FORT COLLINS, COLO. – Laura Bagwell-Katalinich scored a career-high 20 points to lead all scorers, but Colorado State used a late fourth quarter comeback to steal a 56-53 victory from the Big Red women's basketball team this afternoon at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. Cornell led for nearly the entire game and had a chance to send the contest into overtime on a well-designed play in the final seconds, but the last second shot rimmed out to send the Big Red to 2-3 on the season.
 
Bagwell-Katalinich finished with her second double-double of the season, adding a game-high 11 rebounds. Samantha Clement continued her hot shooting, matching a career-high with five 3-pointers to tally a season-high 15 points, while Samantha Widmann posted 11 points and six rebounds.  Fort Collins native Halley Miklos grabbed four rebounds and blocked one shot in her homecoming game.
 
CSU (2-2) was led by Lore Devos's 14 points, more than half of which (8) came during the decisive fourth quarter. She also led the Rams with six rebounds along with Mollie Mounsey. Tatum Neubert also chipped in 12 points as the only other CSU player in double-digits.
 
The game was remarkably close with the home team shooting marginally better from the floor (.382-.350) and converting three extra free throws (8-5). Both teams shot .250 from beyond the arc and knocked down six 3-pointers apiece. The Rams tallied two extra rebounds (36-34), but Cornell had four fewer turnovers (8-4). Both teams finished with just three steals.
 
After a deep jumper by Neubert got CSU on the board early, the teams traded 3-pointers, with consecutive makes from Clement keeping the Big Red in front, 6-5. Cornell's defense came alive and the Big Red took over on the boards as it stretched its advantage to a game-high nine points (14-5) with six points from Bagwell-Katalinich and a jumper from Widmann. The Rams eventually ended a 7:36 scoring drought with a late jumper to close the first quarter.
 
Five unanswered points to open the second got the home team within a bucket (14-12), but a tough layup from Bagwell-Katalinich ended the CSU run at the 6:48 mark. The teams traded baskets for the next five minutes before a deep jumper from Widmann pushed Cornell's lead back to five points (22-17), but the Rams scored the final four of the quarter to cut the Big Red's lead to 22-21 at the half.
 
The teams went back to trading baskets early in the third quarter, with six points from Bagwell-Katalinch and a triple from the corner by Clement, but a trey from Myanne Hamm knotted the game at 31-31 midway through the stanza.
 
Clement's fourth trey of the contest restored the lead to the Big Red and opened up an 8-2 run to put Cornell up 39-33 on a trey from Danielle Jorgenson at the 3:18 mark. With less than two minutes to go in the quarter Liah Davis hit a layup to end the Cornell run and the Rams closed the quarter strong to cut the Big Red's lead to 39-37 at the final break.
 
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded baskets before a three-point play by Devos and a pair of made free throws by Grace Colaivalu handed the Rams a 46-45 lead with 5:05 to play in the game. A tough layup from Widmann restored the lead to the Big Red (47-46), but another layup from Devos opened a 7-0 run to put the home team up, 54-47 with 2:32 to go.
 
Clement's final trey of the game ended the CSU run and Widmann stole the ensuing inbound and was fouled. She knocked down one free throw to get the Big Red back within one possession with 1:29 to play and Cornell forced another turnover with a steal from Jorgenson. Bagwell-Katalinich knocked down a pair of free throws to pull the Big Red within one point (54-53) with :11 showing on the clock, but Devos responded with a pair of makes just two seconds later to account for the 56-53 final.
 
The Big Red will wrap up a four-game road trip next with a game at Lehigh on Thursday, Nov. 29 before heading to Stony Brook on Saturday, Dec. 1.