Game notes: CSU begins two-game road trip

Jan. 25, 2010

Colorado State (11-7, 3-2) travels to No. 20/24 TCU (14-4, 4-1) Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. MT at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (7,166).
 
TCU has won all but one game so far since conference play began. Its lone loss came at Wyoming. The Frogs tied up what was once a 16-point defecit, but the Cowgirls hit three treys to seal the win in the final minutes, 73-67. Since then, TCU has been victorious over San Diego State and UNLV. The Frogs are undefeated at home (9-0) this season.

Television coverage of this game will be available on a tape delay. The Mtn. will air the matchup at 10:30 p.m. MT.

The game will be broadcast live on AM 1410 KIIX. Brian Roth calls the action while Matt Wozniak provides color analysis. Live game audio will also be available via Rams All-Access subscription on CSURams.com.

Rams vs. Horned Frogs series...
Wednesday's meeting between Colorado State and TCU marks the 12th overall game between the two schools.

TCU holds a 8-3 advantage in the all-time series, with a 4-1 mark in Fort Worth. The Frogs have won the last eight games consecutively, as CSU won the first three.

Last meeting...
Kim Mestdagh netted 17 points, while Britney Minor and Juanise Cornell also reached double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively, but the Colorado State women’s basketball team fell 71-59 on Feb. 7, 2009 evening to the TCU Lady Frogs at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

After trailing by as many as 17 points early in the second half, CSU mounted a comeback thanks to a 14-0 run between the 18:48 and 15:35 marks of the second half. Mestdagh was instrumental in the run, connecting on two of her five treys during that stretch, to pull the Rams to within one score, 42-39.

About TCU...
TCU leads the Mountain West in seven categories including three-point defense and turnover margin. The Frogs average 72.9 points per game, more than 14 points over their opponents.

TCU has four players that average double digits in scoring, Emily Carter (14.9), Helena Sverrisdottir (13.6) T.K. LaFluer (10.4) and Starr Crawford (10.2). Since conference play began, Carter is averaging 18.4 points per game.

Last time out...
Another close game for the Rams and another win. Coming off a thrilling overtime victory in Las Vegas, the Rams came away with another close win over the Lobos of New Mexico Saturday afternoon, 67-60, at Moby Arena.

The win gives the Rams (11-7, 3-2 Mountain West) consecutive regular-season conference victories for the first time since a four-game streak, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2005. CSU also topped New Mexico (11-7, 3-3) for the first time in 13 games and reached 11 wins on the season, most by the Rams since they were 15-13 in 2004-05.

Much of the Rams' success against the Lobos came on the defensive end. The Rams managed to convert 16 Lobo turnovers into 20 points. Ram freshman Chantel Kennedy had a terrific individual defensive performance against one of the conference's best. Kennedy was assigned the near-impossible task of defending Lobo senior guard Amy Beggin. Beggin is ranked 19th all-time in career scoring in the MWC and ninth in scoring average this season (13.8).

But Kennedy was able to shut down Beggin, limiting her to only two field goals in the first half and three in the second.

Sophomore Kim Mestdagh, the MWC's leading scorer, tallied 20 points and hit four three-pointers against the Lobos. Coming into the game, Mestdagh was seventh in the country in three-point field goals made per game (3.3).

While Mestdagh was getting it done beyond the arc, sophomore Chatilla van Grinsven was getting it done in the paint. Van Grinsven also scored 20 points while pulling down seven rebounds and rejecting the Lobos' shot attempts twice.

Mestdagh earns third P.O.W. honor...
Colorado State sophomore Kim Mestdagh has been named the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week.

