WBB Preview: Utah State Travels To Face Strong Colorado State Bunch

After notching two impressive home wins to claw their way to a 5-5 record and a 1-0 conference start, the Aggies are in for a test as they are back on the road for another tough opponent.

Utah State will continue conference play against a Colorado State squad that is currently the highest-ranked Mountain West team according to NET Rankings. The 10-2 Rams, led by Ryun Williams, are enjoying their place at 57 in the NET, several steps above the next team, San Diego State, at 99, and far above the Aggies at 242.

Stuck in a one-bid league without much national attention, Colorado State has largely been living in UNLV’s shadow in the past few years, in a crowd of schools like Boise State, New Mexico and San Diego State. But in their final season in the Mountain West, it feels like the Rams could be poised to make some room for themselves at the table with the Lady Rebels.

The Rams are coming off four straight 20-win seasons and are already halfway there this year after just one game in conference play, a 61-48 win over Nevada. They have some impressive wins on their resume, including a three-game stretch with a 70-66 win over Gonzaga, a 71-44 win over San Diego (which beat Utah State 70-66), and a 64-58 win over Oregon State.

Colorado State only has two losses and they came in quick succession to two former Pac-12 teams and powerhouses of the sport. The Rams nearly knocked off Stanford but fell 62-60, then they fell to Utah 70-58. Since then, they have won three straight, all by double digits.

Last season, the Rams went 22-10 (13-5), their best winning percentage on both fronts in several years. Although they will be without the services of last year’s Newcomer of the Year and All-Mountain West player Emma Ronsiek, the Rams returned plenty of talent from that loaded roster.

The younger Ronsiek sister, Hannah, who made last year’s all-defensive team, and Kloe Froebe and Brooke Carlson from the 2024-2025 all-freshman team are all playing a major role for the Rams with help from freshman McKenna Murphy and a boost from a major talent injection in the form of Lexus Bargesser.

Players To Know

Lexus Bargesser: Coach Williams is a master recruiter and has a proven track record of finding and developing talent from the prep scene, but he also has a knack for bringing in big-time transfers.

Last year it was Creighton transfer Emma Ronsiek. This year, it’s Lexus Bargesser from Indiana University.

Bargesser is an elite talent. Her breakout season for the Rams isn’t a surprise, and Wes Brooks would know. At Ohio State, Brooks had a front-row seat for Bargesser’s freshman and sophomore seasons when she played a limited role but showed promise. As a freshman, she played 29 games off the bench and averaged a modest 7.8 minutes, 2.1 points and a rebound per game. As a sophomore, she played in 32 games with nine starts and averaged 4.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. She played 31 minutes against Brooks and his Buckeyes and recorded six points, four rebounds, an assist and two steals in a 74-69 loss. 

Last season, her role took a step back. She played in 29 games without a start and averaged 17.3 minutes per outing, notching 3.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. In the tournament, she averaged 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 22 minutes per game.

This year, she has seamlessly made the move from contributing Hoosier to star Ram. In her first game in green, she dropped 22 points on Weber State in a 75-58 victory to spur a 7-0 start. It was her first of three 20-point games. She notched a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double against Utah, the second leg of back-to-back 19-point performances, the first of which was against Stanford. Ten is her season high in boards, but she has come close to double digits several other times. Her season high in scoring is 23, and she’s scored 22 twice.

Ronsiek’s 1.8 steals per game top that leaderboard, but otherwise, Bargesser is leading the team across the board, headlining the Rams in points, rebounds, assists and blocks, and leading the conference in points. On the season, Bargesser is averaging 29.8 minutes, 16.9 points, 5.5 boards, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. She is shooting 53.1 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from deep and 82 percent from the stripe. She also plays smart and averages just 1.8 fouls and two turnovers per game.

In her past three games, which coincide with a three-game winning streak, she has been excellent. She is averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals a night amid that stretch.

Kloe Froebe: Froebe, part of a very dangerous sophomore duo with Carlson, is a multi-faceted contributor. At 5-10, she is a reliable scorer and a pesky defender, adding depth and versatility to the Williams system on both ends of the floor. She is third on the team in scoring, second in rebounds and third in assists.

She is averaging 8.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on a 42.6 percent shooting clip. She’s scored double digits in four games this year, including her season high of 17 against Gonzaga. Froebe had nine points and nine rebounds (her season high) against Oregon State. She has dished three assists in her past three games in a row and had a season high of six against Weber State. She’s grabbing at least a steal per game in her last three as well.

Brooke Carlson: Carlson is better with the ball in her hands. She's more of a pure scorer than Froebe and is a better shooter but can also find the open teammate and cause problems for ball handlers on the other end. Carlson is solid, but she isn’t the team’s biggest threat from deep. That would be between Murphy and Ronsiek. Murphy is a promising shooter with a 45.6 percent clip and Ronsiek is hitting 36.4 percent. Bargesser is also adding a reliable 33.3 percent. There aren’t many players you can afford to leave open on this Rams team, and adding Carlson to the mix gives the Rams a lot of depth and options from deep.

Carlson is averaging 8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a steal per game. She is shooting 42 percent from the field, 22.6 percent from deep, and 66.7 percent from the line. She is fourth on the team in scoring, second in assists and third in steals.