Colorado State University Athletics
Women?s Basketball Preview ? Game 14: Brigham Young
1/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Starting Over: Colorado State ended the non-conference season and now begins the Mountain West Conference season with a game against BYU on Thursday. This marks the third straight season the Rams have started league action against the Cougars, and are 1-1 in the first two contests. BYU has not won in Fort Collins since 1994 and the Rams are 5-3 at home this season, while the Cougars are 8-2 away from the Marriott Center and 7-1 in true road contests.
Balanced Attack: Five players scored in double figures for Colorado State as it won its final non-conference game of the season, 78-63 over IPFW. Senior forward Joy Jenkins led the Rams with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line, while sophomores Melissa Dennett and Lindsay Thomas each scored 12, sophomore guard Vanessa Espinoza chipped in 11 and freshman forward Kylee O?Dwyer came off the bench to score 10 in the Rams win. Senior guard Jasai Ferrucho had a career-high nine assists on the evening and led the team with four steals, committing just three turnovers. Both Thomas and O?Dwyer led the team with seven rebounds and Espinoza continued her hot shooting from beyond the arc, going 3-for-5.
Second Half Surge: Defense was again the name of the game for Colorado State as they defeated Montana, 60-45. It marks the second straight contest the Rams have held an opponent below 50 points. Lindsay Thomas recorded her third double-double in four games, scoring a career-high 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds -- including six offensive -- on the night. Also in double figures in scoring were Vanessa Espinoza with 12 and Jasai Ferrucho with 10 points. Ferrucho also led the Rams with five assists, while Thomas had two blocks and she, Espinoza and Joy Jenkins each recorded two steals.
Hot Potato: Jasai Ferrucho did not keep the ball in her hands very long during the IPFW game. The senior recorded a career-high nine assists in the game and launched herself up two spots on the career chart in assists. She is now tied for 12th with 242 assists.
Player of the Week: Lindsay Thomas was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, marking her first career award. Thomas helped the Rams to a 2-0 record last week, recording a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds vs. Montana, marking her third double-double in the last four games. She connected on 8-of-14 field goals, and tallied two blocks and two steals. Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds in just 20 minutes against IPFW, hitting 6-of-9 shots from the field. For the week, Thomas averaged 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field.
The Long Ball: In the last four games, Vanessa Espinoza is 10-for-18 from the three point line, shooting .556. In the first nine games of the season, she was 10-for-25 from beyond the arc, for a .400 percentage. For the season, she is shooting .465 (20-for-43) to lead the Rams in that category.
Its Almost Spooky: Colorado State is extremely well balanced this season. The Rams have four players averaging over 12 points per game and all four range between 12.2 and 12.7 a contest. The quartet (Joy Jenkins, Melissa Dennett, Lindsay Thomas and Vanessa Espinoza) have scored between 158 and 165 points and have made 248 of the team?s 327 field goals this season.
On The Radar: Joy Jenkins moved into 20th on the all-time scoring chart at Colorado State with her 18 points against IPFW. The senior now has 710 points, passing Elizabeth English who scored 709 (1999-2003). Next on Jenkins target list is Sue Ellis (1976-80) with 775 points. At her current pace, Jenkins should pass Ellis six games from now -- against New Mexico.
Second Half Dominance: In the nine Ram victories, Colorado State has trailed just 3:49 in the second half. The Rams have led wire-to-wire in the second half against Texas Southern, Stephen F. Austin, Long Beach State, San Francisco, Saint Mary?s and IPFW. In fact, the Rams have trailed just 48:41 in those nine wins, leading for 291:19.
Did You Know?: This season marks the first time since the first year of the Mountain West Conference in 1999-2000 the Rams have opened up league play at home. The Rams are 3-1 in Mountain West season openers and are 1-0 in Moby after defeating Wyoming in 2000. The Rams opened league play in 2001 with a win at Wyoming, 2002 with a win at BYU and last season with a loss at BYU.
Foreshadowing?: During the fall, Colorado State had another team that went 9-4 in the non-conference season, with the four losses coming to teams either ranked or receiving votes in the poll. That sport was volleyball which went on to go undefeated in the league and advance to the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. The women?s basketball team is in the same boat, riding a three game winning streak into conference, where the volleyball team only had won two in a row. Both teams also open conference play with BYU.
Facing The Mountain West: Colorado State is 39-17 (.696) in Mountain West Conference play since the inception of the league in 1999. The Rams are second in wins and winning percentage to Utah which is 45-11 (.804) all-time in the league. All-time, the Rams are 140-149 (.484) against teams in the league.
Moby Maniacs: The Rams have played eight of their first 13 games in Moby Arena this season and will play their next two contests at home. The Rams then take to the road for three games, all Mountain West contests and close out the home season with five of their last nine in Moby Arena.