Mestdagh led the Rams to a 2-0 conference record last week, recording a combined 43 points. In the 66-65 overtime victory against UNLV, the Ieper, Belgium, native totaled a game-high 23 points on 8-of-22 (.364) shooting from the field. Mestdagh hit five three-pointers in the game, one of which came with 11 seconds left to play in the extended period to seal the win. She also pulled down seven rebounds, tallied two assists and recorded a steal. Mestdagh went on to reach the 20-point plateau for the second-consecutive game in a 67-60 win over New Mexico. The sophomore shot 5-of-8 (.625) from the floor, including four three-pointers. Additionally, she grabbed four rebounds, collected three steals and added a pair of assists. Mestdagh currently leads the league with an average of 17.2 points per game.

Rebounding extremes...
Colorado State ranks second in the Mountain West in defensive rebounds with 489 this season, seven behind first-place Utah. The team is averaging 27.2 per game. The Rams rank fifth in the conference in offensive rebounds, pulling down an average of 12.9 offensive boards per game. The Rams are 8-2 this season when outrebounding their opponents.

Building a program of excellence...
The Rams, now 11-7, are sitting in fifth place in the Mountain West Conference. With 11 games remaining, the Rams have already surpassed their win total from last season. CSU hasn't won 11 games in one season since the 2004-05 stint, when the team went 15-13 and finished in fifth place.

From the line...
Junior guard Zoi Simmons is second in the conference in free-throw percentage (.826). In the Rams' final non-conference game this season vs. South Dakota, Simmons hit six free throws in the final minute, when the Rams were clinging to a one-point lead and had not made a field goal since the 6:49 mark, to ice the win. She was 8-8 on the afternoon.

Heimstra well-balanced...
In 18 games this season sophomore forward Meghan Heimstra has scored a total of 167 points and has 159 rebounds. She leads the team in rebounds per game with 8.8 and is third in points with 9.3 per game. Defensively, the sophomore averages 6.2 boards per game, which puts her in second place in the conference behind UNLV's Jaime Smith. Heimstra has four double-doubles this season, and she recorded a career-high 14 rebounds in the Jan. 5 game vs. Wyoming.

Mestdagh sets record highs...
Sophomore Kim Mestdagh leads the Mountain West in both scoring and three-point field goals made. In 18 games this season, Mestdagh has 309 points, averaging 17.2 per game. She has hit 60 three pointers averaging 3.3 per game above second-place Amy Beggin of New Mexico, who has 45 beyond the arc.

In the Rams' matchup vs. South Dakota on Jan. 2, Mestdagh recorded six steals, a career-high, season team high, and tied for first in the conference this season.

Mestdagh’s 30 points Dec. 6 vs. Southern Illinois were the most by a CSU player in a 40-minute regulation game since Becky Hammon poured in 30, March 14, 1999, to lead the Rams to an 86-70 win over Southwest Missouri State in the second round of the NCAA tournament, in front of 8,741 Moby Arena fans. Sara Hunter had 41 in a 101-96 overtime loss vs. San Francisco on Nov. 13, 2007. Hammon scored 30 or more in eight games that season.

Additional TV matchup...
The Colorado State women's basketball contest at BYU in Provo, Utah, on Feb. 17 will be televised on BYU-TV live at 7 p.m. MT and then re-aired on The Mtn. Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. MT.

This marks the fourth game the Rams will be televised this season, not including the Mountain West Conference championships in March.

Rams TV games...

1/05/10 vs. Wyoming (The Mtn.) 6 p.m. (live)
1/27/10 at TCU (The Mtn.) 5:30 p.m. (tape delay)
2/09/10 vs. Air Force (The Mtn.) 6 p.m. (live)
2/17/10 at BYU 7 p.m. (live BYU-TV; tape delay The Mtn.)

Coors Light Coaches’ Show...
The Coors Light Basketball Coaches’ Show airs Mondays at 7 p.m. MT, live from the Stonehouse Grille in Old Town Fort Collins, and will continue throughout the season until March 1. Shows air live on the Colorado State Sports Network’s Flagship, KLZ (560 AM). A complete schedule can be found on the bottom of Page 4 of this release.

Up next...
Colorado State finishes up the only two-game road trip of conference play at San Diego State. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.

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