Women's Basketball Preview - Fort Hays State (Exhibition)

Nov. 3, 2005

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Up Next: The Colorado State Rams will open up exhibition play on Wednesday, November 9 against Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. in Moby Arena. Fort Hays State tallied a record of 22-8 last season at the NCAA Div. II level. The Tigers return four starters from a season ago. Fort Hays State is a member of the RMAC. Last season the Tigers went 14-5 in conference play and placed third in the east division. The game can be heard on the Colorado State Sports Network flagship station 600 AM KCOL. Brian Roth will serve as the play-by-play announcer and Corbu Stathes will be the color analyst for the broadcast.

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.

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.

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 fired up the second most three-point shot attempts (47) in Colorado State history by a freshman. The only player to crank up more three's in her first season was Becky Hammon with 88.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Opponent Threes: Colorado State had five games this year where the opponent launched at least 29 three-point attempts (at Northern Colorado - 48, vs. Wyoming - 41, vs. San Diego State - 29, at New Mexico - 30, at Wyoming - 32). Colorado State had only three games ever prior to this season that an opponent had taken more than 29 three-point attempts. The Rams were 6-2 in those games.

Stepping Up The D: The Rams allowed 60.5 points a game this season, ranking third all-time in scoring defense. This season marked the best defensive team since the 1975-76 team.

60 Is The Magic Number - Part 1: The Rams were 13-1 when holding opponents to under 60 points and 2-12 when allowing more than 60 points this season.

60 Is The Magic Number - Part 2: Colorado State was 14-4 when scoring more than 60 points and 1-9 when held to less than 60.

Home Sweet Home: The Rams have had seven straight seasons with double figure wins at home. The Rams averaged 70.3 points per game at home compared to 60.5 on the road while allowing an average of 57.4 at home compared to 64.7 on the road.

Block Party: Colorado State has recorded at least one blocked shot in the last 49 games dating back to Dec. 11, 2003 at Denver. The Rams combined for 95 blocks during the 2003-04 season, which ranks fifth on the CSU single-season chart. Colorado State has had 105 blocks this season ranking third all-time.

Double-Double Games: Colorado State had 18 double-double performances this season, 10 by Lindsay Thomas, seven by Melissa Dennett and one by Msur Tor-Agbidye.

Lindsay Thomas: vs. San Francisco (Nov. 19, 2004) - 13 points, 12 rebounds; at Notre Dame (Nov. 22, 2004) - 12 points, 10 rebounds; vs. UAB (Nov. 27, 2004) - 20 points, 10 reboudns; vs. Pepperdine (Nov. 30, 2004) - 10 points, 12 rebounds; vs. Tennessee-Martin (Dec. 21, 2004) - 26 points, 10 rebounds; vs. Denver (Jan. 4, 2005) - 12 points, 11 rebounds; at Montana (Jan. 8, 2005) - 10 points, 11 rebounds; at Brigham Young (Jan. 15, 2005) - 18 points, 11 rebounds; vs. UNLV (Jan. 22, 2005) - 19 points, 10 rebounds; vs. New Mexico (March 3, 2005) - 15 points, 10 rebounds.

Melissa Dennett: vs. San Francisco (Nov. 19, 2004) - 15 points, 10 rebounds; vs. UAB (Nov. 27, 2004) - 25 points, 15 reboudns; at Colorado (Dec. 8, 2004) - 19 points, 10 rebounds; at Montana (Jan. 8, 2005) - 21 points, 10 rebounds; vs. San Diego State (Jan. 20, 2005) - 22 points, 13 rebounds; at San Diego State (Feb. 19, 2005) - 13 points, 11 rebounds; vs. Utah (Feb. 26, 2005) - 18 points, 13 rebounds.

Msur Tor-Agbidye: vs. Air Force (March 5, 2005) - 10 points, 11 rebounds.

Coors Light Ram Basketball Coaches' Show: Catch Colorado State head women's basketball coach Jen Warden on the Colorado State Sports Network throughout the season. Warden will be on the Coors Light RamBasketball Coaches' Show with head men's basketball coach Dale Layer live from the Fort Collins Hilton. The show starts at 7 p.m. MT. The broadcast can be heard on 1410 AM KCOL in Fort Collins and 710 AM KNUS in Denver. Colorado State football and men's basketball play-by-play announcer Rich Bircumshaw will be the host.

Broadcast Dates - December 5, December 12, December 19, January 9, January 16, January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, February 20, February 27 and March 6

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