Colorado State University Athletics
Women?s Basketball ? Season Review
4/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Click here for the Women?s Basketball Release in PDF format.
Click here for the latest season statistics for Women?s Basketball.
One of Two: First-year head coach Chris Denker became only the second first-year women?s basketball coach at Colorado State to lead his team to post-season play in the first season at the helm. Denker guided the Rams to the semifinals of the WNIT. Former coach Tom Collen led CSU to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in 1997-98, his first season with the team.
20-Wins: The 21 wins by the 2002-03 team marked the eighth consecutive season and the ninth time overall the Rams won at least 20 games in a season. Prior to 1995-96, the only team to win 20 games in a year was the 1981-82 squad which went 23-9. The Rams hit the 20-win barrier against rival Wyoming in the second round of the WNIT. It marks the third time in five years that the 20th win of the season has come against the Cowgirls (1999 & 2000). In both 2001 and 2002, the Rams hit the 20-win barrier against San Diego State.
Home Sweet Home: The Rams have won 16 consecutive games in Moby Arena, which is the second longest winning streak in school history behind the 21 games from 1998-99. The 16 straight home wins also ties for the sixth longest current streak in the nation among Division I women?s teams with Purdue and Western Illinois. Connecticut holds the longest streak at 63 games, while Creighton and UC Santa Barbara are both at 23 games and Penn State and Texas both have won 20 straight at home. The 16 wins in Moby Arena is also the second longest in school history, regardless of gender. Twice, the men?s team has won 14 in a row. The CSU record for consecutive home wins stands at 22 back when the men played in South College Gym.
All-Tournament: Senior center Shannon Strecker was named to the Postseason Women?s NIT All-Tournament team after averaging a team-best 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during the four games in the tournament. Strecker tallied two double-doubles in the four contests, had five blocked shots and four steals and shot .615 from the field (24-39).
A Clean Sweep: Colorado State had one member on each of the four all-conference teams this season. Senior forward Ashley Augspurger was named to the first team, giving her her fourth all-conference award in four seasons. Shannon Strecker was named to the second team, while senior forward Katie Borton was a third-team selection and junior forward Joy Jenkins earned honorable mention.
Into The Looking Glass: Colorado State returns one starter (guard Jasai Ferrucho) off the 2002-03 squad and seven other members of the roster (three of which started at least four games during the year) and will welcome five new student-athletes into the fold for the 2003-04 season. The Rams lose five seniors, four of which were starters, after losing senior forward/center Lisa Narkiewicz at the end of December to a torn ACL in her right knee.
A Permanent Fixture: Senior Ashley Augspurger started the last 70 games of her career and played in 97 consecutive games at CSU, starting in 96. The only time she was not in the starting lineup was on senior night in 2001 when the three seniors began the game.
Tough Schedule: Colorado State faced 20 Division I teams this year during the regular season. Eleven of those 20 advanced to postseason play, including nine in the NCAA Tournament and two in the WNIT. The Rams posted a 10-9 record against those 11 teams throughout the year after defeating Wyoming in the second round of the WNIT.
Thomas Invited: Freshman center Lindsay Thomas has been selected to try out for the World Championship for Young Women?s team and the Pan-American Games team at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The trials will run from May 22-25. Jim Foster, head coach at Ohio State, will guide the team comprised of elite athletes 19-to-21-year-olds at the inaugural FIBA World Championship For Young Women. The event is scheduled to take place July 25 - Aug. 3 in Sibenik, Croatia. The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics, is a multi-sport competition open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. This summer the Pan American Games will be held Aug. 1-17, with the women's basketball competition slated for Aug. 2-9, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Debbie Ryan, the head women?s basketball coach at Virginia has been selected to coach the women?s squad. Each team will have 12 members selected, along with several alternates.
Close Calls: Colorado State ended the year 7-4 in games decided by 10 points or less, with two of the losses coming by just one point (USC, Notre Dame). The Rams won four of their last five games decided by single digits, defeating Wyoming twice, BYU in overtime and Missouri and falling at Baylor by nine.
Senior Leadership: The seniors on the Colorado State team scored at least 50 percent of the team?s points in all but one game this season. Against Stony Brook, the seniors combined for 52 of the team?s 110 points, for 47.3 percent. On nine different occasions the seniors accounted for at least 70 percent of the offensive output, and the four active were responsible for at least 60 percent in eight of the last 10 games.
Mountain West Moving: The Mountain West Conference Tournament is moving much closer to home next season. The tournament will be held at the Pepsi Center in Denver for at least the next three years after spending the previous four at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Next season, the Mountain West Tournament runs Mar. 10-13, 2004.
