Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Preview - Colorado
11/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2006
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Game 6:
Colorado State (2-3) at Colorado (4-2)
Wednesday Nov. 29, 2006 • 7 p.m.
Boulder, Colo. • Coors Event Center (11,064)
The Series
Overall Record CU leads, 27-10
In Fort Collins CU leads, 9-8
In Boulder CU leads, 18-2
At Neutral Sites 0-0
Warden vs Colorado 1-0
Radio Colorado State Sports Network Play-by-Play: Brian Roth Color Analyst: Corbu Stathes Fort Collins: 600 AM KCOL
The Match up
Colorado State travels to face in-state rival Colorado on Wednesday night at the Coors Event Center in Boulder. The Rams enter the contest with an overall record of 2-3, while the Buffaloes have opened up a 4-2 mark early in the season.
Colorado is led by second-year head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller who posted a 9-21 record in her first season at the helm of the Buffaloes' program in 2005-06 and finished 11th in the Big XII Conference with a 3-13 record. However, Colorado returned eight letter winners and three starters this season.
Junior forward Jackie McFarland leads Colorado into the match up, scoring at a clip of 21.5 points per game and pulling down 11.2 rebounds per game while Senior guard/forward Jasmina Ilic checks in with 12.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest.
Much like Jen Warden's team, McConnell-Miller's squad will also rely heavily on newcomers with six - four freshmen and two transfers - on the 2006-07 roster. Two freshmen in particular have been inserted into the starting lineup and performed very well for the Buffs in point guard Whitney Houston (7.2 ppg., 3.0 apg.) and forward Aija Putnina (5.5 ppg., 6.5 rpg.).
Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational Recap
Colorado State posted a record of 1-1 and took home the consolation in the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.
The Rams opened the tournament on a high note, dismantling the University of Idaho, 88-68 behind 20-point efforts from guards Sara Hunter (24), Kelly Jo Mullaney (21) and Molly Nohr (21). Nohr also recorded her first-career double-double in the contest with a career-high 10 rebounds.
The Rams also tied a team-record with 11 blocked shots against the Vandals, led by Senior center Marilyn Moulton who swatted a personal-best six shots and recorded her third-straight double-digit rebounding game with 13.
Colorado State appeared to be heading to a CRMI Championship on Saturday night, jumping out to a 14-point halftime lead over the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts.
However, The Rams shooters struggled in the second half of the contest, hitting just 26.9 percent from the field including 1-for-9 from three-point range in the second stanza, and Western Carolina stormed back to take home the championship trophy.
Mullaney, who earned all-tournament honors for Colorado State, led the Rams in scoring with 16 points and recorded five rebounds and four assists. Nohr added 13 points, 11 in the first half, seven rebounds and five assists. Freshman Juanise Cornell chipped in with six points and 10 rebounds.
CRMI All-Tournament Team:
Sara Tuomi - Weber State
21.5 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 2.0 apg., 1.5 spg.
Kelly Jo Mullaney - Colorado State
18.5 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 3.5 apg., 2.5 spg.
Chevon Keith - Western Carolina
13.5 ppg., 6.0 rpg., 3.5 apg., 1.5 spg.
Ashley Pellom - Western Carolina
10.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.5 apg., 1.0 spg.
*Monique Dawson - Western Carolina
16.5 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 2.5 apg., 3.0 spg.
* Denotes Tournament MVP
Career-High Marks
Guard Molly Nohr had a career night against Idaho in the Rams' opener of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. The senior from Moraga, Calif. posted career-high totals in both points (21) and rebounds (10). It was also Nohr's first career-double-double. Nohr also added a game-high six assists in the contest.
Seeing 20/20
Guards Sara Hunter, Kelly Jo Mullaney and Molly Nohr each added to their career-totals for 20-point games in the Rams' victory over Idaho. Hunter tallied 24 points, while Mullaney and Nohr each netted 21 in the contest.
