Rams Return to Moby to Face San Diego State Starting Tuesday

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State will continue its Mountain West two-game series schedule against San Diego State on Tuesday and Thursday back home at Moby Arena. Game one tips at 6 p.m. MT tip, while game two is a matinee at 1 p.m. MT.

The secret is out on the 2020-21 Colorado State women's basketball team (3-1, 1-1 MW) after the Rams upset preseason conference favorite and defending champion Fresno State last Thursday. The Rams proved it was not a fluke either by taking the Bulldogs to the brink of defeat in Friday's game before ultimately splitting the series. Pace and scoring are the biggest difference for these Rams as they scored over 70 points in all four games thus far after having just six such performances last season. Also, two of those games were in conference and the last time the Rams did that was in 2017-18 with four games.

The series starts conference play for San Diego State (2-2) who were picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll led by all-conference guard Sophia Ramos, MW's second-leading scorer through four games.

"Talk about two really good teams right out of the gate," head coach Ryun Williams said. "It's a quick turnaround after a difficult trip to Fresno. I am very proud of how the team competed this past week. Now we have another really strong opponent coming to Moby. That is not how I would draw it up, but we will be ready, nonetheless. San Diego State is very talented at the point guard spot with Ramos. She is the best point guard in the league as she plays very shifty, draws fouls, and can shoot it from distance."

Five players averaged double-digit points in the two games at Fresno, demonstrating that it was a team effort. In game one, freshman Ellie Boni beat the third-quarter buzzer with a game-tying shot and then proceeded to drop a team-high eight fourth-quarter points along with tight defense to secure CSU's 89-83 win. Similarly, Boni closed the third frame the same in game two but for a four-point lead, however CSU shot just 28.6% the rest of the way and the Bulldogs took advantage for the 78-74 win.

"I think our student-athletes handled the back-to-back games really well," Williams added. "It's a difficult ask, but we competed all 40 minutes each night and played great basketball. The important thing was to get back home, rest our legs and get our minds right to play San Diego State."

RAMS NOTEBOOK (Full Game Notes Attached)

Frontcourt Duo
• The front court duo of Sydney Mech and Lore Devos shined against the Bulldogs. Mech had a career-high 24 points in game two after dropping 15 the night before. Scoring isn't her only forte as she tallied a dozen rebounds, and seven assists. Devos recorded her second career double-double on Thursday and first against a conference opponent, while she finished two boards away from doing it again on Friday.

How we stack up Nationwide
• In NCAA DI Rankings...Tori Williams leads the nation in 3FGM (19) and is sixth in 3FGA. McKenna Hofschild's 25 assists are third nationwide. Teamwise, the Rams rank fifth in 3FGM, blocks and assists, while top-10 in field goal percentage, assist turnover ratio and turnovers per game.

Second Quarter Surge
• Early on, the Rams are showing their quarter of separation is the second quarter. In the opener, CSU outscored Regis 31-13 and in game two against Colorado Christian it was 30-6 for a combined total of 61-19. Colorado State outscored Fresno State in both second quarters. In all, the Rams have bested their opponents 100-51 in the second frame.

Sharing the Rock
• The Rams lead the MW in assists (74), apg (18.5) and asst/turnover ratio (1.90). McKenna Hofschild's 10 assists in the season opener ties 11 other NCAA DI players as the third-most in a single game. Her 25 total assists rank No. 1 in the MW, while Sydney Mech's 13 is tied for fourth. Mech's 4.33 a/to ratio is second in the conference, while Hofschild's 4.17 rate is third.

Block Party
• Through four games, the Rams lead the conference in blocked shots with 24, which checks in fifth nationwide. The next closest team has 13. Off redshirt and showing a prowess in this is Sydney Mech who has a league-high six. Ellie Boni, Makayla Hemingway, Karly Murphy and Lore Devos each have at least three apiece. Boni had a clutch block in the fourth quarter against Haley Cavinder in the Rams win on Dec. 3.

Scouting Fresno State
• Just like FS, the Aztecs started their season at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, losing to a Power-5 (FS, West Virginia; SDSU, Washington) and then defeating Lamar. However, the Aztecs took the Huskies to the brink of defeat, losing by just two. Afterwards SDSU suffered a home loss to California Baptist before beating against San Diego.
• Leading scorer, Sophia Ramos gets to the line and converts as she is 22-of-26 in free throws.
• Last season, SDSU finished 14-17 overall with a 9-9 conference record. After garnering the sixth seed in the MW Tournament, the Aztecs suffered a 81-79 overtime loss to No. 11 seed Utah State.

