Season Opener Part of Double Header at Moby Tuesday

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Dec 17

7:30 PM

Women's Basketball

at Nevada

Dec 20

1:00 PM

Women's Basketball

vs Utah State

Dec 31

11:00 AM

Women's Basketball

at Grand Canyon

Jan 3

1:00 PM

Women's Basketball

vs Fresno State

Jan 7

6:30 PM

Women's Basketball

vs New Mexico

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Not one, but two season-opening games will be played Tuesday inside of Moby Arena as the Colorado State women's basketball team tips off at 5 p.m. against Colorado Christian and then the men's team follows to complete the double header.

For the first time since Feb. 24, 2020 – a span of 623 days – the Rams will play a regular-season game in front of fans. None of the current Rams have played in front of fans at Moby in general since all last season's home games were without a crowd due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Last season, the Rams finished third in the Mountain West with an 11-5 record despite being a win away from sharing the conference title in the final regular season game. Overall, CSU went 15-6 and showcased the 16^th-best scoring offense in all of NCAA Division I. This season's team features seven returners and five newcomers in head coach Ryun Williams' 10^th year at the helm.

"We have the pieces in place to have a really good year," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Our chemistry needs to develop, and our season will depend on the newness on the team and if they can connect in a timely manner. The basketball IQ needs to pick up which comes with time when playing a new system with new teammates. The exhibition showed us that we are a little longer and more athletic than in years past, but we need to pair that with experience. We are excited about this group and Ram fans should be too. It was fun playing in front of Ram fans last week for the exhibition and we are looking forward to doing it for real on Tuesday."

The Rams got a taste of live action last week in an exhibition against Chadron State to a tone of a 78-43 win. Tuesday's matchup against Colorado Christian will be the second-ever meeting and the second in the last two seasons. The Rams defeated CCU 96-54 in the second game of last year's campaign.

"We have a decent handle on our rotation," Ryun Williams added. "We could go 10 deep and would be fairly comfortable. Early on in this season, we are going to experiment with a handful of lineups in order to find the perfect balance of our scoring and roster. That's what the early part of the season is for to get a gauge of your team in live action."

RAMS NOTEBOOK (Full Game Notes Attached)

Preseason Mountain West Awards
• The Preseason Mountain West awards came out on Oct. 13th and pinned the Rams to finish fourth in the 11-team conference. Additionally, Hofschild was named to the five-person All-MW team. Hofschild started in every Rams' game last season and is the reigning MW Newcomer of the Year. The Prior Lake, Minnesota, native averaged 13.4 points and led the Mountain West in assists with 5.4 per game en route to being named the MW Newcomer of the Year and earn All-MW nod.

Last Time Out
• the Rams played Chadron State in an exhibition on Nov. 3rd, beating the Eagles 78-43. All 12 Rams played at least eight minutes apiece and no Ram played over 27 minutes. The guards, Hofschild and Atosu, shared the team high in scoring with 12, while Cali Clark (10), Kendyll Kinzer (10) and Bengisu Alper (11) all reached double digits. Hofschild was the team's leading rebounder with six in a tied rebounding battle for the teams at 33-all was. She also tacked on a team-best five assists, which is a category she led 16 times last season for the team.
Newcomers
• New to the Rams' locker room are freshmen Anna Prim, Clara Gomez and Jess Moors in addition to transfers Kendyll Kinzer and Upe Atosu. Moors' is the younger sister of James Moors who is a sophomore on the CSU men's basketball team. Prim and Gomez both hail from Spain and were teammates before on their club team. Kinzer is a familiar face in the conference coming from Fresno State, while Atosu is a graduate transfer from Butler.

Returners
• This 2021-22 Rams return seven student-athletes and two starters from last season's squad. Junior McKenna Hofschild and sophomore Cali Clark account for the two starters, but low post players Karly Murphy and Sydney Mech combined to start 12 games last season and will solidify the Rams in the front court. The other three returners include Petra Farkas, Bengisu Alper and Makayla Hemingway.

Series History: Colorado State – Colorado Christian
Overall: CSU leads, 1-0
In Fort Collins: 1-0
In Lakewood: -
Neutral Sites: -
Current Streak: CSU, 1
Last Meeting: CSU 96, CCU 54 in Fort Collins (11/28/20)
Largest Margin of Victory: 42; ^
Largest Defeat: -

A Colorado State Tuesday Win Would Mean…
• Ryun Williams is 7-3 all-time in season-opening games at Colorado State and has won the four straight game one's, dating back to 2018's opener.

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