Front And Center: Shannon Strecker became the first center at Colorado State to average double figures in scoring since the 1995-96 season when senior center Teresa James averaged 16.10 points per contest. Strecker ended the season averaging 10.82 points a game.
Tripled Up: CSU has made at least two three-pointers in its last 47 games, dating back to an 0-for-14 performance against San Diego State on Jan. 17, 2002. The Rams made a season-high 11 three-pointers against Air Force and made at least 10 three times.
Achievement Awards: The coaching staff awards seven different achievement awards at the end of each season. Shannon Strecker earned the awards for best field-goal percentage, best offensive rebound average and rebounding average, while Ashley Augspurger won the best three-point field goal percentage award (minimum one made per game) and charges taken. Junior forward Joy Jenkins had the best free throw percentage (minimum one made per game) and freshman guard Vanessa Espinoza was awarded the good hands award, which goes to the player that has the best total of assists plus steals minus turnovers.
Great Defense: The Rams allowed their opponents to score just 61.12 points per game, which ranks fourth on the single season charts and is the second best defense since the inception of the shot clock and the three-pointer. The record for points allowed per contest is 49.06 from the 1974-75 and last season?s team holds the modern era record at 60.32. The Rams rebound defense also ranks fourth on the single season charts at 35.0 boards per game. The record is 30.6 from 1987-88.
Scoring Runs: In 17 games this season, CSU scored at least 10 straight points and the Rams were victorious in 14 of those 17 games. The longest streak this year was 20 straight against Xavier on Nov. 30 in the championship game of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.
LT At The Line: Lindsay Thomas nailed 70.1 percent of her free throws this season. That number is fourth on the freshman single-season charts (minimum 45 makes). Not bad for someone who started the season making just 10 of her first 20 attempts at the line.
Tournament Numbers: Of the eight players who played in all four postseason WNIT games, six of them averaged more points per game than they were going into the tournament. The number in parentheses is their average before the WNIT started. Shannon Strecker led the Rams with 14.0 points per game (10.4), while Joy Jenkins was second at 13.2 (7.8). Ashley Augspurger averaged 13.0 points in the tournament (12.9), while Katie Borton averaged 9.0 points per game (7.9) in the postseason. Jackie Campbell was at 6.2 (5.1) and Jasai Ferrucho averaged 8.0 (4.6).
A Tale Of Two Teams: In the first 21 games of the season, Colorado State amassed a record of 11-10 and were 2-5 in Mountain West play. During the last 13 games of the year, the Rams were 10-3 and finished with a 6-1 record in conference action and went 3-1 in the postseason Women?s NIT.
Quite Accurate: In three games this year, a Ram has made her mark in the record books in the field goal percentage category (10 attempts min.). Against Michigan, Lindsay Thomas tied the 10th best single-game performance after shooting 80 percent (8-10) in her first career start. Four games later, Shannon Strecker tied the same mark after going 8-10 from the field against St. Mary?s. Against Holy Cross, Ashley Augspurger tied the school record with an .846 performance (11-13), tying the record held by Jodi Robers against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 12, 1987.
Undefeated: For the second straight season, Colorado State was a perfect 7-0 at home during Mountain West Conference play. The Rams have won 16 straight against league foes. Three teams went undefeated at home in conference tilts this season, with Utah, New Mexico and the Rams posting perfect 7-0 records on their home courts. Not surprisingly, the three teams were the top three seeds in the tournament, respectively.
She?s Smart Too: Shannon Strecker was named to the 2002-03 Verizon Academic All-America Women?s Basketball Second Team. Of the 15 players honored on the first, second and third teams, Strecker posts the second highest grade point average, holding a 3.99 in Consumer and Family Studies. She was one of four players named to the Second Team. Strecker is the only one from the Mountain West on the team and is the first Ram to be honored since Kathy Lightfoot was named to the Fourth Team in 1981.
Consistency Is Key: For the third straight season, Shannon Strecker finished conference play as one of the two most accurate players in the league. As a sophomore, she led the league shooting .568 from the field (42-74), while last year she was second behind Angie Gorton after hitting .521 of her shots (37-71). This year, Strecker won the field goal percentage title shooting .589 (63-107).
Early Signings: Colorado State signed five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period in Nov.: ? Sara Brown, a 5-10 guard from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (San Clemente High School) ? Marilyn Moulton, a 6-4 center from Longmont, Colo., (Longmont High School) ? Molly Nohr, a 5-11 point guard from Moraga, Calif. (Miramonte High School) ? Kylee O?Dwyer, a 6-2 guard/forward from Limon, Colo. (Limon High School) ? Annika Walseth, a 6-1 guard from Bloomington, Minn. (Thomas Jefferson High School)
