Women's Basketball Prepares To Open 2005-06 Season

Nov. 14, 2005

Up Next: Colorado State opens the regular season on Tuesday, November 22 against Concordia-St. Paul at 7 p.m. in Moby Arena. Last season the bears went 25-8 overall, however, the team lost four starters from a season ago. The game can be heard on the Colorado State Sports Network on 600 AM KCOL. Brian Roth will serve as the play-by-play announcer and Corbu Stathes will be the color analyst for the broadcast.

Second Half Lifts Rams Over Orediggers: The Colorado State women's basketball team defeated the Colorado School of Mines Sunday afternoon by a score of 76-51 in the final exhibition game for the Rams. The Rams were led in scoring by senior Lindsay Thomas who poured in 17 points and grabbed four rebounds. Melissa Dennett (17), Vanessa Espinoza (12) and Liz Kramer (10) all reached double-figures in scoring.

On Fire From The Field: Seniors Melissa Dennett and Lindsay Thomas are third and fourth, respectively, on the career field gola percentage chart. Dennett and Thomas are two of only eight Colorado State players to make more than half of their shot attempts in their career at Colorado State.

3K: Never in the history of Colorado State women's basketball has one team had three 1,000 point scorers. Melissa Dennett (789), Lindsay Thomas (895) and Vanessa Espinoza (784) all are poised to break the 1,000 point barrier in thier senior seasons.

On The Hunt(er): Last season Sara Hunter canned the second most three-point shots (47) in Colorado State history by a freshman. The only player to crank up more three's and make them in her first season was Becky Hammon with 88.

Canned Food Drive: Colorado State will be offerring discounted tickets to men's and women's basketball games with the donation of canned food. On Dec. 3 the men's basketball team will face IUPUI at 7 p.m. MT and on Dec. 4 the women's basketball team will take on Portland at 2 p.m. MT. Anyone who brings in two canned items will receive a discounted ticket to the game. Fans taking advantage of this promotion and attending the men's game will receive $6 admission ($4 off regular price) and those attending the women's game will receive admission for $4 ($2 off regular price). The offer is valid only at the door on the day of the game. All donation will go to the Fort Collins Food Bank.

Home is Where the Crowd is: The Colorado State women's basketball team kicks off its season with five consecutive home games. The last time this happened was during the 2002-03 season where the Rams won five out of their six opening home gams.

Fan Support: Colorado State has had at least 1,000 fans attend each of the last 147 home games. The last time the Rams played at home in front of fewer than 1,000 fans was Jan. 5, 1996 when Colorado State faced Idaho State. The Rams were 11-5 at home this season compared to just 4-9 on the road.

Third Time is the Charm: For the third consecutive year, the Colorado State women's basketball team is returning the same three starters; Melissa Dennett, Vanessa Espinoza and Lindsay Thomas. The last time this happened was in 1998 when the Rams returned Katie Cronin, Becky Hammon and Zenarae Pieters. These returners led the Rams to an impressive 24-6 record.

Missing the Mark: The last time no Rams reached double figures in scoring was during the 2000-01 season. On March 10, 2001 no player reached double figures in a game against Brigham Young. The Rams won that Mountain West Conference Tournament game 59-56.

Dennett Scoring First: The Rams were 8-4 this season in games that Melissa Dennett scored the first points for Colorado State. Colorado State was 7-9 when any player other than Dennett tallied the first points for the Rams.

Records Fall in 2004-05: This year's team continuously moved up the records list in a number of catagories. As a team, the Rams compiled a .330 shooting percentage from behind the arc, hitting 139 of 421 attempts. This ranks 10th all-time. On the defensive side Colorado State held opponents to just .300 from three-point range, third best all-time. This season the team pulled down 376 boards, the fourth best in school history and also blocked 109 shots. The team's 109 blocked shots was just two away from the school record set in the 1999-2000 season.

Century Mark: Vanessa Espinoza is only two 3's shy of becoming the tenth player in Colorado State history to drain 100 treys in her career.

Back-to-Back-to-Back Losses: Prior to the losses vs. Utah, Brigham Young and New Mexico, Colorado State had not lost back-to-back-to-back home conference games since the 1994 season when they dropped three regular season contests vs. UTEP, Fresno State and San Diego State.

