Rams Host Affiliate CSU-Pueblo Sunday

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For the first time since 1993, the Rams host Colorado State University affiliate CSU Pueblo for a first regular season matchup Sunday at 12 p.m. MT inside of Moby Arena.

Even then, CSU Pueblo was named University of Southern Colorado at that time. The institution officially adopted the CSU part of its name in 2003 although it had been a member of the CSU system since 1985. The two schools have played in several exhibitions including in matchups in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016, and most recently, 2019.

Sunday marks the Rams (8-1) seventh game at home this season and will aim to knock off the Thunderwolves (7-1) for CSU's seventh 9-1 start in program history. The CSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is hosting a toy drive at the game with fan's encouraged to bring in unwrapped toys to be donated.

"Originally, this was supposed to be an exhibition game, but was moved into our schedule after Tulsa had to drop us," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Since then, CSU Pueblo has played great basketball and will really challenge us. They knocked off the No. 1 team in the country for NCAA DII a few weeks ago. They have two DI transfers and have Big Sky's reigning player of the year playing at center plus their point guard is from Florida Gulf Coast that is the daughter of the head coach, so they have plenty of talent and are legit competition."

The Thunderwolves were picked to finish sixth in the 15-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference per the Coaches' Poll. However, the T-Wolves are off to a 7-1 start that included a win over NCAA DII's top-ranked Lubbock Christian. JaNaiya Davis is the reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 17.5 ppg last week, which put her in CSU-P's 1,000-point club. The award marked her second of the season and the T-Wolves' third overall as Alisha Davis earned a defensive weekly nod.

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Last Time Out
• The Rams played what seemed like their most complete game since the season opener, controlling Weber State throughout in the 73-60 win Wednesday evening. The 13-point difference may not show that, but Upe Atosu's trey at the third-quarter buzzer to make it a 19-point lead did. CSU unloaded the bench in the fourth quarter with all 11 available players logging minutes. For the first time since the season opener, not a single Ram played more than 30 minutes. Recording her second 20-point scoring game was McKenna Hofschild with a team-high 23 points while she also dished out a team-high five assists for her sixth game with at least that many.

What to Watch for vs. CSU Pueblo?
• CSU Scoring Defense (52.1; #1 in MW) vs. CSU-P Scoring Offense (76.0; #1 in RMAC)
• CSU Rebounding Margin (-3.8; #8 in MW) vs. CSU-P Rebounding Margin (+8.3; #4 in RMAC)
• CSU Fewest Fouls (103; #2 in MW) vs. CSU-P Free Throw Att. (110; #5 in RMAC)
• CSU Turnovers Per Game (9.5; #1 in NCAA) vs. CSU-P Steals/G (13.2, #3 in RMAC)

Early Defensive Trends
• Outside of the Louisville game, the Rams have held all their opponents to 60 points or less. Additionally, seven opponents have been under 35% shooting. CSU boasts the conference's No. 1 scoring defense (53.0 ppg) that checks in at No. 28 nationally. The Rams are No. 1 in field goal defense (33.7%) for the Mountain West that is No. 22 in NCAA. The 35 blocked shots are second best in MW with Sydney Mech's 15 blocks also second in the conference.

Fourth Quarter Clamps
• Specifically, the Ram defense is pinching their opponents in the final quarter. Opponents are 43-of-145 shooting in the final 10 minutes for a 29.7% clip. Harvard was just 1 for 21. Only four schools have made more than five shots in the quarter including; UTSA (6-17;35.3%), UoL (5-13; .385), WSU (8-18, .444) and LU (9-17;.529).

Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• The Rams are second in the NCAA in turnovers per game at 9.9. CSU's assist to turnover ratio is also fifth in the country at 1.48. Last season, CSU finished second and fifth, respectively, in those two categories. This season the Rams have had the same or less turnovers than their opponent in eight of nine games. Also, CSU has only three games with double-digit turnovers (16 vs Oral Roberts; 10 vs. Harvard; 13 vs. Weber State).

Murphy on the Glass
• Although CSU holds a negative rebounding margin and is eighth in MW's rebounding defense, Karly Murphy is third in the MW with 8.6 boards per game. Her 77 total rebounds are second in the MW. She is on pace to have 249 rebounds, which would shatter her career best for a season. If she got close to that number she would be flirting with the top 10 list that starts at 248.

From the Line
• Last season, Ryun Williams' squad ranked 19th in the nation in free-throw percentage at 76.3%, which also went down as the second-best percentage in CSU history. Picking up where they left off, CSU is 85 for 106 (80.2%) from the charity strike thus far, ranking 10th in NCAA. Karly Murphy is a nearly perfect 18-of-20, while McKenna Hofschild and Upe Atosu have a collective 52 FTA with seven misses.

At the Helm
• A two-time Mountain West Coach of the Year and the winningest coach in program history, Ryun Williams enters his 10th season at the helm of the Colorado State women's basketball program in 2021-22. CSU's 5-0 start marked the first since the 2000-01 campaign. Now 8-1, it is CSU's second straight such start and third time overall under Williams, joining his best Ram squad – the 2015-16 team that went 31-2 overall, winning the MW outright and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

Series History: Colorado State – CSU Pueblo
Overall: CSU leads 8-1
In Fort Collins: CSU, 5-0
In Pueblo: CSU, 3-0
Neutral: -
Current Streak: CSU, 8
Last: CSU 106, CSUP 42 (1/4/93) at CSU
Largest CSU Victory: 64
Largest CSU Defeat: 1
More on the matchup on pg. 8 of game notes

A Colorado State Weekend Sweep Would Mean…
• The second 9-1 start for Ryun Williams (also '15-16) and seventh in program history. Williams would be the second coach to have multiple 9-1 starts. Other 9-1 starts: Greg Williams ('96-97) and Tom Collen ('97-98, '98-99, '00-01 and '01-02).

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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Upe Atosu

McKenna Hofschild

Sydney Mech

Karly Murphy

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