Up Next: Women?s Basketball at Notre Dame

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Practice Schedule (Tentative)
All times local to site
Day Date Place Time
Saturday Nov. 20 No Practice
Sunday Nov. 21 South Bend, IN TBA
Monday Nov. 22 South Bend, IN Game - 7 p.m.
Tuesday Nov. 23 No Practice
Wednesday Nov. 24 IM 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Thursday Nov. 25 Moby 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Friday Nov. 26 Moby Game - 7 p.m.
Saturday Nov. 27 Moby Game - 5 or 7 p.m.
Sunday Nov. 28 No Practice
Monday Nov. 29 Moby 3-6 p.m.
Tuesday Nov. 30 Moby Game - 7 p.m.
Wednesday Dec. 1 No Practice
Thursday Dec. 2 IM 4:20-6:20 p.m.
Friday Dec. 3 Moby 3:45-5:15 p.m.
Saturday Dec. 4 Moby Game - 2 p.m.
Sunday Dec. 5 No Practice

Coach Chris Denker On The Radio
The Coors Light Ram Basketball Coaches? Show will air from 7-8 p.m. from the University Park in Fort Collins, Colo. The show will air on 600 KCOL in Fort Collins and 710 KNUS in Denver. Show dates are: Nov. 23, Dec. 14, Jan. 11, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, Feb. 1, Feb. 8, Feb. 15, Feb. 22, Mar. 1 and Mar. 8.

Opening With A Win: Colorado State opened the season with a 72-64 victory over San Francisco. Head Coach Chris Denker is 3-0 in season openers at Colorado State.

Against Notre Dame: The Rams are 1-2 all-time vs. Notre Dame. Last season, Colorado State lost to the Irish 59-63 in Fort Collins, Colo. on Dec. 29, 2003. Colorado State is 0-1 in South Bend losing their only game on Dec. 23, 2002 by a score of 45-46. The last time the Rams were victorious over Notre Dame was on Nov. 21, 2001 in Fort Collins when the Rams won 72-66.

Playing The Field: Last year Colorado State faced seven teams during the regular season (of 20) that advanced to post-season play. The Rams went 3-4 against teams in the NCAA Tournament and 1-1 against UNLV who played in the WNIT tournament. This year the Rams will again face seven teams that advanced to postseason play a year ago, including NCAA National Champions UConn. The Rams will play five teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament including: Notre Dame (11/22), Colorado (12/8), UConn (12/23), Montana (1/8) and New Mexico (2/5 and 3/3). The Rams will also face two teams that played in the WNIT postseason tournament in 2004. The Rams face Pepperdine on November 30 and will play 2004 WNIT runner-up UNLV on January 22 and February 17.

Nov. 22 On The Road: Colorado State has never lost a road game on Nov. 22. The Rams are 2-0 on the road and 3-2 overall on that date.

Colorado State Season Openers: The Rams are 21-10 all-time in opening games and 22-9 all-time in home openers.

Doubling Up: Two players had double-doubles in the season opener for the Rams. Lindsay Thomas had 13 points an 12 rebounds and Melissa Dennett scored 15 points and grabbed 10 boards. Colorado State has not had two players record double-doubles in the same game since 2001. Shannon Strecker scored 15 points and had 13 rebounds while Angie Gorton scored 17 points and had 12 boards against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 19, 2001.

Juniors Scoring Together: Colorado State returns the top three scorers from a year ago in Vanessa Espinoza (12.9 ppg), Melissa Dennett (12.6 ppg) and Lindsay Thomas (12.0 ppg). In the first game of the season, when all three of the juniors were on the floor at the same time the Rams outscored their opponent 22-18.

Junior Scoring Streaks: The junior class combined for 29 of Colorado State?s 33 points over a 25 minute span vs. San Francisco.

Crashing The Glass: Colorado State outrebounded San Francisco 41-31 for the game. The Rams collected 17 offensive boards, the highest single-game total since Feb. 7, 2004 vs. Air Force when Colorado State had 17 offensive rebounds.

Thomas First Half: Lindsay Thomas scored all 13 of her points in the first half vs. San Francisco. Thomas was the only Colorado State player to shoot a free throw in the first half going 7-of-8 from the line.

Dennett Second Half: Melissa Dennett scored 9 of her 15 points against San Francisco in the second half on 3-of-5 shooting from the field (60.0%). The rest of the team in the second half combined for 4-of-18 shooting (22.2%).

Hunter Starts Hot: Freshman Sara Hunter started off her college career red hot hitting her first four three-point attempts. Hunter ended the season opener with 12 points in 20 minutes of play.

Fox TV Show Preview: Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain will be airing a Colorado State basketball preview show on Dec. 2 at 9:30 p.m. Head Coach Chris Denker will be dicussing the Rams? upcoming season with host Keith Bleyer.

Coors-Rocky Mountain Invitational: For the 10th straight year Colorado State will play host to the Coors-Rocky Mountain Invitational tournament on November 26-27. This year?s field includes Holy Cross, UAB, Iona and Colorado State. There will be two games each day, the first at 5 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m., both nights. Last year Boston College won the tournament.

Venekamp Ends Career: Ram senior Ashley Venekamp returned to the roster for a short time this season, but unfortunately suffered an injury in practice the week of October 18 and has taken a medical hardship. Venekamp will remain an active member of the team.The Fort Collins native sat out much of her sophomore year and all of last year after suffering a concussion. The last game Venekamp played in was against San Diego State on February 6, 2003. She averaged 3.1 points and 17.1 minutes for her career at Colorado State.

