Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Preview - San Jose State
12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2006
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The Matchup
Colorado State plays host to the San Jose State Spartans of the Western Athletic Conference on Saturday afternoon from Moby Arena.
Colorado State enters the contest coming off of a 59-48 road victory over the University of Northern Colorado. The Rams' record currently sits at 3-5.
San Jose State comes to Fort Collins with an overall record of 0-9 to begin the 2006-07 season. The Spartans are coming off of a stretch in which the team played four games in seven days, beginning with a Nov. 29 matchup with the University of San Francisco, the two teams' only common opponent so far this season. The Don's, who defeated the Rams, 62-51 on Nov. 17, needed overtime to defeat the Spartans, 53-48.
The Spartans then competed in the Contra Costa Times Classic in Berkeley, Calif., dropping two contests to Arkansas State (90-71) and Harvard (83-62), before falling tot Washington State at home (72-61).
The Spartans are led by Interim Head Coach Derrick Allen, who has taken over the reigns of the program while head coach Janice Richard is on medical leave.
Much like the Rams, the Spartans have use a younger and smaller, three-guard lineup. Brittany Helm, a freshman guard from Baton Rouge, La. leads the Spartans in nearly every category including scoring (15.0 ppg.), rebounding (5.4 rpg.) assists, blocks steals and offensive rebounds. Helm has scored in double-figures in each of the team's nine contests this season, including a 20-point effort against San Francisco.
Natalie White, a sophomore guard from Dubuque, Iowa ranks second on the team, scoring at a clip of 13.2 points per contest.
Northern Colorado Recap
Behind a 19-point effort from freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney, the Colorado State women's basketball team defeated the Northern Colorado Bears, 59-48, at Butler-Hancock Pavilion snapping a three-game losing streak and improving the Rams record to 3-5 on the season while pushing their streak of consecutive victories over UNC to 15.
Northern Colorado opened up the contest 2-0, and after hitting a couple of three's, sandwiched by Colorado State jumpers, UNC opened up an 8-4 lead, three minutes into the contest.
The Bears exchanged buckets with Kelly Jo Mullaney, who scored six straight points for the Rams, and following a layup by freshman Emily Neal at the 11:26 mark, the Rams trailed by just one, 13-12.
The Bears leading scorer, Heather Barbour, responded with six straight to push the UNC lead to a game-high seven points, 19-12.
However, the Rams fired back with a 16-4 run to end the first half and Colorado State enjoyed a 28-23 advantage at the half. The Rams opened up the second half with a 5-0 run and took a 10-point, 33-23, lead with 16:21 remaining in the contest.
Northern Colorado forward Tina Fox scored six of the first eight second-half points for the Bears to keep them in the contest, but after a pair of buckets from freshman Juanise Cornell and Mullaney, the Rams took a 42-29 lead with 11:36 left to play.
From that point UNC responded with a 10-0 run of their own to cut the CSU lead to 42-39 at the 7:23 mark, but Colorado State answered by rattling off eight straight points to keep the Bears at arm's length.
Following a 7-0 run by the Bears that cut the lead to 50-45, the Rams sealed the victory with seven straight from the foul line. Senior Marilyn Moulton drained the free throw after being fouled and hitting a layup, and Neal hit four free throws, with less than 26 second remaining. Sara Hunter's pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining capped the scoring for both sides.
Mullaney led the Rams with 19 points and only one turnover in the contest, after struggling with just five points and five turnovers in a home loss to Denver the previous contest. The 5-8 guard also recorded her first collegiate block, one of two Rams' swats in the contest.
Moulton led the Rams with 10 rebounds, her fourth double-digit rebounding game of the season, and added eight points. Senior Molly Nohr and Neal also netted eight points each, and Hunter added seven points for the Rams.
The Rams outrebounded the Bears 33-28 in the contest while shooting at a 44.9 percent clip and holding UNC to 34.7 percent from the floor.
San Jose State Series
Colorado State holds 5-1 edge all-time over San Jose State, but the Spartans won the latest meeting last season, a 78-66 decision in San Jose. The Rams have defeated San Jose State twice in Moby Arena in the 1996-97 season and again in the 1997-98 season.
San Jose State (5-1, 2-0 Home, 2-1 Away, 1-0 Neutral)Streaking Rams
1/5/85 W 68-55 Missoula
1/25/97 W 88-62 San Jose
2/20/97 W 80-55 Fort Collins
1/22/98 W 70-56 San Jose
2/21/98 W 108-56 Fort Collins
12/10/05 L 66-78 San Jose
Colorado State's 15-game winning streak over Northern Colorado is the longest current winning streak over any one opponent. The Rams last loss to the Bears came Jan. 19, 1979, a 60-54 decision in Greeley. The streak also ranks as the second-longest in school history, behind an 18-game stretch over the Air Force Academy which spanned from 1992-2005.
