Colorado State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Preview - Air Force
1/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2007
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Game 13:
Colorado State (5-7) at Air Force (4-7)
Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007 • 7 p.m. MT
USAFA, Colo. • Clune Arena (5,939)
The Series
Overall Record - CSU Leads 27-7
In Fort Collins - CSU Leads 14-2
In USAFA - CSU Leads 12-5
At Neutral Sites - CSU Leads, 1-0
Warden vs Air Force - 2-2
Radio
Colorado State Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Brian Roth
Color Analyst: Corbu Stathes
Fort Collins: 600 AM KCOL
The Matchup
The Colorado State University women's basketball team travels south to take on in-state rival Air Force to open up Mountain West Conference action. The Rams and the Falcons are set to tip off at 7 p.m. from Clune Arena at the Air Force Academy.
Both the Rams and Falcons have struggled during their non-conference schedules, and are looking to get off to a good start in conference play. At 4-7, the Falcons enter the game ninth in the Mountain West Conference standings, just behind Colorado State who enters the matchup with a record of 5-7.
Colorado State enters the contest, its third consecutive road game, with back-to-back losses at No. 6/6 UConn (93-58) and at New Mexico State (71-55).
The Falcons are coming off of a come-from-behind victory over Weber State, 78-73, which snapped a four-game losing streak to Western Michigan (71-54) at home and on the road against UW-Milwaukee (65-53), Illinois-Chicago (58-57) and Denver (59-46).
Air Force is led by a pair of junior forwards in Alecia Steele, who averages 12.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest, and Pamela Findlay, who averages 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest.
Head Coach Ardie McInelly leads the Falcons in her sixth season at the helm. McInelly has posted a record of 38-113 at the Air Force Academy, leading the Falcons to a 13-15 (4-12 MWC) finish in 2005-06, their best record in 10 seasons. The Falcons swept the Rams, 76-60 in Moby Arena, and 79-65 at Clune, marking the first time that the Rams were swept by the Falcons since their first two meetings in 1979.
Air Force Series
The Rams hold a 27-7 edge all-time against the Air Force Falcons, including a 13-2 advantage in the Mountain West Conference. Last season, the Rams were swept by the Falcons, snapping a 20-game win streak by the Rams.
Mountain West Openers
Colorado State boasts a record of 5-2 all-time in Mountain West Conference openers including a 1-0 mark under Head Coach Jen Warden. Four times Colorado State has opened MWC action on the road, posting a record of 2-2 in those contests. The following is a listing of the Rams' results in MWC-opening contests:
1/15/00 Wyoming W, 86-69 1/13/01 at Wyoming W, 76-51 1/10/02 at BYU W, 81-64 1/16/03 at BYU L, 56-71 1/15/04 BYU W, 54-52 1/13/05 at Utah L, 50-68 1/5/05 San Diego State W, 68-65Road Warriors
The Rams contest at Air Force is the third in a four-game stretch away from the friendly confines of Moby Arena. The Rams fell at No. 6/6 UConn, 93-58 on Dec. 21, and stumbled at New Mexico State, 71-55 on Dec. 29. The Rams begin their Mountain West Conference slate on the road at Air Force on Thursday and at TCU on Saturday. The last time that Colorado State played more than four-consecutive games on the road was a five-game road swing that spanned from Jan. 4, 2003 trough Jan. 18, 2003. During that stretch, the Rams defeated St. Mary's (64-46) and Holy Cross (73-69), but fell in three straight to Boston College (60-75), BYU (56-71) and Utah (50-73). That season, Colorado State rebounded from that pair of Mountain West Conferece-opening losses to BYU and Utah to finish with a record of 8-6, eventually making it to the semi-final round of the WNIT.
Rams vs. MWC
Colorado State women's basketball is 55-45 all-time in Mountain West Conference action.
Nohr Tallies 200 Assists
Senior guard Molly Nohr eclipsed 200 career assists in the Rams loss at UConn on Dec. 21. With 201 career assists at Colorado State Thursday's matchup at Air Force, Nohr ranks 19th in school history.