On This Date: Colorado State sports a 6-2 record in games played on Jan. 15. The Rams are 4-2 in Moby Arena and 2-0 on the road with no neutral games played on this date.
Block Party: Both Melissa Dennett and Joy Jenkins had three blocked shots in the win over IPFW. The pair also combined for six blocks in the opening game of the season against Texas Southern. Dennett leads the team with 14 blocks, while Jenkins has 10. Jenkins moved up into a tie for 16th on the career blocked shots chart with 35, while Dennett has 16 blocks in her career.
Defense Oriented: Ram opponents are shooting just .378 from the field, which is the fourth best defensive mark in school history and the best since the 1996-97 team allowed just .370 from the floor. The field goal percentage defense mark also ranks fourth in the Mountain West Conference this season. The Rams are also allowing just 59.08 points per game, which ranks second on the all-time list at CSU behind the 49.06 points allowed by the 1974-75 team.
A Different Look: This season, Colorado State is averaging 4.54 three-pointers per game. It marks the first time since the 1994-95 season a Colorado State team has averaged below 5.24 triples a contest. The school record is 8.76 three-pointers a game from the 1998-99 team.
Doubled Up: Colorado State student-athletes have already tallied six double-doubles in the first 13 games of the season, which is more than all of last year. Lindsay Thomas has three double-doubles in the last five games, while Joy Jenkins has two double-doubles and Melissa Dennett has one.
Looking Back: Colorado State has finished in the top three in the Mountain West Conference all four season?s of the league?s existence. The Rams were third last season and in 1999-2000, were first in 2001-02 and second in 2000-01 -- the season they won the conference tournament.
Tripled Up: CSU has made at least two three-pointers in its last 57 games, dating back to an 0-for-14 performance against San Diego State on Jan. 17, 2002. The Rams have also sunk at least one trey in 291 of the last 292 games, dating back to Nov. 25, 1994 against Penn in the first game of the season.
Senior Leadership: In the nine games won this season, senior Joy Jenkins is averaging a team-best 13.7 points per game and she also leads the team in rebounds with 7.1. In the four losses, Jenkins is fourth on the team with 10.5 points and is getting just 3.0 rebounds a game. The other senior, Jasai Ferrucho has 19 steals and 37 assists in the nine wins, compared to just two steals and 16 assists in the four losses.
Bench Contributions: The five starting players have contributed most of the scoring for Colorado State this season. The starters are averaging 56.85 points per game this season, compared to just 11.08 off the bench. For the first time since Saint Mary?s, the bench players contributed double figures in scoring, adding 16 points in the win. The most scored off the bench was 30 points against Denver.
The 3-4-5 Trio: Colorado State?s starting forwards and center (Joy Jenkins, Lindsay Thomas and Melissa Dennett) are combining for 55.6 percent of the team?s scoring (491 points), 57.8 percent of the team?s rebounding (262 rebounds) and 75.0 percent of the team?s blocked shots (33) this season. It is one of the most powerful trios in the league, behind only the starting trio of Nikki Hitchens, RanDee Henry and Sherry McCracklin of UNLV which are getting 56.9 percent of the scoring, 62.7 percent of the rebounding and 62.0 percent of the blocks.
Success Story: Since the arrival of Chris Denker, the Rams are a perfect 7-0 when scoring at least 80 points in a game. The Rams have also won their last 67 games when hitting the 80-point barrier, last losing a 105-98 decision to UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 23, 1997. The Rams are 158-11 all-time when scoring at least 80 points in a game (.935) and of those 11 losses, only three have been in Moby Arena.
Doubled Up: Eight of the Rams nine wins this season have seen a victory margin in double figures. The only game within 10 points came at San Francisco where the Rams won by eight, 71-63. The Rams have won games by 34 (Texas Southern), two by 18 (Long Beach State and Saint Mary?s), 17 (Denver), three by 15 (Stephen F. Austin, Montana and IPFW) and 12 (Loyola Marymount).
A Team Effort: Colorado State is one of two teams in the Mountain West Conference (BYU) to have three players ranked in the top 15 in rebounds per game. Lindsay Thomas leads the way with 7.8 caroms a game to rank third, while Melissa Dennett is averaging 6.5 to rank 10th and Joy Jenkins is at 5.8, which ranks her 15th. Both Kylee O?Dwyer (3.9) and Vanessa Espinoza (3.4) are also averaging better than three rebounds a contest for the Rams.
Extremely Loyal: Colorado State has played in front of at least 1,200 fans in its last 102 games in Moby Arena, dating back to Dec. 30, 1997 against Eastern Washington where only 1,178 people were in the stands. The last game with less than 1,000 fans in Moby Arena came way back on Jan. 5, 1996 when there were 811 in the stands for a game against Idaho State -- a span of 126 games.