600 and Counting
Junior guard Sara Hunter recorded eight points in the Rams loss the Denver on Sunday, reaching exactly 600 points for her career at Colorado State. After adding seven more at Northern Colorado Hunter now sits 264 points shy cracking the top-20 in school history.
Sub-60 Victory
Colorado State 59-48 victory over Northern Colorado marks the first time this season that the Rams won when scoring less than 60 points in the contest. The last time Colorado State won a game in which it scored fewer than 60 points was Feb. 19, 2005, a 56-49 victory over San Diego State.
KJ Leads Rams to Win
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney got back on track Wednesday night against Northern Colorado, leading the Rams to victory with a 19-point scoring outburst, just three days after recording a season-low of five points in a home loss to the University of Denver. Previously on the season, Colorado State had been 0-4 in games in which Mullaney led the team in scoring.
Neal at the Stripe
Freshman guard Emily Neal attempted six free throws for the Rams against Northern Colorado, tying the teams' single-game high this season, also held by senior guard Molly Nohr (vs. Western Carolina) and freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney (vs. Idaho). Four of Neal's six free throw attempts came in the final 26 seconds of the Rams victory over UNC, sealing the win for the Rams.
From the Red to the Black
Colorado State posted trailed by as many as seven to the UNC Bears in the first half, before storming back to take the lead just before halftime. The Rams' seven-point deficit was the team's biggest deficit overcome to earn a victory this season.
Double Bubble Bursts
Kelly Jo Mullaney (19 points) was the only Ram to score in double-figures in Colorado State's victory over Northern Colorado, the first time that two Rams have not finished in double-figures in the team's last 22 contests dating back to the 2005-06 season. Colorado State ended the 2005-06 season with 14-straight contests in which at least two players recorded double-figures in scoring. This season's team, although quite different, Through seven games this season, Colorado State had two or more double-digit scorers in each game and had three players reach double-digits in four contests. The Rams' are 2-1 on the season when their starting guard trio of Sara Hunter, Kelly Jo Mullaney and Molly Nohr reach double-figures in the same game.
3-Point Streak Extended
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney hit the only 3-pointer of the game for the Rams against Northern Colorado, keeping alive a streak of 142-straight contests in which the Rams have recorded at least one 3-pointer. The last time that Colorado State was held without a 3-point basket was Jan. 17, 2002, a 58-49 victory over San Diego State.
Sixth Man
Freshman guard Emily Neal has emerged as one of the Rams' go-to performers off the bench. Neal has been the first substitution in five of the team's eight games and the three of the last four games. In the Rams' last four contests, Neal is averaging 8.25 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest while playing more than 25 minutes per game.
Moulton's Rebounding
Senior center Marilyn Moulton recorded 10 rebounds in the Rams win over Northern Colorado, her fourth double-digit rebounding contest of the season. The Longmont, Colo. native ranks second in the Mountain West Conference, averaging 9.8 rebounds per contest, and helping the Rams to a MWC-best 44.0 rebounds per contest.
Tenacious D
Through eight games this season, Colorado State's defense has surrendered an average of 63.25 points per contest, which would currently rank 10th on the single-season charts in school history. Over the past three contests, the Rams' defense has allowed an average of just 56.34 points per contest.
On Guard
The Rams backcourt continues to impress early in the 2006-07 season. The Rams starting three-guard set of Kelly Jo Mullaney, Sara Hunter and Molly Nohr has accounted for 68.2 percent of the team's scoring through eight games.
In Good Company
Freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney led the Rams in scoring for the fourth time in her young career in the Ram's game against rival Colorado and eclipsed the 100-point mark for her career. She joins former Utah standout and 2006 WNBA Draft first-round selection Kim Smith as the only freshmen in Mountain West Conference history to reach 100 points in six games. At her current pace and with at least 22 contests remaining on the Rams schedule this season, Mullaney would finish sixth all-time on the single-season scoring charts and second by a freshman, behind former consensus All-American, Becky Hammon.
Top Assist-Field Goal Combos
Sara Hunter set up Kelly Jo Mullaney twice in the Rams victory over Northern Colorado, pushing the total of Hunter-to-Mullaney assist-field goal combos to 13 on the season. The following is a list of the Rams' top assist-to-field goal combinations:
Hunter to Mullaney 13 Nohr to Mullaney 9 Mullaney to Hunter 7 Nohr to Hunter 6 Nohr to Cornell 6 Mullaney to Nohr 5