Freshmen Producing Early
• In the season opener, Cali Clark and Ellie Boni got the starting nod, becoming the first two freshmen to start the season's first game since Ellen Nystrom and Elin Gustavsson did so in 2013-14.
• Facing off against MW's defending champion Bulldogs and the all-conference Cavinder twins, Boni more than held her own. She averaged 34 minutes and 13 points in the two contests. Showing off no qualms for tough situations, Boni hit buzzer-beating shots to close the third quarter in both games.

Different Looking Season
• The season saw its first tip-off on Nov. 25th, marking the latest beginning of a season since 1975-76's December 3rd. As of now Colorado State's season has 24 games scheduled with shortening due to COVID-19. If all 24 games get played out it will be the lowest total games played since 1977-78, which completed at 19 games. The Mountain West assembled a revised 20-game schedule to emphasize the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff while significantly reducing travel. The modified format will play out over 11 weeks within the context of state, county and local guidelines.
• The Fresno State series was the earliest the two teams met in a season. For the Rams it was the earliest Mountain West opponent ever by a day since CSU played San Diego State last season on Dec. 4. The four scheduled MW games in
2020-21 prior to Christmas is the most before a new year by two games.
• "We are just excited to have a schedule and be able to prepare for some games," head coach Ryun Williams said. "The conference did a tremendous job at adapting and completing a schedule that accommodates every institution."

Non-Conference Takeaways
• CSU 111, Regis 64 (11/25): Third-most points in CSU history and Tori Williams tied a program record in single-season 3s with eight. She joined Becky Hammon, Kim Mestdagh and Sara Hunter in the feat.
• All 16 student-athletes played, meaning there were nine Ram debuts, including four freshmen, three transfers and our redshirts from last season, Sydney Mech and Bengisu Alper. Six scored in the first quarter. (Alper, Boni, Farkas, Murphy, Clark, and Hofschild)
• Karly Murphy wow'd with 14 points, using a 10-for-10 free-throw clip. The team went 22-for-30.
• McKenna Hofschild dished out 10 assists which is three more than any Ram had in a game last season. Last Ram with at least 10 assists was Grace Colaivalu on 12/19/18.
• Tori Williams' 30 points was a career-high and was the first 30-point game since Elin Gustavsson dropped 32 vs. San Diego State (1/28/17).
• Two freshmen, Cali Clark and Ellie Boni, were in the starting lineup next to Williams, Lore Devos and Hofschild.

• CSU 96, CCU 54 (11/28): The second straight season that Ryun Williams has started the Rams off 2-0 and third time in his nine years. It also is milestone win No. 100 at Moby Arena.
• Tori Williams, Murphy and Jamie Bonnarens ran onto the court and to the bench minutes after tip once they got their negative COVID-19 test results back.
• Again, all 16 SAs clocked into the game and all but three scored. Four reached double-digits in a more well-rounded scoring display. Murphy and Hofschild had a dozen with Williams adding 11 and Devos 10.
• The Rams shot over 60% from the floor and from the three-point line. Efficiently, CSU poured in 50 points from the paint. In back-to-back games, the Rams scored 59 points in the first half.
As of now the Rams are set to have a four non-conference schedule. The season opener against Regis and a fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference institution in Colorado Christian which will be played Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. in Fort Collins. The last current non-conference opponent scheduled is a home-and-home with Denver as the Pioneers come to Moby Arena on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. and we return the favor on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m.

Mountain West Coaches' Preseason Poll
• In the MW coaches' preseason poll released last week, CSU was pinned to finish eighth after ending last season tied for ninth at 6-12 going into the tournament. The 10th-seeded Rams suffered a first-round loss to Air Force to end the season.

Series History: Colorado State – San Diego State
Overall: CSU trails, 28-30
In Fort Collins: 15-11
In San Diego: 10-18
Neutral: 3-1
Current Streak: FS, 4
Last Meeting: SDSU 64, CSU 61 in Fort Collins (2/24/20)
Largest Margin of Victory: 47; CSU 95, SDSU 48 in Fort Collins (2/1/14)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 39; SDSU 101, CSU 62 in San Diego (1/25/92)

A Colorado State Tuesday Win Would Mean…
• Ryun Williams improves to 11-5 all-time against the Aztecs, snapping a three-game losing streak with last win on 1/24/18.

A Colorado State Tuesday & Thursday Win Would Mean…
• First 3-1 Mountain West start since the 2016-17 season for the Rams

How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Live Stats: https://csura.ms/WBBStats
Live Stream: Mountain West Network | https://csura.ms/Live
Radio: KARS 102.9 FM | https://csura.ms/Listen

For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball

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