Among The Best: According to the NCAA statistics released Jan. 5, the Rams rank 32nd in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on .370 of their shots.
Listen Live: Every Colorado State women?s basketball game can be heard over the airwaves this season and can also be found on the internet. Brian Roth announces the play-by-play for the fourth consecutive season and Corbu Stathes adds the color commentary for the third year in a row. The games can be heard live on KIIX 1410 AM on the Colorado State Sports Network and can be found by clicking on the purple Yahoo! icon on the front page of the CSU website at www.csurams.com.
Streaks, Milestones and Notes:
Tell-Tale Sign: Colorado State is undefeated this season when scoring 80 or more points (2-0), shooting better from the field (9-0), holding the opposition to less than 60 points (6-0), shooting over 50 percent from the field (5-0), making the same or more free throws (9-0) and outrebounding the opponent (7-0).
Honored: Melissa Dennett was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 15 after helping lead the Rams to victories over Denver and San Francisco. Dennett scored a career-high 24 points at Denver. Dennett scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 71-63 victory at San Francisco. For the week, Dennett averaged 19.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.1 percent from the floor.
Coaches Radio Show: Join head coach Chris Denker and radio play-by-play announcer Brian Roth at Johnny Carino?s every Tuesday evening from 5-6. The duo will recap the previous week, preview the upcoming week and answer any questions from fans. Listen to the show on KIIX 1410 AM.
Home Grown: On the 13 player roster for 2003-04 season, over half hail from the state of Colorado. Vanessa Espinoza, Joy Jenkins, Marilyn Moulton, Kylee O?Dwyer, freshman guard Sydney Price, sophomore center Msur Tor-Agbidye and junior guard Ashley Venekamp all graduated from Colorado high schools. The other six players on the team represent six other states or countries.
Boarded Up: Lindsay Thomas has tallied at least one rebound in her last 43 games, which is the longest streak on the team and is the 10th longest streak in the conference. She also ranks fourth among second year players in the conference, trailing Kim Smith, Mandie Little and Shona Thorburn of Utah. Joy Jenkins also has 33 straight games with at least one rebound, which ranks 13th in the league.
Early Signings: Colorado State signed two student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period in Nov.:
In The Books: Against Texas Southern, Melissa Dennett shot .818 from the field (9-11), which ties for the sixth best percentage in school history. At Stephen F. Austin, Jasai Ferrucho shot .900 (9-10) from the free throw line, which ties for 20th. As a team, the Rams shot .571 from the field against Texas Southern, which ties for 20th and blocked 11 shots, which ties the school record.
Ticket Information: Tickets to all home Colorado State games are available by calling the Ram Ticket Office at 1-800-491-RAMS or locally, 491-RAMS. Tickets are also available for purchase on the Colorado State website at www.csurams.com. Season tickets are $130 for adults and $56 for youth (ages 3-18). Reserved single-game tickets are just $8, while general admission is $6 and youth general admission is $4. CSU students are admitted for free.
Coaches TV Show: The Ram Basketball Report airs each Saturday morning on ESPN2 (Channel 46 in Fort Collins), and repeats each Tuesday and Thursday (Channel 68). The first show aired Dec. 10 and the telecast restarts Jan. 10 and runs throughout the season.
Mountain West Moving: The Mountain West Conference Tournament is moving much closer to home this 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. This season, the Mountain West Tournament runs Mar. 10-13, 2004.
Scouting The Opposition: BYU posted a 10-4 mark during the non-conference season and the Cougars have won their last four games. Both BYU and CSU have played San Francisco this season with the Rams defeating the Lady Dons by eight and BYU winning by five.
This will be 56th meeting between the two teams, with the Cougars holding the 35-20 advantage in the all-time series. The Rams are 13-11 in Fort Collins and have won the last seven in Moby Arena, dating back to 1994 when the Cougars won in overtime by one, 79-78. The teams split the series last year with each team winning on its home floor.
BYU is led by junior Danielle Cheesman with 12.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Ambrosia Anderson is the only other Cougar scoring in double figures, coming off the bench to add 11.0 points per game and average 6.5 rebounds per game. Nancy Seljaas has made a team-best 26 three-pointers on the year and Anderson leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting .480. Julie Sullivan leads the team with 2.93 assists per game and 1.5 steals per contest, while Ashleigh Chamberlain has a team-best 0.86 blocks per game.
The Cougars are averaging 71.3 points, 40.0 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 9.0 steals and 2.4 blocks per game. They are shooting .391 from the field, .352 from the three-point line and .704 from the free throw line.
Jeff Judkins is in his third season as head coach and sports a record of 53-25 and has led the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA Appearances.
