Game Notes: Rams travel to face Lady Frogs on Saturday

Feb. 5, 2009

Game No. 22 
Colorado State (7-14, 2-6 MWC) at TCU (13-8, 5-3 MWC)
Feb. 7, 2009 | Fort Worth, Texas | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (7,201) | 5 p.m. CT

Rams travel to face Lady Frogs on Saturday... 
The Colorado State women’s basketball team resumes  Mountain West action on Saturday, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas, to open the second half of the conference season against the TCU Lady Frogs.  Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT/4 p.m. MT from Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. 

The Rams (7-14, 2-6 MWC), are in the midst of one of the toughest stretches of their schedule, in which CSU faces four of the top five teams in the Mountain West Conference between Jan. 28 and Feb. 11.  The Rams are coming off of a near upset of the San Diego State Aztecs, 62-61, on Jan. 31.  

The Lady Frogs (13-8, 5-3 MWC) are coming off of a 73-63 road loss at conference-leading Utah, and are in a three-way tie for third place (BYU and New Mexico) behind the Utes (8-0 MWC) and San Diego State (6-2 MWC) in the conference standings.   

Wednesday’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.  Nick Sebesta 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. Lady Frogs... 
Saturday’s meeting between the Rams and the Lady Frogs marks the 11th in the series between the two programs.  TCU holds a 7-3 advantage all-time, having won seven straight games against the Rams since joining the Mountain West Conference in 2005-06. 

CSU vs. TCU series history... 
12/11/93; W, 92-69 (Fort Collins)
01/14/99; W, 89-76 (Fort Worth)
02/11/99; W, 89-66 (Fort Collins)
01/21/06; L, 63-73 (Fort Collins)
02/22/06; L, 57-83 (Fort Worth)
01/06/07; L, 36-86 (Fort Worth)
02/07/07; L, 67-85 (Fort Collins)
01/19/08; L, 52-70 (Fort Worth)
02/20/08; L, 41-76 (Fort Collins)
01/07/09; L, 53-74 (Fort Collins)

More about TCU... 
Head coach Jeff Mittie is in his 10th season at the helm of the Lady Frogs program, where he has compiled a record of 209-103.   

The 2008 MWC Freshman of the Year, Helena Sverrisdottir, leads the Lady Frogs, ranking as the team’s leading scorer and one of three players averaging double-figures for TCU.  Sverrisdottir ranks as the MWC’s third-leading scorer (16.0 ppg.), just ahead of junior transfer TK LaFleur (14.9 ppg.) who ranks sixth.  Sverrisdottir is also the team’s top rebounder at 7.0 boards per game, seventh in the MWC. 

As a team, the Lady Frogs rank near the top of the MWC in a number of statistical categories, including first in scoring (71.9 ppg), three-point field-goal percentage (.389), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.02).  They rank 30th in the nation in scoring and are seventh in free-throw percentage, three-point field goal percentage and turnovers per game. 

Last time out... 
The Colorado State women's basketball team took San Diego State to the brink on Saturday afternoon at Cox Arena, and led the Aztecs - who entered the game riding an 11-game home winning streak - 61-60 with less than 30 seconds in the contest.

But the 11th and final lead change went in favor of the home team, as Jennifer Layton-Bailes gathered an offensive rebound and converted a layup with 2.6 seconds remaining  to lift San Diego State past Colorado State, 62-61.

After leading for much of the first half, the Rams fell behind by as many as 10 points, 39-29, with 14:32 left in the game.  Colorado State (7-14, 2-6 MWC) outscored the Aztecs 24-7 over the next 7 minutes, and after Bonnie Barbee's third three-pointer of the second half, the Rams held a 53-46 advantage with 7:28 to play. 

San Diego State, slowly chipped away at the Rams' lead over the final 7 minutes, and regained the advantage, 58-56, on a three-point play Paris Johnson.

Barbee's fourth three-pointer of the half gave the Rams a 59-58 lead and she assisted Meghan Heimstra's layup with 46.1 seconds on the clock to give CSU a three-point edge, 61-58.

