Colorado State University Athletics
CSU women's basketball finalizes 2008-09 roster
9/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 12, 2008
By Danny Mattie
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- With five weeks remaining before the official start of practice for the CSU women’s basketball team, Head Coach Kristen Holt and her coaching staff finalized the Rams roster for the 2008-09 season this week. Chatilla van Grinsven, a freshman forward from Helmond, Netherlands joins a Rams team that will feature a distinctly foreign flavor this season, highlighted by players from Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.
Van Grinsven, the second Dutch player to join the Rams squad in the offseason, will see playing time for the Rams this year, alongside newcomers Natalie van den Adel (Barendrecht, Netherlands), Kim Mestdagh (Ieper, Belgium) and Meghan Heimstra (Longmont, Colo.). Devran Tanacan, a native of Istanbul, Turkey, redshirted in 2007-08 after transferring to CSU from the University at Albany, and will see her first action with the Rams this year. Also joining the Rams for the 2008-09 season are Alison Cheney (Ault, Colo.) and Morgan Ackley (Fort Collins, Colo.), a pair of walk-on players selected by the coaching staff.
"We are excited to finalize our roster for 2008-09 and take another step toward building a program of excellence at Colorado State," said Holt. "I am confident in the ability and character of the players that my staff and I have assembled and we look forward to putting a product on the floor, in the community, and in the classroom, that Colorado State University can take pride in."
Van Grisnven, who signed a letter of intent to play for the Rams during the April signing period, worked throughout the summer with the Rams coaching staff to gain admittance to Colorado State. A talented player with a lot of national-team experience, van Grinsven played on several Dutch national teams. From 2005-07, she was a member of the national select U16 team where she participated in the 2007 U16 world championships. She was also a member of two European championship-contending teams in 2007 and 2008. In 2006-07, van Grinsven was selected as the MVP of the Netherlands holiday tournament.
Cheney, a junior business major at CSU, is a graduate of nearby Platte Valley High School in Kersey, Colo., and transfers to CSU after playing at Western Nebraska Community College, while Ackley, a freshman health and exercise science major, starred for the Lambkins at Fort Collins High School.
Click here to view the Rams complete roster.