Finley Fitting Right In
Playing in just her third game at Colorado State and only her third game since the 2004-05 season at Northwestern, sophomore transfer Kelly Finley led the team with a career-high 16 points and tied her career-high with seven rebounds in just 23 minutes off of the Rams' bench at New Mexico State. It was the second consecutive game in which Finley led the Rams in rebounding, after posting six boards against the UConn Huskies on Dec. 21. This marked the first time this season that someone other than Marilyn Moulton or Juanise Cornell led the Rams in rebounding in a game. In three games off the bench for the Rams, Finley has posted some solid numbers, averaging 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in 19.3 minutes per contest off the Rams' bench.
On Guard
The Rams backcourt continues to impress this season. Colorado State's starting three-guard set of Kelly Jo Mullaney (15.4 ppg.), Sara Hunter (10.9 ppg.) and Molly Nohr (12.6 ppg.) has accounted for 60.3 percent of the team's scoring, or 38.9 points per contest through 12 games.
The Turnover Story
Colorado State is 5-0 this season when giving away fewer turnovers than opponents. In the Rams five victories, the team is averaging 12.4 turnovers per game and opponent's are giving the ball up at a rate of 19.0 times per contest. In seven losses, however the roles are reversed as the Rams' average rockets to 18.6 turnovers per game, compared with 12.9 for opponents.
Head of the Class
Two Rams freshman, Juanise Cornell and Kelly Jo Mullaney have emerged as leaders in the Mountain West Conference among both freshman and all classes. Cornell ranks first in the conference among freshman, pulling down an average of 6.3 rebounds per contest. This also ranks ninth among all players in the Mountain West Conference. Mullaney leads all freshman in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per contest. This ranks fourth among all players in the Mountain West.
Ram Rebounding
Colorado State's rebounding average (41.5 rpg.) game ranks 12th on the team single-season charts in school history and ranks first in the Mountain West Conference this season. Individually, senior Marilyn Moulton (9.1 rpg.) and freshman Juanise Cornell (6.3 rpg.) rank third and ninth, respectively in the Mountain West.
Three-Point Accuracy
Senior guard Molly Nohr and junior guard Sara Hunter rank sixth and eighth, respectively on the Colorado State career 3-point percentage charts. Nohr has connected on 38.1 percent (37-for-97) over her career as a Ram while Hunter (128-for-345) has hit at a 37.1 percent clip.
Neal Leaving Mark
Freshman guard Emily Neal has made significant contributions for Colorado State in the Rams' last eight contests. During her first four collegiate contests, Neal averaged just 1.0 point and 1.5 rebounds per contest in just under seven minutes per game. In her last eight appearances, Neal is averaging 7.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while playing more than 24 minutes per contest off the bench.
Finding The Range
In back-to-back games against Oklahoma Panhandle State and at UConn, the Rams set season-highs for 3-point makes. Led by a perfect 4-for-4 first-half performance from freshman guard Kelly Jo Mullaney from beyond the 3-point line, Colorado State shot 7-for-13 in the first half against UConn from long range and was 0-for-7 from inside the arc. Overall, Colorado State finished the contest, with a season most 10 three-pointers on 24 attempts, surpassing the 9-for-25 performance in the Rams previous game against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Streaking From Three
The Colorado State University women's basketball team has made at least one 3-pointer in 146 consecutive contests. 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.
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.
Top Assist-Field Goal Combos
Sophomore transfer Kelly Finley posted a career-most two assists in the Rams loss at New Mexico State, tying junior Sara Hunter who also dished out two assists in the game. Of the Rams top-5 assist-to-field goal combinations, only Mullaney to Hunter occurred in the game at NMSU.
Hunter to Mullaney 15 Nohr to Mullaney 15 Nohr to Cornell 9 Mullaney to Hunter 8 Nohr to Hunter 7