SDSU's Quenese Davis answered with a jumper of her own to cut the lead to 61-60 with 41 seconds remaining.  Barbee drove the lane on the ensuing Rams possession, but was tied up for a jump ball by Johnson, and the Aztecs regained possession with 22 seconds on the clock.  Davis missed a short-range jumper with 4 seconds left, and Layton-Bailes cleaned up the rebound and scored the winning bucket.

Holt signs on through 2012-13... 
Colorado State Head Coach Kristen Holt on Thursday agreed to a multi-year contract that would keep her at Colorado State through the 2012-13 season.  The announcement was made Thursday afternoon by Director of Athletics Paul Kowalczyk. "I would like to thank Dr. Frank and Paul Kowalczyk for the opportunity to remain at Colorado State as the head women's basketball coach," said Holt.  "I am excited about the strides that our team has made this season.  Colorado State has a history of great women's basketball and it is my goal to elevate this program atop the Mountain West Conference and return it to national prominence."

Heimstra earns high marks... 
Freshman forward Meghan Heimstra had a breakout performance in her first-career start, Jan. 28 vs. New Mexico.  The forward from nearby Longmont, Colo., posted career marks for scoring (19 points), field goals made (5), field goals attempted (9), free throws made (8), free throws attempted (9), steals (4), and minutes played (29).  Heimstra also connected on the first three-pointer of her CSU career.  Heimstra earned her second start against San Diego State, and nearly helped the Rams to an upset victory over No. 2 team in the MWC standings with six points, four rebounds and three steals in 16 minutes of action.  

Simmons streaking... 
Sophomore guard Zoi Simmons has been on a hot streak as of late, and returned to the Rams’ starting lineup in each of the past two contests.  Simmons, who has career averages of 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds, has dramatically increased those numbers over the past five games for CSU, racking up 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds during that stretch. 

Seeing double... 
Junior Juanise Cornell recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the Rams on Jan. 20 and 24, setting career-highs in scoring in consecutive games.  Cornell began the week with a 19-point, 12-rebound effort to lead CSU to a 55-50 victory at Air Force.  She followed up that performance by scoring a career-high 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in a 64-61 loss to rival Wyoming.  Cornell now has eight career double-doubles at CSU, tying Shannon Randles and Sue Ellis for 13th all-time.  Teresa James (1992-96) and Janie Schieffelin (1978-82) rank first on that list 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.  

Long-Range Rams... 
Colorado State's three-point duo of Kandy Beemer and Bonnie Barbee are working their way up the program's career record book for three-pointers made.  Beemer, currently ranks 12th with 86 career three-pointers and is on the verge of becoming just the 12th player in school history to reach 100 career three-pointers.  Barbee, who hit four three-pointers at San Diego State on Jan. 31, cracked the top 20 with that performance and is just one shy of 50 for her career at CSU. 

Crashing the boards... 
Senior forward Amaka Uzomah ranks third all-time at Colorado State with a career rebounding average of 7.88 per game.  Junior Juanise Cornell ranks 11th on the list, pulling down 6.43 rebounds per game in her career at CSU.  Both players recently reached rebounding milestones.  Uzomah recorded her 300th career rebound, against Air Force (1-20), while Cornell notched her 500th, against Wyoming (1-24).  She is just the 19th player in school history to record 500 rebounds.

Starting for the Rams... 
Heading into Saturday's contest at TCU, 11 different players have started games for Colorado State this season, with junior Devran Tanacan and freshman walk-on Morgan Ackley the only two players currently eligible without a start to their credit.  This ranks tied for sixth in the nation with programs from Boise State, IUPUI, Manhattan, Marquette, Oral Roberts, San Jose State and UCLA.  Only Jacksonville (13), Central Arkansas (12), Long Beach State (12), Long Wood (12) and USC Upstate (12) have had more players start for them this season. 

Up next... 
Colorado State returns to the friendly confines of Moby Arena in search of its first conference home win of the season.  The Rams host the BYU Cougars.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT. 

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