Colorado State University Athletics
Rams game notes: CSU hosts Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational
11/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Game No. 4
Colorado State (1-2) vs. Valparaiso
Nov. 28, 2008 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745) | 7 p.m. MT
Game No. 5
Colorado State vs. Florida State or Murray State
Nov. 29, 2008 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745) | 7 p.m. MT
Rams host 15th annual Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational...
Colorado State hosts Valparaiso, Florida State and Murray State as part of the 15th annual Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.
The four-game tournament will take place Nov. 28 and 29 at Moby Arena. Florida State and Murray State face off in the opening game on Friday, followed by a matchup between CSU and Valpo. Games begin at 5 p.m. MT each day and the second game of each session will begin at 7 p.m. MT or 30 minutes after the completion of Game 1. The outcomes of Friday’s games will determine the matchups for Saturday, with the Rams playing the late game regardless.
Fans in the Fort Collins area can listen to all the action on AM 1410 KIIX. Brian Roth, in his eight season with CSU women’s basketball, is behind the mic. Kevin McGlue will join Roth as the color analyst for home games in his first season with CSU women’s basketball
Live stats are available on CSURams.com by clicking the link on the calendar of the home page or on the women’s basketball schedule page.
Rams vs. the field...
Colorado State welcomes three relatively unfamiliar foes to Moby Arena for the 2008 Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, having played only two combined games against the field.
Colorado State is 1-0 all-time against its first-round opponent, Valparaiso, having defeated the Crusaders 97-71 at Moby Arena in 1998 as part of the preseason WNIT. The Rams have also faced Florida State once in program history. Should the team’s meet in Saturday’s second round, it would mark the first matchup between the programs in 23 seasons. The Seminoles came away with a neutral-court victory, 68-53 in Wichita, Kan., in 1985. Colorado State and Murray State have never played met on the hardwood.
CSU in Coors Rocky Mountain Invite...
Colorado State has hosted the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational for 15 consecutive seasons and has very faired well in the previous 14 tournaments.
Since 1994-95, the Rams are 23-5 (.821) in the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, including 15 consecutive victories from 1996 to the second round of the 2003 tournament a 75-61 setback against Boston College.
The Rams have lost just once in the opening round of the CRMI (75-82, vs. South Dakota State in 2005), and have posted a record of 2-2 in the last two seasons.
About Valparaiso...
Valparaiso enters action this week with a 1-1 record, having picked up a home victory over Bowling Green, 68-58, to open the season, before dropping an 86-80 decision at Central Michigan.
Senior guard Agnieszka Kulaga, a 2008-09 preseason all-Horizon League second-team selection, leads the Crusaders averaging 23.0 points per game. Fellow senior Aimee Litka, who averages 17.0 points, ranks as the team’s top rebounder at 8.0 boards per contest
Valpo is led by head coach Keith Freeman, who is 244-169 overall in 15 seasons at Valparaiso.
About Florida State...
Florida State returns four starters from last season’s team that posted a 19-14 mark and bowed out in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
A pair of 6-4 post players lead the Seminoles’ charge through five games this year. Senior forward Jacinta Monroe is averaging team-bests in both points (17.4 ppg.) and rebounds (9.4 rpg.), while freshman center Cierra Bravard adds 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Head Coach Sue Semrau is 183-153 in 12 seasons as a head coach, all at Florida State. Her Seminoles enterd the season ranked in the Top 25 of both major national polls, but recently dropped out. They are still receiving votes both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll and the AP Poll.
About Murray State...
First-year head coach Rob Cross inherited a team that finished with an overall record of 24-8 (8-2 OVC), won the Ohio Valley Conference touranment championship and made its first appearance in the NCAA touranment.
Returning 2007-08 OVC player of the year Ashley Hayes leads the Racers high-powered offense, averaging 24.0 points and pulling down 7.8 rebounds per game. Senior guard Amber Guffey, another returning starter, enters the tournament averaging 20.3 points per contest. Twin sister Paige also averages double-figures scoring (11.3 ppg.) for the Racers who score 85 points per game.
Last time out...
Colorado State used career-best performances by senior forward Carine Reimink and junior center Devran Tanacan, to defeat the Idaho Vandals, 69-60, at Moby Arena.
The win, the first for the Rams in 2008-09, also marks the first-career victory at Colorado State for Head Coach Kristen Holt.
Reimink tallied a career-best 18 points, and added seven rebounds, in just 16 minutes of action. Tanacan, who played a career-most 17 minutes, scored 12 points, also a career high, and pulled down five rebounds.
Senior forward Britney Minor, who leads the team in scoring, narrowly missed a double-double, adding nine points and nine rebounds in the win.
Sophomore guard Zoi Simmons also notched a career mark with nine points, playing in her first game back after a sprained knee kept her out of action in the Rams’ first two games of the season.
Rams in home openers...
With the Rams 69-60 win over Idaho on Saturday, Colorado State improved to 25-10 all-time in home-opening games, a winning percentage of .714, and have won eight of their last nine, with the lone setback coming last season, in triple-overtime against the San Francisco (101-96).
CSU’s 11 head coaches, including first-year Head Coach Kristen Holt, have faired well in the home-opening games of their respective careers with the Rams, compiling a record of 9-2.
Terrific trio...
Colorado State’s trio of Britney Minor and Kandy Beemer and Bonnie Barbee accomplished a feat thorugh the first two games of this season, that was not achieved through 32 games in 2007-08. Each of them has scored in double figures for the Rams in the first two games of the season, marking the first time in more than a year that the same three players scored in double figures in back-to-back games for CSU. Barbee and Beemer are averaging a team-best 14.5 poins per game, while Minor ranks just behind at 13.5 points per game.
Home sweet home...
Colorado State is in the midst of a homestand that includes five consecutive home games and six out of seven overall, with the exception being a Dec. 10 trip to Missoula, Mont. to face the Lady Griz.
The Rams began the stretch on the right foot Saturday, picking up a 69-60 victory over Idaho.
Overall since 1974-75, the Rams hold a record of 288-166 (.634) in Moby Arena. The Rams will play a total of 15 regular-season contests in Moby Arena in 2008-09, the most home dates for a CSU women’s basketball team since the 2004-05 season (16 home games).
Closing in on 500...
Junior forward Juanise Cornell is nearly halfway to becoming the 15th player in Colorado State women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. Cornell, who has started 62 of 63 career games played at Colorado State, enters action this week with 470 career points.
Cornell has nearly as many career points as the next three players - Britney Minor (209), Kandy Beemer (169) and Carine Reimink (144) - on the active roster combined. Minor, Beemer and Reimink, all seniors, are in just their second seasons with the Rams, having joined the team has junior college transfers last year.
Worth the wait...
Junior center Devran Tanacan finally made her debut in the Rams’ lineup (recording nine rebounds at CU) last Wednesday. Tanacan, who redshirted last season after transferring from Albany, missed the Rams’ opener at Wichita State while serving an amateurism penalty from the NCAA.
Two other Colorado State players - Chatilla van Grinsven and Natalie van den Adel - are still waiting to make their debuts in a Rams uniform, while serving similar penalties. Van Grinsven will miss four games (Nov. 15 at Wichita State, Nov. 19 at Colorado, Nov. 22 vs. Idaho and Nov. 28 vs. Valparaiso). Van den Adel will be eligible to return to the Rams’ lineup for the first time on Feb. 28 at New Mexico.
Up next...
Colorado State hosts in-state rival Denver on Dec. 3 at Moby Arena. The game, which is slated to begin at 7 p.m., will mark the 20th meeting between the two teams, with the Rams holding a 14-5 advantage (9-2 in Fort Collins).