Women's Basketball Preview - San Francisco and Pacific

Nov. 16, 2006

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The Match ups
After a season-opening victory over UMKC on Monday night, the Rams hit the road for the first time this season to take on San Francisco and Pacific.

The Rams enter the contest on the heels of a thrilling 89-72 victory over UMKC in which junior guard Sara Hunter netted 26 points, a school record for a season-opener, one point shy of her career-high.

San Francisco is led by first-year coach Tanya Haave. The team returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last season's squad that finished 9-20 (4-10 WCC). The Dons have stumbled out of the gate this season with losses to Colorado (62-56) and Wyoming (71-58). Junior guard Dominique Carter leads the team, averaging 19 points per contest so far this season.

Pacific is also under the tutelage of a first-year head coach in Lynne Roberts who brings back three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team. The Tigers dropped their season opener at Portland, 74-60. Freshman guard Jake Kelly led the way for Pacific in the opener, scoring 18 points in the contest. Sophomore forward Karen Dawkins, a Colorado Springs native, also jumped out to a strong start for the Tigers, pulling down 18 rebounds and chipping in 10 points.

UMKC Recap
Behind a school-record performance from junior guard Sara Hunter, the Colorado State women's basketball team (1-0) defeated UMKC (1-1) in the Rams' season opener Monday night at Moby Arena. Hunter scored 26 points - a school record for a season-opening game - to lead the Rams to the 89-72 victory.

The Rams trailed for only 42 seconds in the contest, capturing the lead for the final time on a fast-break layup by freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney to give the team a 4-3 lead. UMKC tied the contest, 6-6 at the 16:30 mark, before Colorado State mounted a 12-2 run over the next four minutes, ballooning the Rams' advantage to 10 points, 18-8. The lead hovered around that point for the remainder of the half, and Mullaney scored nine of the Rams' final 14 points of the half, to give Colorado State a 43-33 halftime advantage.

Mullaney led the Rams with 11 points heading into the locker room, but it was the Rams' returning corps of Hunter, Marilyn Moulton and Molly Nohr that heated up to begin the second half. The trio accounted for the team's first 15 points to begin the second half and following a 10-4 run that began at the 12:57 mark and ended at the 11:11 mark, the Rams had expanded their lead to 18 points, 68-50.

During the first half of the second stanza, Hunter took over. She netted 14 of her game-high 26 before the nine-minute mark of the second half. Hunter broke the 16-year-old record by knocking down two foul shots with 56 seconds remaining in the contest to seal the Rams' 89-72 victory and finished one point shy of her personal-best.

In addition to Hunter's 26, Mullaney and Nohr each reached double-figures. Mullaney finished her Rams' regular-season debut with 22 points and five rebounds, while Nohr added 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Freshman forward Juanise Cornell led the Rams in rebounding with eight and added seven points of her own.

The Rams also received some important minutes from freshman center Nya Mason. She played 20 minutes in the game, giving relief to Moulton who got into early foul trouble. Both Mason and Moulton finished with six points for the Rams.

Warden on Friday, Sunday
Colorado State is 0-2 under head coach Jen Warden when playing on a Friday, but 2-0 in games played on Sundays.

Crashing the Boards
In Colorado State's 89-72 victory over UMKC, the Rams outrebounded the Kangaroos by a 47-38 margin. Five players finished the contest with five or more rebounds led by freshman forward Juanise Cornell who grabbed eight and senior guard Molly Nohr who tallied seven. Junior guard Sara Hunter gathered six rebounds and freshmen guard Kelly Jo Mullaney and center Nya Mason each finished the game with five rebounds.

Opening Strong
Junior guard Sara Hunter set a school record for points in a season-opening game with 26 against UMKC. Hunter broke a 16-year-old record held by Katie Krusick in a season-opening 75-57 loss at Weber State on Nov. 23, 1990. The Fort Collins native shot 9-for-19, a career-high for field goal attempts, and was 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Her 26 points were one shy of her career-high, 27, which came against BYU on March 2, 2006.

Seeing 20/20
Sara Hunter's 26-point outburst against UMKC was the fourth 20+ point effort of her career at Colorado State. The following is a list of career 20 point games among active Colorado State players:

Name # Sara Hunter 4 Molly Nohr 1 Kelly Jo Mullaney 1

Flourishing Freshman
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney poured in 22 points of her own in the Rams' opener against UMKC, on 8-for-15 shooting including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Mullaney's 22 points is a school record for most points by a freshman in her debut, topping Jacque Johnson who dropped 21 points against Washington State on Nov. 22, 1996.

Moving Up The Charts
Junior guard Sara Hunter need just 12 three-point field goal attempts to move into the top-10 all-time. She is currently 11th on the career chart with 297 career attempts from long range.

