, but were unable to match CSU’s lead down the stretch. WIU’s Olivia Kaufmann missed both free throws on the first of those possessions, before the Rams blocked Leatherneck shots on the two ensuing possessions. Tvrdy had the final of her five blocks on a layup attempt by WIU’s Emily Clemens, while Veronika Mirkovic blocked a last-second three-point attempt to seal the win.
