Colorado State University Athletics
Women?s Basketball Preview ? Game 16: UNLV
1/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Hitting The Road: Colorado State plays its first game outside of the state of Colorado since Dec. 14 (seven games) when it faces UNLV on Thursday in Las Vegas. The Rams are 3-0 on the road this season and 1-1 on a neutral floor (one in Colorado). The Rams have not won in Las Vegas since 2001, dropping three straight games to UNLV in Las Vegas, including a Mountain West Tournament loss in 2002. The Rams do have a 6-3 record in Las Vegas against the Lady Rebels, who are 12-2 this season and 1-0 in league action.
Falling To Favorite: Colorado State saw its 17-game home conference winning streak come to an end at the hands of Utah, dropping a 55-51 decision. Colorado State was led by sophomore guard Vanessa Espinoza with 15 points -- 13 in the second half -- and senior forward Joy Jenkins with 13 points. Sophomore forward Melissa Dennett led the Rams with 10 rebounds and two blocks, while senior guard Jasai Ferrucho had six assists.
Opening With A Win: Behind a strong performance from the free throw line, Colorado State rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat the BYU Cougars in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams, 54-52. Colorado State made 23 free throws in the game on 29 attempts. Melissa Dennett scored 11 points and tied her career-high with 11 rebounds, while Vanessa Espinoza led the team with 12 points and Jasai Ferrucho chipped in 10 points and led the team with three assists and three steals. Four players made five free throws in the game and Espinoza made two of the team?s three three-pointers.
Five Points: A total of five points separates the top four scorers on this season?s team. Vanessa Espinoza leads the team with 185 points (12.3 per game), while Joy Jenkins is right behind her with 183 (12.2), Melissa Dennett has scored 182 (12.1) and sophomore forward Lindsay Thomas has scored 180 points (12.0).
Did You Know?: The last time the Rams held an opponent below 60 points and lost, prior to Saturday, came at Notre Dame last season, a 46-45 loss for Colorado State. The Rams, since Chris Denker?s arrival at the beginning of last season, have held an opponent to 60 points or less in 24 of 47 games.
Facing The Mountain West: Colorado State is 40-18 (.690) 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 47-11 (.810) all-time in the league. All-time, the Rams are 141-150 (.485) against teams currently in the Mountain West Conference.
Hitting The Freebies: After struggling at the free throw line at the beginning of the season, the Rams are turning around their free throw woes. In non-conference action, the Rams connected on just 65.6 percent of their free throw attempts (170-259). In conference play, the Rams are second in the league, shooting .789 from the charity stripe (30-38).
Crashing The Boards: Melissa Dennett is the only player in Mountain West Conference games this season to be averaging double figures in rebounds. The sophomore leads the league with 10.5 rebounds a game.
Holding Scoreless: The 11:03 the Rams held the Utes scoreless from the field on Saturday is the longest opponent scoring drought of the season. On eight occasions this season, the Rams have held a team to no field goals for five minutes or more.
On This Date: Colorado State sports a 2-4 in games played on Jan. 22. The Rams are 1-1 in Moby Arena, 1-3 on the road and have not played in a neutral site contest.
This Is 50: The game against UNLV on Thursday will be head coach Chris Denker?s 50th game at Colorado State. Denker is 31-18 (.633) with the Rams and his career record stands at 72-36 (.667) in his fourth season as a head coach. The game against UNLV will also be the 50th game for Lindsay Thomas and Vanessa Espinoza will play in her 50th game against San Diego State on Saturday.
Balanced Doubles: Colorado State has seven double-doubles recorded this season by three different players. The total ties for the third most recorded by a team in the Mountain West Conference (14 - UNLV, 10 - San Diego State, 7 - New Mexico) and the Rams are the only team to have three different players get at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in a game. Five of the other seven teams have had two players record double-doubles and two teams have just one player do so.
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.
A Different Look: This season, Colorado State is averaging 4.40 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.
Tale of Two Halves: When the Rams win, both Melissa Dennett and Vanessa Espinoza are scoring equal amounts in the first and second half. Dennett has 63 points in each half, while Espinoza has 61 points in each half during the 10 wins. In the five losses however, Dennett has 10 more points in the first half (33 1st, 23 2nd), while Espinoza has 15 more points in the second half (24 1st, 39 2nd).
