Colorado State University Athletics
Game Notes: Rams host rival Wyoming on Saturday at noon
1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Game No. 19
Colorado State (7-11, 2-3 MWC) vs. Wyoming (8-9, 0-4 MWC)
Jan. 24, 2009 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745) | 12 p.m. MT
Rams host rival Wyoming on Saturday at noon...
The Colorado State women’s basketball team continues Mountain West action on Saturday, playing host the rival Wyoming in this season’s first installment of the women’s basketball “Border War.” Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. from Moby Arena.
The Rams (7-11, 2-3 MWC), are coming off of a 55-50 victory at Air Force and are looking to reach the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since 2007 when CSU opened its league slate 1-1.
The Cowgirls (8-9, 0-4 MWC) are one of two teams still in search of their first conference victory. Wyoming has lost four straight since home victories over Adams State (58-48) and San Francisco (82-60) gave them an 8-5 record to end non-conference action.
Saturday’s contest will be broadcast live on AM 1410 KIIX in the Fort Collins area. Brian Roth, in his eighth season behind the mic for the Rams, calls all the action. Kevin McGlue will provide color commentary. Live game audio will also be available via Rams All-Access subscription on CSURams.com.
Live statistics are available free of charge on CSURams.com by clicking the “Gametracker” icon on the calendar of the home page or from the women’s basketball schedule page.
Rams vs. Cowgirls...
Saturday’s contest between the Rams and the Falcons marks the 75th in the series, the longest for Colorado State vs. any opponent. CSU holds a 40-34 advantage all-time and is 13-10 vs. Wyoming in 23 meetings since the MWC formed in 1999-2000. Wyoming has won seven straight in the series, and nine of the last 11 since the Rams won 11 of 12 matchups between 2000 and 2003.
CSU vs. Wyoming series history in MWC...
1/15/00; W, 86-69 (Fort Collins)
2/11/00; W, 89-48 (Laramie)
3/08/00; W, 79-57 (Las Vegas)
1/13/01; W, 76-51 (Laramie)
2/10/01; W, 69-49 (Fort Collins)
3/07/01; W, 70-59 (Las Vegas)
1/25/02; W, 57-49 (Fort Collins)
2/23/02; W, 64-62 (Laramie) (ot)
2/01/03; L, 64-69 (Laramie) (ot)
2/28/03; W, 73-51 (Fort Collins)
3/12/03; W, 59-56 (Las Vegas)
3/23/03; W, 73-64 (Fort Collins)
1/30/04; L, 53-58 (Laramie)
2/27/04; W, 60-49 (Fort Collins)
3/10/04; L, 61-67 (Denver)
1/28/05; W, 61-51 (Fort Collins)
2/24/05; L, 45-68 (Laramie)
1/25/05; L, 80-87 (Laramie) (ot)
2/25/06; L, 81-87 (Fort Collins)
1/25/07; L, 66-78 (Fort Collins) (ot)
2/25/07; L, 37-72 (Laramie)
1/26/08; L, 55-68 (Fort Collins)
2/27/08; L, 46-68 (Laramie)
More about Wyoming...
Head coach Joe Legerski is in the his sixth season at the helm of the Cowgirls’ program where he has compiled a career record of 107-64 (.626). He has led his team to three consecutive 20-win seasons, two WNIT appearances - including the 2007 WNIT title - and the first NCAA tournament bid in school history in 2008.
The Cowgirls lost four senior starters from a season ago, and the lone returning starter, Aubrey Vandiver, has been redshirted due to a battle with mononucleosis.
Senior guard Megan McGuffey, has picked up much of the slack, leading the squad in both scoring (11.8 ppg.) and rebounding (6.2 rpg.), just ahead of Kristen Scheffler, a freshman sharpshooter who averages 10.8 points. Scheffler has accounted for nearly half (45 of 103) of the team’s three-point buckets, and leads the MWC in three-pointers per game (2.65). Sophomore forward Hillary Carlson has exploded in MWC play, leading the team with 18.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, despite starting just one of Wyoming’s four MWC games.
Last time out...
Junior forward Juanise Cornell recorded her second double-double of the season, and scored a career-high 19 points to go along with 12 rebounds as she led Colorado State to a 55-50 victory over the Air Force Falcons.
