Rams Amped for Arizona State Classic

TEMPE, Ariz. – Early season non-conference tournaments are a treat in college hoops, showcasing a non-conventional location and rarely seen opponents, which is the case for the Colorado State women's basketball team this weekend with play in the Arizona State Classic at Desert Financial Arena.

Technically, the 2016 Preseason WNIT – CSU's last non-conference tournament – was a tourney, but the games with Omaha, Washington and Nebraska were played days apart at campus sites. Therefore, you must go one more season back to the 2015 Navy Classic, involving Siena, Morgan State and Navy in Annapolis to find a true tournament format. Although ASU's arena isn't foreign to the Rams, the name is since it was called Wells Fargo Arena when the Rams last visited in 2010.

This weekend's tournament isn't quite true either considering the matchups are already set. The Rams will face Harvard for the first-time ever on Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m. MT or 30 minutes after game one. On Sunday, Colorado State will play UTSA in the second game of the day again with an approximate tip of 2:30 p.m. The matchup against the Roadrunners is the school's second all-time meeting with the first being a 2008 UTSA win in San Antonio.

"Playing on the road is fun," head coach Ryun Williams said about the first extended road trip of the season. "Obviously, playing in Moby Arena is as well, but going through the airport, team buses and all when you travel with just with your group is special. That is where team bonding is a factor, which grows your program and relationships. Last night, we had a blast at Top Golf and tonight we are going to a movie night, so this tournament that Arizona State is putting on is a treat."

Louisville (4-1) was a preseason No. 6 before dropping a neutral site game to a ranked Arizona squad. Since, UofL has won four straight games, including an eight-point win at Washington. The Cardinals return six players that made starts last season including redshirt senior Kianna Smith, senior Mykasa Robinson and sophomores Olivia Cochran and Hailey Van Lith, who were both named to the 2020-21 ACC All-Freshman Team.

The Crimson (3-4) were picked to finish fifth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll, while the Roadrunners (1-4) were selected last in the 14-team Conference USA. Harvard is on a two-game winning streak that started with a buzzer-beating 3 to defeat Boston University, coming two games after suffering an overtime loss to Big 10's Rutgers. The Roadrunners obtained their first win against Incarnate Word before falling to Minnesota last time out.

"Despite a deceiving record and so-so start of the season, Harvard is a really good basketball team," Williams said about Saturday's game one. "They are athletic and long and will challenge us from the tip to the final buzzer. They are one of the teams that opted out of last season so they are still learning how to gel together, and you can see them progressing each game. They shoot it from every position and have dialed-in fundamentals. We have our work cut out for us. It's going to be fun playing in a tournament and back-to-back days like a Mountain West tournament and we are going to treat it like that."

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Last Time Out
• The Rams hosted 10th-ranked Louisville for CSU's first non-conference ranked matchup since 2004 when No. 8 UCONN visited Moby Arena. A lopsided first quarter of 24-10 carried the Cardinals to the eventual 71-56 win. However, the Rams were just outscored by five points the rest of the way. The Bigs, Sydney Mech, Karly Murphy, and Cali Clark, led the Rams in scoring with 12, 12, and 10, respectively, while guards McKenna Hofschild and Upe Atosu were kept at bay.

Early Defensive Trends
• Outside of the Louisville game, the Rams have held all their opponents to 60 points or less and under 35% shooting. CSU boasts the conference's No. 1 scoring defense (52.8 ppg) that checks in at No. 28 nationally. The Rams are No. 1 in field goal defense (35.0%) for the Mountain West. The 28 blocked shots are second best in the conference with Sydney Mech leading the efforts with 14 blocks that is second in the conference.

Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• The Rams lead the NCAA in turnovers per game at 9.7. CSU's assist to turnover ratio is also third in the country at 1.52. Last season, CSU finished second and fifth, respectively, in those two categories nationally. This season the Rams have had the same or less turnovers than their opponent in five of six games. Also, CSU has only one game with double-digit turnovers (16 vs Oral Roberts).

Finding the Right Group
• It did not take long for the Rams to solidify their starting five. Three different starting lineups occupied the first three games, but the Rams have now gone four straight games with the same starting five. The three constants who have started each game are Hofschild, Atosu and Kinzer. Mech did miss the opener due to injury precaution. More on this on page nine.

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 59 for 76 (77.6%) from the charity strike thus far. Karly Murphy is a perfect 14-of-14, while McKenna Hofschild is 14-of-17. The Rams are fourth in the Mountain West in FT% and 29th in the country.

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. The Prior Lake, Minn, native started every game last season, averaging 13.4 points and led the MW in assists with 5.4 per game en route to being named the MW Newcomer of the Year and earn an All-MW nod.

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. The win against Lipscomb marked the first time since the 2000-01 campaign that the Rams have started 5-0. The 5-1 November tied Williams' 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 – Harvard
Overall: First Meeting

Series History: Colorado State – UTSA
Overall: UTSA leads 1-0
In Fort Collins: -
In San Antonio: 0-1
Neutral Sites: -
Current Streak: UTSA, 1
Last Meeting: CSU 58, UTSA 67 (12/29/08) in San Antonio, Texas

A Colorado State Weekend Sweep Would Mean…
• The second straight season that CSU has started off 7-1 and third time overall for Ryun Williams, counting the 2015-16 squad.

How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Saturday Live Stats: https://csura.ms/3rw0zpE
Sunday Live Stats: https://csura.ms/3dcbyfw
Live Stream: N/A
Saturday Radio: The X 94.3 | https://csura.ms/Listen
Sunday 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

Cali Clark

McKenna Hofschild

Sydney Mech

Karly Murphy

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