Rams in Season Openers
With the 89-72 victory over UMKC, the Rams improve to 2-0 in season-opening contests under Jen Warden. Last season, Colorado State defeated Concordia-St. Paul, 83-69 at Moby Arena to begin the season. The Rams hold a record of 23-10 all-time in season-opening contests, including 7-0 since the 2000 season opener.

Fan Support
The Rams opened the 2006-07 season in front of 1,210 fans at Moby Arena on Monday, improving Colorado State's streak of home games with 1,000+ fans in attendance to 162 straight contests. The last time that the Rams played in front of fewer than 1,000 fans was Jan. 5, 1996 against Idaho State.

The Young and The Restless
Colorado State enters the 2006-07 season with a roster that includes seven freshman, ranking as one of the youngest teams in the country. Six of those freshman saw the court in the Rams' first game of the year against UMKC. Guard Kelly Jo Mullaney led the way with 22 points and five rebounds in 35 minutes of action, followed by forward Juanise Cornell who added seven points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. Center Nya Mason impressed in a reserve role, scoring five points and notching five rebounds in 20 minutes played. Forward Raysha Ritter added five points and one rebound in 16 minutes and guards Ashley McFarland and Emily Neal played three minutes and one minute, respectively, in the contest.

Moulton in Foul Trouble
Senior center Marilyn Moulton played much of the game against UMKC in foul trouble which limited her to six points and four rebounds in 11 minutes of action. Moulton fouled out of the contest with 8:09 left in the game, marking the third time in her career that she fouled out of a game.

Block Party
Freshman center Nya Mason accounted for the Rams' only block against UMKC, the first of her career. Senior center Marilyn Moulton fouled out of the contest before recording a block, snapping a streak of five regular-season games with a block to close last season.

Home Sweet Home
The Rams opened the regular season in the friendly confines of Moby Arena picking up an 89-72 victory over UMKC. Last season, the Rams posted a record of 6-8 at home. Overall, since 1974-75, the Rams hold a record of 280-146 (.657) in Moby Arena.

Nohr's Near Triple-Double
Senior guard Molly Nohr narrowly missed her first-career triple-double against UMKC, finishing the contest with 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

Approaching the Century Mark
Senior center Marilyn Moulton needs just four offensive rebounds to reach 100 for her career. She currently sits at 96 career offensive rebounds and 168 overall rebounds as a Ram. Last season Moulton pulled down 51 offensive boards and needs 26 to move into the career top-20 on the offensive glass.

Assist-to-Turnover Ratio Key
Colorado State dished out 19 assists on 32 baskets in its season-opening win over UMKC, while turning the ball over 13 times. During the 2005-06 season, the Rams recorded 407 assists, but turned the ball over 533 times. The team notched six contests - Concordia-St. Paul, South Dakota State, Colorado, Portland, Northern Colorado and Wyoming - in which they had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. In those games, the Rams posted a 4-2 record.

Homeward Bound
As Colorado State hits the road for the first time this season, at least two Rams will feel right at home in the Golden State. Senior guard Molly Nohr hails from Moraga, Calif. - about 22 miles east of San Francisco. Freshman forward Juanise Cornell also calls California home, growing up in Azusa, Calif., near Los Angeles.

Youth Movement
With seven freshmen on the roster for the 2006-07 season, this year's team ranks as one of the youngest in school history. The last time that a Colorado State women's basketball team featured more than seven freshman was the 1999-2000 season, the first year of the Mountain West Conference. That year, the Rams posted a 23-10 mark, 9-5 in conference action and went on to go 3-1 in the WNIT.

Rams In Double Digits
The last time that Colorado State was held without a double-digit scorer in a game was March 10, 2001 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament against BYU. The Rams won the game 59-56 to clinch the MWC Tournament Title. The streak now spans 160 regular- and post-season games. The streak was nearly ended last season in the Rams' final game by BYU in the 2006 MWC Tournament. Melissa Dennett was the only Ram to reach double-figures, scoring 10 points to preserve the streak.

Double-Double Debut
Freshman Juanise Cornell did not disappoint in her Moby Arena debut against Western State. The 5-10 forward from Azusa California recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to help the Rams to a 72-48 victory. In the Rams' second exhibition game against Metro State, Cornell scored seven points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Sara's Stamina
Junior G Sara Hunter, who led the Rams in minutes per game last season averaging more than 35 per contests. She played the entire 40 minutes in the Rams' opener against UMKC, as well as 40 minutes in both of the Rams' exhibition contests.

Nohr's Accuracy
Molly Nohr hit an impressive 87.1 percent (54-62) from the free throw line during the 2005-06 season, the fourth best percentage in school history (minimum 50 makes). She was 3-for-3 from the line against UMKC on Monday, one of four Rams to be perfect from the free throw line. Overall, Colorado State shot 17-for-22 (.773) from the charity stripe in the season-opener.

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