Cornell sparked a pair of key Rams runs to keep the Falcons at bay. With Colorado State holding a 13-11 lead at the 13:24 mark of the opening stanza, Cornell scored eight of the Rams’ next 14 points, while the CSU defense held Air Force to just two points over the final 8 minutes of the half, allowing the Rams to take a 27-18 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, senior guard Kandy Beemer’s three-pointer gave the Rams a 30-18 lead, but the Falcons mounted a comeback, scoring the next seven points to cut into the Rams lead. A 10-0 Air Force run between the 8:29 mark and the 5:12 mark of the second half left CSU holding on to a 38-37 lead.
Once again, Cornell sparked the Rams, scoring five points, including a key three-point play, to push the lead back to double-digits, 47-37 with 5 minutes remaining.
Sophomore guard Zoi Simmons, who added 14 points for the Rams, tallied six points in the final 2:20, including four free throws within 14 seconds, to seal the CSU victory.
Senior Amaka Uzomah also finished in double-figures in rebounding for the Rams, pulling down 11 boards, helping Colorado State to a 43-36 edge in rebounding.
Home sweet home...
Colorado State is looking for its first home victory of the conference season. Since 2000, CSU is 38-28 (.576) against MWC opponents at Moby Arena. Overall, the Rams are an impressive 291-171 (.630) at Moby Arena.
Seeing double...
Junior forward Juanise Cornell’s 19-point, 12 rebound effort vs. Air Force on Saturday marked the seventh double-double of her career. That moves Cornell ahead of former CSU standout Angie Gorton on the career double-double list into 15th all-time. Teresa James (1992-96) and Janie Schieffelin (1978-82) rank first on with 37 career double-doubles. Cornell is the only active Ram with multiple double-doubles to her credit. Carine Reimink, Zoi Simmons and Amaka Uzomah have each accomplishing the feat once.
Beemer for three...
Senior guard Kandy Beemer needs just two three-pointers to crack the single-season top-20 list and is on pace to rank fifth on the list with 72 three-pointers.
Crashing the boards...
Senior forward Amaka Uzomah ranks third all-time at Colorado State with a career rebounding average of 7.7 per game. Junior Juanise Cornell ranks 12th on the list pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game in her career at CSU. Uzomah recently reached a milestone with her 300th career rebounding coming against Air Force. Cornell are also approaching rebounding milestones and is just five boardds shy of becoming the 19th player in CSU history to reach 500 rebounds.
Starting for the Rams?...
Head Coach Kristen Holt, searching for the right combination, has used seven different starting lineups for the Rams this season. Two players, seniors Kandy Beemer and Britney Minor, have started all 18 games for the Rams, while Carine Reimink has missed four starts. Junior Juanise Cornell has started 14 times, followed by freshman Kim Mestdagh’s nine starting nods and sophomores Zoi Simmons’ four starts and senior Amaka Uzomah’s four starts. Three players, junior Alison Cheney, sophomore Bonnie Barbee, and freshman Chatilla van Grinsven, have each started three games. The following is a breakdown of the Rams’ won-loss record by starting lineup:
• Beemer, Mestdagh, Minor, Cornell, Reimink 4 (2-2)
vs. N. Colorado (W), at Montana (L), vs. UNI (W), at BYU (L)
• Beemer, Mestdagh, Minor, van Grinsven, Reimink 3 (1-2)
vs. Denver (L), at UTSA (L), vs. Prairie View A&M (W)
• Beemer, Barbee, Minor, Cornell, Reimink 3 (1-2)
at Wichita State (L), at Colorado (L), vs. Idaho (W)
• Beemer, Simmons, Minor, Cornell, Reimink 3 (1-2)
vs. Valparaiso (L), at Creighton (L), vs. South Dakota (W)
• Beemer, Cheney, Minor, Cornell, Uzomah 2 (1-1)
at UNLV (W), vs. Utah (L), at Air Force (W)
• Beemer, Simmons, Mestdagh, Minor, Reimink 1 (0-1)
vs. Murray State (L)
• Beemer, Mestdagh, Minor, Cornell, Uzomah 1 (0-1)
vs. TCU (L)
Up next...
Colorado State plays host to New Mexico on Wednesday evening at Moby Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MT between the Rams and the nationally-ranked Lobos.