Nohr Out: Sophomore Molly Nohr will be out for at least two weeks after breaking her nose in practice on November 7. She had surgery on November 10 and will make an attempt to return to the lineup by the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational on Nov. 26-27. Nohr will still be able to practice but must avoid contact. She will also be wearing a face mask the rest of the season.

Rams Picked Fourth: According to the Mountain West Conference coaches poll released on October 24 the Rams are predicted to finish fourth in the Mountain West this year. The Rams received 92 points. The team finished fourth in the Mountain West a year ago. 2003-2004 WNIT runner-up UNLV is picked to finish first, New Mexico was picked second and Utah was picked third.

Denker at CSU: Since arriving in Fort Collins in 2002 Head Coach Chris Denker has compiled quite a resume. At CSU his overall record is 39-25 (.609) which includes a 16-12 conference record.

Joinning The Team In 2005-06: Head Coach Chris Denker announced on Nov. 10 that the Rams have signed three players to National Letters of Intent for the 2005-06 season.

Jacque Machesney - 5?8? - G: Will graduate from Strasburg High School in 2005?earned four varsity letters in basketball and three in volleyball for the Indians...named 2004 Class 2A Ms. Basketball and state tournament MVP?selected to play in the Denver Nuggets Show IV game... Led the state in scoring in 2003-2004?earned All-State honors in basketball in 2002-2003 as well as honorable mention for volleyball in 2003 and was given honorable mention All-State volleyball in 2002?led the Indians to regional, district and state championships in basketball in 2004 and volleyball in 2002 and 2003?team captain of basketball team in 2003 and 2004 and of the volleyball team in 2004?played for the Boulder Rockies and Centennial Raptors club teams?high school basketball coach is Merci Ames Personal ? Born Aug. 9, 1987 in Denver, Colo.?one of three children of Chris and Teresa Goodwin...siblings are Melissa Goodwin Arias, 23, and Ricky Machesney, 15.

Naomi Bancroft - 5?8? - G: Will graduate from Hi-Plains High School in Seibert, Colo. in 2005?earned varsity letters in both volleyball and basketball for the Patriots?led the team to YWKC League Championships in basketball in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and in volleyball in 2002 and 2003 as well as a State Championship in volleyball in 2003?named 1A Denver Post Player of the Year in basketball and volleyball in 2003 and 2004 as well as 1A Rocky Mountain News Player of the Year in basketball in 2004?earned YWKC All-Conference honors 2002-2004 in basketball and in 2003 in volleyball? selected to play in the Denver Nuggets Show IV All-Star Game in 2004?named to the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News All-Tournament Teams in volleyball in 2003?named Rocky Mountain News Most Valuable Player of the State Volleyball Tournament in 2003?high school basketball coach is Kerry Sayles Personal ? Born June 29, 1986 in Burlington, Colo?.one of three children of Jay and Charlayne Bancroft?brothers are Kyle, 17, and Evan, 14.

Ashley Samuelson - 6?0? - F: Will graduate from Underwood High School in Underwood, Minn. in 2005?earned varsity letters in both basketball and volleyball for the Rockets?led the team to the State Championship in 2004, where they were runner-up?named AAU All-America in 2004?earned All-Conference in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004?named conference MVP in 2003 and 2004?lead the Rockets in rebounds in 2002, 2003, and 2004?lead the Rockets in assists in 2002, 2003 and 2004? named the Rockets defensive MVP in 2002, 2003 and 2004?named to All-State Associated Press and Coaches poll in 2004?selected Fargo Forum player of the year in 2004?high school basketball coach is Brian Hovland Personal ? Born February 27, 1987 in Fergus Falls, Minn.?one of three children of Gary and Susan Samuelson?brother is Jesse, 19, and brother is Luke, 16.

Notre Dame Personnel Capsule
NO NAME HT POS Year Hometown/Last School PPG RPG
1 Gaines, Tulyah 5-6 G FR North Las Vegas, NV/Cheyenne HS 0.0 0.0
2 Allen, Charel 5-11 G FR Monessen, PA/Monessen HS 10.7 5.7
3 Powers, Susie 5-10 G SO Centennial, CO/Highlands Ranch HS 1.5 2.0
11 Tsipis, Amanda 5-10 G FR Perry, OH/Perry HS 1.0 0.0
12 Borton, Teresa 6-3 C SR Yakima, WA/West Valley HS 10.3 7.3
13 Duffy, Megan 5-7 G JR Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne HS 12.3 3.0
21 Batteast, Jacqueline 6-2 F SR South Bend, IN/Washington HS 18.0 5.3
32 Gray, Breona 5-7 G SO Las Vegas, NV/Bishop Gorman HS 7.3 5.0
33 D'Amico, Melissa 6-5 F/C FR Manorville, NY/William Floyd HS 2.5 5.0
34 Erwin, Crystal 6-1 F SO Rancho Cucamonga, CA/St. Paul HS 4.3 4.0
41 LaVere, Courtney 6-3 F JR Ventura, CA/Buena HS 14.0 5.0
Muffet McGraw - Head Coach
Carol Owens - Associate Coach
Coquese Washington - Assistant Coach
Jonathan Tsipis - Assistant Coach
Heather Maxwell - Coordinator of Basketball Operations

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