Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Preview - Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational
11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2006
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The Tournament Field
The Rams will host the 13th annual Coors Rocky Mountain Inviatiational, Nov. 24-25 at Moby Arena.
This year's tournament field will include Idaho, Weber State and Western Carolina.
The Rams open the tournament against Idaho of the Western Athletic Conference. The Vandals enter the contest with a 1-1 overall record and are led by junior transfer Liz Witte who is averaging 15.5 points per game this season.
Colorado State will then face either Weber State or Western Carolina on Saturday night.
Weber State is a member of the Big Sky Conference and boasts a record of 3-0 entering the CRMI. The Wildcats have four players averaging double-figures, led by Sara Tuomi, a junior guard/forward who is averaging 21.3 points per game.
Western Carolina visits Colorado from Cullowhee, N.C. and the Southern Conference. The Lady Catamounts are 1-3 to start tehe season and are led by junior guard Monique Dawson who averages 13.3 points per game.
San Francisco and Pacific Recap
Head Coach Jen Warden's young team stumbled on its first road trip of the season, falling to San Francisco, 62-51, and Pacific, 71-59.
The Rams were led in scoring in both games by freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney who racked up 17 points against the Dons and 21 more against the Tigers.
Foul trouble hindered Colorado State in both games. Despite jumping out to an 11-0 to begin the game, the Rams were unable to hold off San Francisco on their home court.
The Rams were shorthanded for much of the game as freshman starting forward Juanise Cornell fouled out of the contest after only 11 minutes of action.
Cornell's presence was also missing in the Rams' loss at Pacific, as the California native was sidelined with a migraine headache just before fipoff of the contest.
With the Rams other freshman forward, Raysha Ritter missing the trip, senior guard Justine France filled in for Cornell in the starting lineup. Freshmen Nya Mason, Ashley McFarland and Emily Neal saw extended playing time, coming off of the Rams; bench as well.
Marilyn Moulton set a career-high with 14 rebounds in the Rams game against San Francisco and pulled down 13 more against Pacific.
The Rams struggled from the field in both contests, hitting at a 33.9 percent clip against San Francisco, and a slightly better-35.2 percent against Pacific.
Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational History
Colorado State will play host to the 13th annual Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, Friday and Saturday. The Rams hold an all-time record of 21-3 in the tournament.
Year Record Opponent Score
2005 1-1 South Dakota State L, 75-82
UC-Irvine W, 85-65
2004 2-0 Iona W, 108-59
UAB W, 82-57
2003 1-1 Long Beach State W, 67-49
Boston College L, 61-75
2002 2-0 Davidson W, 70-58
Xavier W, 68-64
2001 2-0 West Virginia W, 85-74
Evansville W, 82-53
2000 2-0 St. Bonaventure W, 105-82
Indiana State W, 85-57
1999 2-0 Vermont W, 102-69
California W, 73-67
1998 2-0 Furman W, 96-70
LaSalle W, 95-47
1997 2-0 Georgia State W, 94-70
Akron W, 93-68
1996 2-0 Sacramento State W, 75-59
Davidson W, 102-75
1995 1-1 Brown W, 85-72
Texas Tech L, 79-91
1994 2-0 Pennsylvania W, 69-50
Tulane W, 76-56
TOTAL 21-3
Seeing 20/20
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney led the team in scoring on the Rams' most recent road swing, scoring 17 points against San Francisco and 21 against Pacific, her second-career 20-point game. The following is a list of 20-point games among active players.
Name # Sara Hunter 4 Kelly Jo Mullaney 2 Molly Nohr 1
France Gets Start
Senior guard Justine France started the first game of her career in the Rams game at Pacific Sunday. The 5-5 guard from Fort Collins played 27 minutes in the game, shattering her previous career-high of seven minutes played. She also recorded a career-highs with six rebounds and two assists in the game.
McFarland Breaks Out
Freshman guard Ashley McFarland played 26 minutes in the Rams loss at Pacific, recording seven points, seven rebounds and dishing out four assists in the game.
Crashing the Boards
Senior center Marilyn Moulton reached 100-career offensive rebounds in the Rams' game against San Francisco. The 6-4 post player from Longmont, Colo. set career-highs in rebounds (14) and offensive rebounds (6) in the contest. She pulled down 13 more in the Rams next game against Pacific. For her career, Moulton sits just 18 shy of 200 rebounds.
Flourishing Freshman
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney poured in 22 points in the Rams' opener against UMKC, on 8-for-15 shooting including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Mullaney's 22 points was 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. She did not stop there, leading the team in scoring in both the Rams' first two road contests. Mullaney scored 17 points on 7-for-18 shooting and added six rebounds and two assists against San Francisco. She followed that performance with 21 points on 9-for-22 shooting , two rebounds and four assists against Pacific.
Rams in the CRMI
Colorado State's four returning players have much experience playing in the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational and have faired well in the tournament. Senior center Marilyn Moulton scored a career-high 15 points in last season's CRMI against UC-Irvine also recorded double-digits against Iona the previous season and junior guard Sara Hunter has reached double-digits in her last three CRMI tournament games. The Chart on pg. 5 shows each of the returners career statistics from the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.
Foul Trouble
Colorado State has had at least one player foul out in each of the team's first three contests. As a result, Rams' opponents have shot 23 more free throws, 69-46, but have made just two more. Senior center Marilyn Moulton fouled out of the Rams' season opener against UMKC and freshman Juanise Cornell was limited to just 11 minutes against San Francisco. While Sara Hunter - who had played 40 minutes in both of the Rams' exhibition contests and first two regular-season games - and senior Molly Nohr were each whistled for five personal fouls against Pacific.
Fan Support
The Rams return to Moby Arena for the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational this weekend. The Rams opened the 2006-07 season in front of 1,210 fans at Moby Arena against UMKC, 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.
Moving Up The Charts
Junior guard Sara Hunter need just nine three-point field goal attempts to move into the top-10 all-time. She is currently 11th on the career chart with 300 career attempts from long range.
Cleaning the Glass
Colorado State ranks first in the Mountain West Conference in rebounding, averaging 45.7 boards per game through three contests. Senior center Marilyn Moulton leads the team, with an average of 10.3 rebounds per game, third on the conference charts. Moulton ranks first in the conference in offensive rebounding, averaging 4.67 O-boards per game.
Scoring Saavy
Colorado State is the only school to have more than one player ranked in the top-10 in scoring in the Mountain West Conference, with three Rams at the top of the list. Freshman Kelly Jo Mullaney ranks first in the league averaging 20.0 points per game, followed by Nohr (16.0 ppg.) who ranks seventh and Hunter (14.7 ppg.) who is ninth on the list.
Homecoming
On her trip back to the Bay Area, senior guard Molly Nohr turned one of the most productive scoring weekends of her career. With friends and family in attendance, Nohr scored 12 points against San Francisco, and followed that up with a 19-point performance at Pacific.
Major Headache
While freshman Juanise Cornell is sure to be a headache for opponsing teams throughout her career at Colorado State, the freshman was sidelined for the Rams' game at Pacific on Sunday with a migraine headache. The Azusa, Calif. native warmed up as usual before the game, but minutes before tipoff was overcome by a blinding migraine, forcing her to miss the game.