Hunter Scoring: Sara Hunter finished her freshman season by scoring above her season average in eleven of her last 12 games. Over that span she has dished out 38 assists compared to 30 turnovers. Also during that stretch, Hunter scored a career-high 17 points vs. New Mexico which she then bested in the opening round of the MWC tournament with 25 points, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. Hunter's seven threes was just one behind the single game record. Becky Hammon currently holds the record of eight, a feat she accomplished twice. Hunter also finished her freshman campaign with 47 made three-point baskets, second best ever by a freshmam behind Becky Hammon who had 88.

Dennett and Thomas Leaving their Mark: Juniors Lindsay Thomas and Melissa Dennett again compilied stellar seasons in 2004-2005. As such, the two continue to move up in the record books and will forever have their names etched in Colorado State women's basketball history. The duo ranks in the top 20 of four career catagories. Thomas is ranked 14th in rebounds with 537 and Dennett is 20th with 421. Both women also average over five boards a game, Dennett has averaged 6.3 boards over her career and Thomas is close behind with 5.9, to rank them 10th and 12th, respectively. Thomas is now ranked seventh for offensive rebounds with 209 and Dennett is 12th with 157. The final catagory the two are leaving their mark on are blocked shots. Dennett, after compiling 31 blocks this season, now has 69 for her career, third best all-time. Thomas also ranks highly on the list with 65, placing her in eighth.

The Turnover Game: The Rams had only five games this season in which they recorded more assists than turnovers (vs. Iona, at Colorado, vs. Tennessee-Martin, vs. UNLV, vs. Air Force). The Rams were 4-1 in those games.

Scoring Streak Snapped: Vanessa Espinoza had a 53-game scoring streak snapped on March 5, 2005 vs. Air Force. Espinoza was held scoreless against the Falcons and was limited to one point vs. New Mexico. Lindsay Thomas has the longest active scoring streak for the Rams. She has scored at least one point in 89 straight games for the Rams. In fact, the only game of her career that Thomas did not score in was her second game vs. USC on Nov. 17, 2002. The next closest scoring streak is 60 by Melissa Dennett

Four Sign With Warden: Colorado State Head Women's Basketball Coach Jen Warden announced four players have signed National Letters of Intent to play for Colorado State next season. Colorado high school standout Raysha Ritter will join the Rams for the 2006-07 campaign as well as Lindsay Laur and Emily Neal both hale from Minnesota. Juanise Cornell from Azusa, Calif. rounds out the signing class.
Juanise Cornell, 5'10", F, Azusa, Calif. - Juanise Cornell is a two-sport athlete (basketball and volleyball), with many honors in both. Her team has won the Del Rey League and CIF Championships the last two years in basketball and last season they took home the state championship and finished with a perfect record of 35-0. In 2004-05 Cornell was named to the first team Del Rey League. She was also CIF Co-Player of the Year out of all women's basketball player in over 540 schools. She was named offensive player of the year in volleyball by her teammates for three years.
Lindsay Laur, 6'0", F, Roseville, Minn. - The 6'0" forward from Minnesota has been highly recruited by teams like Nebraska, Wisconsin, Marquette and Minnesota. She was named to the all-conference team the last two seasons. Last season Laur was also named to the all-section team and the all-state team. She has also been named team MVP.
Emily Neal, 5'9, G, Minneapolis, Minn. - Two times Neal has been named to the all-conference team. The basketball and soccer team captain has won three conference championships in basketball. She was the starting point guard on the state championship team her sophomore season. Neal has been on the Headmaster's List every year of her high school career. The Headmaster's List is for students with a GPA higher than a 3.7. She has also volunteered for the Special Olympics the past two years. Neal was recruited by Boston College, Northwestern and Princeton in addition to Colorado State.
Raysha Ritter, 6'3", C, Grand Junction, Colo. - This 6'3" post player has been first team all-conference all three years she has played and was second team all-state her junior year. Along with the all-state honors, she was named Southwestern League Player of the Year, and was named an Adidas Top 10 All-American. Colorado State was chosen by Ritter over Texas Tech, Penn State, Colorado and Illinois. Currently, Ritter is only a few points shy of first all-time on the scoring list at her school, a record she is projected to hold by season's end.

No Soup For You: Lindsay Thomas and Melissa Dennett are two of the most prolific shot blockers in school history. Thomas had 38 blocks for the season. She blocked more shots as a junior than any other player in school history. The single-season record for blocks is 48 set by Teresa James during the 1992-93 season. Thomas has blocked 65 shots in her career and is eighth on the all-time blocks list. She is only three blocks away from moving into a tie for third all-time with teammate Melissa Dennett. Dennett is currently third all-time with 69 blocked shots in her career.

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