Name # Sara Hunter 5 Kelly Jo Mullaney 3 Molly Nohr 2
Block Party
Colorado State tied a team-record with 11 blocked shots against the University of Idaho in the opening round of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. Senior Marilyn Moulton led the way with a career-high six blocks, which ranks second on the all-time single-game charts. Freshman center Nya Mason added three of her own, bringing her season total to six blocks in five games. Freshmen Ashley McFarland and Juanise Cornell each added one block to the Rams' effort, the first block of each players career.
Fan Support
Colorado State improved its streak of games home games played in front of more than 1,000 fans to 164 games over the weekend as more than 1,400 fans turned out on each night of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. The Rams defeated Idaho, 88-68 in front of 1,432 fans on Friday, but fell to Western Carolina, 64-60 with 1,451 fans in attendance. The last time that the Rams played in front of fewer than 1,000 fans at Moby Arena was Jan. 5, 1996 against Idaho State.
Neal Contributes Offensively
Freshman guard Emily Neal scored the first points of her collegiate career against Idaho in the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, notching four points to go along with three boards in 10 minutes of action. The following night, Neal set a new career-high mark with eight points against Western Carolina in 14 minutes of play.
Getting Offensive
The Rams' 89-point output in the season opener and 88-point effort against Idaho rank 1-2 among Mountain West Conference teams this season. The Rams 50 percent (8-for-16) three-point shooting performance against UMKC ranks second this season.
Moulton Hot
Senior center Marilyn Moulton appears twice on the Mountain West Conference individual game highs list. Her 14 rebounds at San Francisco is tied for first while her six blocks against Idaho is tops on the list. Moulton also ranks first in the Mountain West Conference in rebounding average with 10.2 rebounds per game.
MWC Leader
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney continues to give opposing defenses nightmares, leading the Mountain West in scoring with an average of 19.4 points per game, nearly two points per game higher than TCU's Adrianne Ross (17.8 ppg.) in second.
Setting Up For Success
In the Rams' victories over UMKC and Idaho, Colorado State recorded 37 assists on 66 made baskets. In three losses the Rams have recorded just 36 assists on the same amount of made baskets. That averages out to 18.5 assists per game in wins and only 12.5 assists per game in losses.
Top Assist-Field Goal Combos
Senior Guard Molly Nohr leads the Rams with 23 assists on the season. Nohr has found seven different teammates for baskets on the season. Seven of the top-eight combinations are Guard-Guard tandems, with Nohr to Cornell being the only exception. The Following is a list of the team's top assist-to-field goal combinations:
Nohr to Mullaney 8 Mullaney to Hunter 7 Nohr to Hunter 6 Hunter to Mullaney 6 Nohr to Cornell 5 Hunter to Nohr 4 Mullaney to Nohr 4 France to Mullaney 4
Scoring Savvy
Colorado State is the only school to have three players ranked in the top-10 in scoring in the Mountain West Conference. Freshman Kelly Jo Mullaney ranks first in the league averaging 19.4 points per game, followed by Nohr (16.4 ppg.) who ranks fourth and Hunter (15.2 ppg.) who is seventh on the list.
Moving Up The Charts
Junior guard Sara Hunter moved into the top-10 in school history over the weekend 314 career three-point field-goal attempts.
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. Moulton than recorded 13 more rebounds in the Rams victory over Idaho in the CRMI first round and added seven more rebounds against Western Carolina, eclipsing 300 career rebounds at Colorado State during the tournament. She currently has 311 career rebounds.
Ram Returners vs. Colorado
In two career games against the University of Colorado, junior guard Sara Hunter is the Rams' most potent weapon against the Buffaloes. Hunter has averaged 15.0 points per game against CU in her career, including a 17-point effort in last season victory in Moby Arena. On the road as a freshman, Hunter scored 13 points and recorded four assists against Colorado. Seniors Molly Nohr and Marilyn Moulton are the only other Rams with playing experience against the rival-Buffaloes. Moulton has averaged six points, four rebounds and 1.5 blocks in two career games. Nohr has averaged just 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds, but has also notched eight assists in two games against Colorado.
France Gets Start
Senior guard Justine France started the first game of her career for the Rams at Pacific. 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.
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. Mullaney recorded her third-career 20-point game, netting 21 points against Idaho and continued the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational with a 16-point effort against Western Carolina to earn all-tournament honors.