Defense Oriented: Ram opponents are shooting just .381 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 third in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams are allowing just 58.33 points per game, which ranks second on the all-time list at CSU behind the 49.06 points allowed by the 1974-75 team.
Doubled Up: Colorado State student-athletes have already tallied seven double-doubles in the first 15 games of the season, which is more than all of last year. Lindsay Thomas has three double-doubles, while Joy Jenkins and Melissa Dennett both have two double-doubles. The most double-doubles recorded in a season was 24 during the 1980-81 season.
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 59 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 293 of the last 294 games, dating back to Nov. 25, 1994 against Penn in the first game of the season.
Bench Contributions: The five starting players have contributed most of the scoring for Colorado State this season. The starters are averaging 55.40 points per game this season, compared to just 10.47 off the bench. The most scored off the bench was 30 points against Denver.
Doubled Up: Eight of the Rams 10 wins this season have seen a victory margin in double figures. 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).
Defensive Stance: The Rams are much better defensively this season than they were last year. The Rams are giving up just 58.3 points per game compared to 61.4 through the first 15 games of 2002-03. The Rams are also allowing opponents to shoot .381 from the field, compared to .419 from last season. The Rams are also getting 3.3 blocks per game this year, up from the 2.5 from last year.
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 7.6 caroms a game to rank fourth, while Melissa Dennett is averaging 7.0 to rank seventh and Joy Jenkins is at 5.7, which ranks her 15th.
Tell-Tale Sign: Colorado State is undefeated this season when scoring 80 or more points (2-0), shooting over 50 percent from the field (3-0), making the same or more free throws (10-0) and outrebounding the opponent (7-0).
Extremely Loyal: Colorado State has played in front of at least 1,200 fans in its last 104 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 128 games.
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.
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.
Streaks, Milestones and Notes:
Twice Honored: Lindsay Thomas was named Mountain West Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 11 after helping the Rams to a 2-0 record, recording a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds vs. Montana. 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. Melissa Dennett was named the Mountain West 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.
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 45 games, which is the longest streak on the team and is tied for the ninth 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 35 straight games with at least one rebound, which is tied for 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. BYU shot .700 (7-10) from beyond the arc to break the single-game opponent record for three-point field goal percentage.
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. 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.
Three and Four-Point Plays: Colorado State has converted on 17 of 25 traditional three-point plays this season and the one four-point play, while the opposition is 6-12 on three-point plays and 0-2 on four point opportunities. The second four-point opportunity for the opposition came in an unusual way. The Fighting Irish made a layup and off an intentional foul had two tries at free throws, but missed both.
Scouting The Opposition: UNLV has the best record in the Mountain West Conference, posting a 12-2 mark. The Lady Rebels are also 1-0 in league action after defeating San Diego State 76-58.
This will be the 18th meeting between UNLV and Colorado State. The Rams hold the 12-5 advantage in the all-time series and are 6-3 in Las Vegas, but have lost the last three games in Las Vegas.
Junior transfer RanDee Henry leads the team with 18.6 points per game and Sherry McCracklin averages a double-double with 14.7 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Henry also leads the Mountain West in field goal percentage, shooting .538 on the year. InFini Robinson has made a team-best 20 three-pointers this year and has a team-high 40 assists. McCracklin leads the squad with 27 blocks and 33 steals. Sheena Moore is the third Lady Rebel averaging double figures in scoring, getting 14.9 a game.
UNLV is averaging 73.9 points and 42.6 rebounds per game and is allowing 59.4 points and 33.6 rebounds a contest. The Lady Rebels are shooting .450 from the field, .333 from beyond the three-point line and .675 from the free throw line.
The Rams won the last meeting. Current players Joy Jenkins scored 10 points for the Rams and Vanessa Espinoza had six assists. McCracklin had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Rebels.
UNLV head coach Regina Miller is in her 12th season and sports a 165-155 record. She is in her sixth season at UNLV with a 104-55 record. She has also accumulated a conference record of 82-90 in her 12 seasons as a head coach.
