Rams host UCCS in exhibition at Moby Arena on Wednesday

Colorado State Rams vs. UCCS Mountain Lions (exhib.)
Wednesday, Nov. 1 | 7 p.m. MT
Moby Arena | Fort Collins, Colo.
Coverage: Live Stats

Colorado State Women's Basketball: Tickets | Twitter

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's basketball team will make its first appearance in Moby Arena leading up to the 2017-18 season this Wednesday when the Rams host the UCCS Mountain Lions in an exhibition contest.

Tip time for the Rams' exhibition at Moby Arena is set for 7 p.m. MT. Tickets for all games are now available, and may be purchased at CSURams.com/tickets or through a call to 800-491-RAMS (7267). Parking is available for all home games in the Moby Arena parking lot.

Live video and radio production will begin with the Rams' season opener against Idaho on Friday, Nov. 10, but Wednesday's action may still be followed through live stats.

The Rams enter this season fresh off an unprecedented streak of four consecutive regular-season Mountain West championships, a feat no other women's or men's basketball team has accomplished in conference history. Leading the Rams into this season are a trio of seniors: Stine Austgulen, Veronika Mirkovic and Hannah Tvrdy. Austgulen ranked 12th in the Mountain West in three-point field goals made per game (1.7) and 14th in the conference in three-point field-goal percentage (.342) in 2016-17, while Tvrdy ranked seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.359) and eighth in field-goal percentage (.447) last season. Mirkovic made nine starts and appeared in all 12 of the Rams' games last year before missing the majority of the season with an injury.

Head coach Ryun Williams, the 2014 and 2016 MW Coach of the Year, enters his sixth season leading CSU women's basketball. Williams, who currently owns the bet conference win percentage (.795) in MW history, will mix a veteran core with one of the program's youngest groups over his tenure. The Rams rank as the nation's 18th-youngest team in terms of what percentage of the roster is made up by underclassmen (8-of-15 or 53.3 percent).

Wednesday's exhibition marks the CSU's final tune-up leading up to its season opener against Idaho on Friday, Nov. 10. The Rams face a challenging nonconference slate that includes home games against Gonzaga (Monday, Nov. 13), No. 21 Oklahoma (Tuesday, Nov. 21), BYU (Saturday, Dec. 2) and Colorado (Wednesday, Dec. 6).

See below for more details on the Rams' upcoming opponent, storylines for this season and a look back at the 2016-17 season.

Scouting the UCCS Mountain Lions
- UCCS (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) finished 24-9 and 17-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last season, which was the first under current head coach Lynn Plett. The Mountain Lions advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament after winning the RMAC Tournament.
- UCCS has built a winning resume over the past three years, winning at least 20 games and reaching the NCAA Division II Tournament each of those seasons. That run is highlighted by the Mountain Lions' 2014-15 campaign, when they reached the third round of the NCAA Division II Tournament and won 28 games.
- The Mountain Lions lose each of their top five scorers from last season, who combined to score 49.2 of the team's 70.2 points per game. The top returning scorer for UCCS is Kristen Vigil, who tallied 4.3 points per game last season.

Rams' Four Consecutive Regular-Season Conference Titles Ranks Among Nation's Elite
- The Colorado State women's basketball team made history this past season by winning its fourth consecutive regular-season Mountain West championship. That feat had never been previously accomplished by any women's or men's basketball team in conference history.
- That active streak of four consecutive regular-season conference titles ranks the Rams among the nation's elite. Between both women's and men's NCAA Division I basketball, only 11 other programs in the nation have a current streak that is as long or better.
- On the women's side, the programs are Baylor, Chattanooga, Connecticut, DePaul, Green Bay, Notre Dame and defending national champion South Carolina.
- Only four men's teams have a streak at least as long at the CSU women: Gonzaga, Kansas, Villanova and Wichita State.

Rams Enter 2017-18 as One of Nation's Youngest Teams
- While the Rams' 2017-18 roster is largely made of a veteran group of seven upperclassmen, the bulk of the Rams' roster this season comes from the ranks of underclassmen. A combined eight freshmen and sophomores make up 53.3 percent (eight of 15) of the roster, while the six freshmen make up 40 percent.
- In terms of what percentage of the roster is comprised of underclassmen, Colorado State ranks as the nation's 18th-youngest team. If measured by percentage of freshman relative to the overall roster, CSU's 40 percent is the ninth-highest in the nation.
- However, the Mountain West also shapes up to be a very young conference this season. Each of San Jose State (80 percent), Utah State (76.9 percent), Air Force (76.5 percent) and Fresno State (69 percent) are younger than Colorado State by underclassmen on the roster.

The 2016-17 Season at a Glance
- Colorado State accomplished many feats in 2016-17, but none was greater than winning its historic fourth consecutive regular-season Mountain West championship. No other basketball team in Mountain West history – women's or men's – has won the conference in four consecutive seasons other than the CSU women.
- CSU reached the postseason for the fourth straight season under now-sixth-year head coach Ryun Williams with an automatic berth to the Postseason WNIT. The Rams defeated Saint Mary's at Moby Arena in the first round of the tournament, marking the Rams' first postseason win since 2003.
- On Dec. 18, 2016, CSU defeated Seattle, 66-62, to record the team's 22nd consecutive win at Moby Arena. That broke the previous record for consecutive wins at home, which was previously 21 straight from 1998-99.
- The Rams also set two different records for consecutive conference wins between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. The Rams had won 22 straight games against conference foes when including postseason games, and 25 games against conference opponents in regular-season contests.
- Overall, the CSU's 25 wins tie for the fourth-most in program history, while the Rams' 15 conference wins tie for the second-most in program history.
- Ryun Williams posted his fourth consecutive season with 15 Mountain West wins or more, bringing his career MW record to 70-18. His current MW win percentage of .795 ranks as the best of any coach in Mountain West history.
- Williams also became the third coach in program history to reach 100 wins at CSU, and has the second-most wins at CSU (115) in school history. Tom Collen owns the all-time record with 129 wins at CSU.
- Williams' 70 Mountain West wins also rank as by far the most conference wins in CSU history.
- Ellen Nystrom, who graduated after the 2016-17 season, repeated as Mountain West Player of the Year after earning that honor in 2015-16. The Rams have had the conference player of the year in three consecutive seasons, as Gritt Ryder earned honor as a senior in 2014-15.
- Nystrom and fellow 2016-17 senior Elin Gustavsson departed CSU as the winningest players in conference play in Mountain West history. The senior duo from Sweden won 63 MW games over their careers at CSU, which is by far the most of any athlete – women's or men's basketball – in conference history.

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