Colorado State University Athletics
GAME NOTES: Rams and Pioneers battle in Denver
11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Game 7
Colorado State (1-5) at Denver (1-2)
Nov. 28, 2007 | Denver, Colo. | Magness Arena (7,200) | 7 p.m. MT
The Series
Overall Record: CSU leads, 14-4
In Fort Collins: CSU leads, 9-2
In Denver: CSU leads, 5-2
At Neutral Sites: 0-0
Warden vs. Denver: 0-2
Radio
Colorado State Sports Network: 90.5 FM - KCSU
Cole Weinman: Play-by-Play
Lance Moorman: Color Analyst
Television
Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain
Tim Ring: Play-by-Play
Ceal Barry: Color Analyst
Live Stats
www.DenverPioneers.com
The Matchup
Colorado State (1-5) is coming off of a second-place showing at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, and faces in-state rival DU (1-2) at Magness Arena in Denver on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain.
The Rams will be looking for their first road win of the season, as DU looks even its record at 2-2 with a second consecutive victory.
The meeting will mark the 19th game between Colorado State and Denver, with the Rams holding a 14-4 edge in the all-time series. However, the Pioneers have captured the last two meetings between the two teams.
About Denver
Denver is in its ninth season as a Division I program and is led by head coach Pam Tanner, who owns a career record of 180-164 in 12 seasons on the Pioneers' sidelines.
Tanner returns 11 letterwinners and four starters from last year's team that posted a record of 20-11, 12-6 in the Sunbelt Conference, and finished in second place in the conference's western division. It marked the best record by the Pioneers since the 2000-01 season, when Tanner led the school to its first-and-only NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Pioneers bring a wealth of exprience to the court this season, starting three seniors and two juniors. Junior forward Nnenna Akatobi leads the team, averaging 13.0 points per game. Senior captain Brooke Meyer (8.7 ppg.) ranks second on the team.
Senior guard Alisha Godette, the team's second-leading scorer from a season ago (behind departed senior Tyesha Lowery) is off to a slow start offensively in 2007-08, averaging just 6.0 points per game. However, Godette is the team's leading rebounder (6.7 rpg) and averages nearly three assists per contest.
Denver stumbled out of the blocks this season with back-to-back losses to Duke (57-37), then No. 9/10 in the national polls, and against MWC foe Air Force (65-56) at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Pioneers got into the win column last weekend with an 80-68 home victory over Montana State.
The Rundown
Colorado State holds a 14-4 advantage all-time in the series, but the Rams and Pioneers have split the last four matchups since Denver turned Division I in the 1998-99 season. The last time that Colorado State defeated Denver on the road was an 80-63 victory in 2003. The pioneers defeated the Rams in their last matchup at Magness Arena, 77-58, in 2005. Prior to the Rams' loss at DU in 2003, Colorado State had won 11 consecutive meetings between the teams.
14-4 Overall | 9-2 Home | 5-2 Away | 0-0 Neutral
1/9/75 W 93-21 Fort Collins
11/18/77 W 81-58 Denver
1/10/78 W 76-70 Denver
11/3/78 L 54-55 Denver
11/14/78 L 70-72 Fort Collins
1/4/80 W 90-72 Fort Collins
2/7/81 W 80-66 Denver
2/19/82 W 79-52 Fort Collins
11/22/85 W 62-56 Fort Collins
12/17/87 W 55-44 Fort Collins
1/17/89 W 64-48 Fort Collins
1/12/90 W 79-42 Fort Collins
12/15/90 W 62-54 Denver
11/24/91 W 84-83 Fort Collins
12/11/03 W 80-63 Denver
1/4/05 W 67-47 Fort Collins
12/7/05 L 58-77 Denver
12/3/06 L 53-65 Fort Collins
CRMI Notables
Colorado State placed second in the 14th annual Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, hosted at Moby Arena, Nov. 23-24.
The Rams earned their first victory of the season with a 59-53 triumph over Navy on the first day of the touranment. The Rams moved on to play Creighton in the finals. The Jays defeated Kent State, 71-57, on Friday, and handed the Rams a 78-56 defeat for the touranment title. Kent State placed third with a 53-47 victory over Navy in the consolation game.
Juanise Cornell led the Rams, averaging 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game to earn all-tournament honors. Rounding out the all-touranment team were Anna Kowalksa (Kent State), K.C. Gordon (Navy) and Sam Schuett (Creighton), while Creighton's Sara Cain earned tournament MVP, leading the Jays with 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
Queen-Sized Performance
Freshman forward Elle Queen is off to one of the most impressive starts by a freshman in school history. The 6-foot product of Excelsior, Minn., has started each of the first six games of her career and ranks third on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.7 rpg.). Queen recorded her first-career double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in the Rams' game against San Francisco on Nov. 13 and has led Colorado State in scoring in two games this season, including Saturday's loss to Crieghton in the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. Only sophomore forward Juanise Cornell has led the team in scoring in more games this season. Entering Wednesday's game at DU, Queen ranks fifth in the Mountain West Conference in scoring among freshman.
Stop, Thief!
Freshman forward Lauren Young has recorded two steals in each of the Rams last three games and is tied for the team lead with sophomore Juanise Cornell and fellow freshman Elle Queen. The trio is averaging one steal a game for the Rams. As a team, Colorado State is averaging 6.17 steals per game.
Top of the Mountai n West
Several Rams rank among the top 10 in the Mountain West Conference in a number of categories. Sophomore forward Juanise Cornell is sixth in the MWC in field goal percentage (.510) and rebounding average (7.5 rebounds per game). Senior guard Sara Hunter is the lone Ram in the top 10 in the Mountain West Conference in scoring. Hunter's 13.8 points per game ranks ninth in the Mountain West. Hunter also ranks third in the conference in 3-pointers per game (2.67) and 12th in the MWC in 3-point field goal percentqage (.340) just one spot behind junior Kandy Beemer (.348). Beemer also ranks 11th in the Mountain West in 3-point field goals made per game, with an average of 1.33. Junior Carine Remink, the Rams' block leader, has swatted eight shots in six games this season, for an average of 1.33 blocks per game, fourth in the MWC. Reimink's 2.67 offensive rebounds per contest ranks 11th in the conference.
For the Record
Senior guard Sara Hunter has made quite an assault on the career record book at Colorado State. This past week, Hunter moved into 17th in career points and 20th in career field goals made. Entering Wednesday's matchup at DU, Hunter needs just one 3-pointer to surpass former Ram Katie Cronin for second on the all-time list. See Page 5 of this release to follow Hunter's steady climb up the career charts.
Looking Ahead
Colorado State returns to the friendly confines of Moby Arena where they will face in-stat rival, Colorado, on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The annual matchup between the Rams and the Buffs will be the 37th meeting between the two schools. Since the 1999-2000 season, Colorado State and Colorado have split their last eight meetings, with the Rams taking three of the last four games played at Moby Arena, including the most recent, an 86-83 victory on Nov. 30, 2005. Last season, the Buffaloes bested the Rams, 56-51 in Boulder.