Rams projected to finish third in the Mountain West in 2017-18

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Oct 18

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's basketball team has been voted by league coaches and select media to finish third in the Mountain West in 2017-18, as announced by the conference on Wednesday.

The Rams, which are coming off an unprecedented fourth consecutive regular-season Mountain West title, earned 211 points and six first-place votes en route to their third-place projection. The only team to earn more first-place votes was Boise State, which received 221 points and was picked to win the conference by seven voters. Wyoming (216 points, six first-place votes) narrowly edged CSU for second in the voting.

New Mexico and UNLV, which were picked fourth and fifth respectively, were the only other schools to receive first-place votes. The Lobos received four first-place votes and 186 points, while the Lady Rebels received 185 points were picked No. 1 by two voters.

Colorado State returns seven letterwinners from its 2016-17 team, including seniors Stine Austgulen, Veronika Mirkovic and Hannah Tvrdy. Austgulen and Tvrdy return as two of the top three-point shooters in the Mountain West, ranking No. 14 and No. 7 in three-point field goal percentage last season, respectively. Tvrdy also ranked eighth in the conference last year in field goal percentage (.447) and 15th in assists (2.4 per game), while Mirkovic started nine games for the Rams before missing most of the season with an injury.

Overall, the Rams' bring back nearly 80 percent of their three-point shooting from 2016-17, as 203 of the 255 threes made by the Rams last year were made by returning players. Junior Myanne Hamm ranked fifth in MW in three-point field goal percentage during conference play (.400), while junior Sofie Tryggedsson ranked 14th in the MW with 1.5 three-point field goals per game during conference play.

Two-time MW Coach of the Year Ryun Williams will blend that veteran core with one of his youngest groups over his now-six-year tenure. In terms of roster makeup by percentage of underclassmen, the Rams rank as the nation's 18th youngest. Eight of 15 players on the roster are either freshmen or sophomores, making up 53.3 percent.

CSU faces a challenging nonconference slate leading up to its Dec. 28 conference opener at home against Boise State. After the Rams' season opener against Idaho on Friday, Nov. 10, the Rams will host each of Gonzaga (Monday, Nov. 13), preseason No. 21 Oklahoma (Tuesday, Nov. 21), BYU (Saturday, Dec. 2) and Colorado (Wednesday, Dec. 6).

The Colorado State women's basketball team makes its Moby Arena debut at 7 p.m. MT on Wednesday with an exhibition contest against the UCCS Mountain Lions. The Rams' Nov. 10 regular season opener against Idaho is slated for 5:30 p.m. MT.

2017-18 Mountain West Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
Rank/Team (First-Place Votes) - Points
1. Boise State (7 FPV) - 221 points
2.. Wyoming (6) - 216
3. Colorado State (6) - 211
4. New Mexico (4) - 186
5. UNLV (2) - 185
6. Utah State - 136
7. Fresno State - 117
8. San Diego State - 102
9. San José State - 61
10. Nevada - 60
11. Air Force - 29

2017-18 Mountain West Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Name, Class, Position, Institution
Shalen Shaw, Sr., F, Boise State
Candice White, Jr., G, Fresno State
Cherise Beynon, Sr., G, New Mexico
McKynzie Fort, Sr., G, San Diego State
Liv Roberts, Sr., G, Wyoming

Preseason Player of the Year
Cherise Beynon, Sr., G, New Mexico

Preseason Freshman of the Year
N'Dea Flye, PG, New Mexico

Preseason Newcomers of the Year
Tesha Buck, R-Sr., G, New Mexico

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