Rams Travel to Boise for Wednesday and Friday Matinees

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Facing a stern road series, the Rams will hit the airways for the first time since the beginning of the month as they travel to take on Boise State in a matchup of two top-4 Mountain West teams.

It is another Wednesday-Friday series, however this time both games are the afternoon variety, starting at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

The Rams are no longer catching any teams in the conference by surprise, sitting atop of the standings at 6-2 in a tie with the defending champions Fresno State. The 6-2 Mountain West start is the best since the 2016-17 season for the Rams. At 10-2, the Rams are enjoying their best 12-game start since 2015-16 when the Rams went 31-2 overall and swept the Mountain West at 18-0.

"Boise State is a really talented team and have been one of the top programs in our conference for some time now," head coach Ryun Williams said. "We are going to have to play our best defensively to come out of there with a win or two."

Last time out, the Rams swept Utah State for its third series sweep of the season and second in the MW. In game two, six Rams scored in double digits, marking the first time that has occurred since Nov. 28, 2015 (Nystrom, Wharry, Arias, Austgulen, Patrick, Gustavsson). The performance was not an anomaly as the Rams have displayed a balanced offensive attack much of the season. Colorado State is the only MW team that has three players inside the top-12 in scoring. Lore Devos at 14 points per game leads the charge with Tori Williams and McKenna Hofschild just a tick behind at 13.75 ppg. The unselfishness and efficiency can also be viewed by the fact that the Rams lead the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.71 thanks largely to Hofschild and Williams who go 1-2 in the category among the MW.

Boise State (8-3, 5-3) is coming off a tough two-game road trip at Fresno State in which they lost by 35 points in game one and then three points in game two. The last time the Broncos lost three or four games in a row was in the 2015-16 season. Boise State was picked to finish third in the MW, while Mallory McGwire was chosen to the preseason All-MW team.

Last year, the two teams only met once in one of the two pre-holiday conference games on Dec. 8, 2019 in which the Broncos squeaked out a three-point victory, 72-69.

RAMS NOTEBOOK (Full Game Notes Attached)

Keep Up
• Pace and scoring is the biggest change for these Rams as they have scored over 70 points in 11 of 12 games, easily surpassing last year's six. The last time CSU started a season with its first nine games over 70 points was 1998-99 - the second-highest scoring team (79.22 ppg) in CSU history. That team had 966 points through 12 games, while the current Rams are at 1025. The 85.4 points per game is second in the MW and eighth in the nation.

Yin & Yang
• Yin & Yang is what Tori Williams and McKenna Hofschild call each other. The opposite styles are meshing well in the backcourt. Hofschild holds the third-best assist-turnover ratio in the NCAA, while the Rams lead the category nationally. Williams sits atop the MW in 3-point field goals made and per game, while both register as the 12th-best marks in the nation.

Third Quarter Adjustments
• Coming out of halftime is when the Rams are showing their strength, outscoring their opponents in the third quarter 272-203. CSU has at least doubled its opponents' score in the third frame four times including both games against Utah State. The Rams have only been outscored four times in the third frame.

Sharing the Rock
• The Rams lead the nation in asst/turnover ratio (1.71), while leading the MW in assists (209), and apg (17.4). CSU has tied or outassisted all of their opponents. The Rams tallied a season-high 24 assists against Denver at home. The next closest MW team in assists is Fresno State with 161 in the same amount of games.
• McKenna Hofschild's 10 assists in the season opener is four off the national game high. Her 76 total assists, 6.3 apg and 4.75 asst/to ratio rank No. 1 in the MW and top-10 nationally.

What to Watch For?
• CSU Scoring Offense (#2 in MW) vs. BS Scoring Defense (#2 in MW)
• CSU FG Percentage (#1 in MW) vs. BS FG Percentage Defense (#1 in MW)
• CSU FG Percentage Defense (#4 in MW) vs. BS FG Percentage (#4 in MW)
• CSU 3FG Percentage (#1 in MW) vs. BS 3FG Defense (#9 in MW)

Series History: Colorado State – Boise State
Overall: CSU trails, 9-12
In Fort Collins: 4-5
In Boise: 5-4
Neutral Sites: 0-3
Current Streak: BS, 7
Last Meeting: CSU 69, BS 72 in Fort Collins (12/8/19)
Largest Margin of Victory: 32; CSU 83, BS 51 in Boise (2/10/16)
Largest Defeat: 25; CSU 51, BS 76 in Las Vegas (3/7/18)

A Colorado State Wednesday or Friday Win Would Mean…
• Snapping a seven (or eight if Friday) game skid against Boise State.

A Colorado State Wednesday & Friday Win Would Mean…
• First Ram sweep over the Broncos since 2016.

How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Live Stats: http://csura.ms/3sV0kTi
Live Stream: http://csura.ms/3c6p5WC
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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