Rams Trade Snow for Beach in San Diego Trip

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Escaping the snow, the Colorado State women's basketball team flew to California for a Mountain West Monday matchup with San Diego State inside Viejas Arena.

The trip was meant to be a lengthier one, but Fresno State postponed Thursday's matchup with the Rams due to COVID complications. Colorado State (10-1, 1-0) and San Diego State (4-7, 0-2) will tip off at 7 p.m. MT. In the Rams' conference opener last week, the Rams defeated Boise State to mark the sixth time in program history that the team has started 10-1.

"Two games would have been nice, but we are happy we got one with how much COVID is affecting schedules across all sports right now," head coach Ryun Williams said about the trip. "Despite our own COVID issues and some injuries last week, we put together a strong conference opener against Boise that we want to build on. In the last three games, the Aztecs have lost to a ranked Ohio State and then back-to-back close losses in the conference, so you bet that we will get a determined San Diego State team that has a lot of talent."

San Diego State (4-7) was picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West. CSU swept SDSU in the 2020-21 regular season, halting a three-game Aztec win streak in the series. Prior to that SDSU run, CSU won the previous 10 matchups (2014-18). SDSU is coming off a 73-67 loss at Fresno State last Friday afternoon despite a fourth-quarter comeback that tied it midway through.

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Last Time Out
• The Rams returned from a 15-day break and beat Boise State in the Mountain West season opener, 81-77. With 25 seconds left in regulation, the Broncos trailed by two, but the Rams went 4-of-6 from the free-throw line to secure the win. The final quarter featured 33 free throws between the two teams. CSU finished 26 for 37 from the line in all. McKenna Hofschild scored a career-high 32 points with 13 coming from the line, 11 coming in the fourth quarter and 18 in the second half - all team-highs for the season. Petra Farkas notched 16 points and Kendyll Kinzer grabbed 11 rebounds - both career-best marks.

What to Watch for vs. San Diego State?
• CSU Scoring Defense (54.4; #1 in MW) vs. SDSU Scoring Offense (61.2; #10 in MW)
• CSU Field Goal % (.408; #3 in MW) vs. SDSU Defensive FG% (.377; #2 in MW)
• CSU Fouls/G (11.2; #1 in NCAA) vs. SDSU Fouls/G (17.3; #9 in MW, #223 in NCAA)
• CSU Turnovers Per Game (9.9; #1 in NCAA) vs. SDSU Turnovers/G (13.5, #5 in MW)

Scouting Report on San Diego State
• San Diego State returns four starters and five letterwinners from 2020-21 when the Aztecs finished 7-17 overall with a 5-12 MW finish for a share of 8th place.
• Asia Avinger was named Mountain West Preseason Freshman of the Year for the second year in a row. She suffered an injury last season and was redshirted.
• The Aztecs are committing just 13.5 turnovers per game, the 37th fewest in the nation.
• Sophia Ramos (San Antonio, Texas) is one of nine active four-year players in the nation with at least 1,200 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals in their career. Out of that group, she has played the fewest games (89).
• Of the Broncos' seven losses, four were by less than 10 points.
• SDSU scored a season-high 38 points in the paint vs. Fresno State, but were whistled for 26 fouls, also a season-high, which led to 26 made free throws for the Bulldogs.

Defense Wins Games
• Outside of the Louisville and Boise State game, CSU has held all their opponents to 60 points or less. Additionally, eight opponents have been under 35% shooting. CSU boasts the conference's No. 1 scoring defense (54.4 ppg) that checks in at No. 30 nationally. The Rams are No. 1 in field goal defense (33.3%) for the Mountain West that is No. 29 in NCAA.

Fourth Quarter Clamps
• The Ram defense is pinching their opponents in the final quarter. Opponents are 54-of-174 shooting in the final 10 minutes for a 31.0% clip. Harvard was just 1 for 21 and CSU-Pueblo 2 for 14. Only five schools have made more than five shots in the quarter including; UTSA (6-17;35.3%), UoL (5-13; .385), WSU (8-18, .444), LU (9-17;.529), and BS (9-15, 60%).

Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• The Rams lead the NCAA in turnovers per game at 9.9. CSU's assist to turnover ratio is also seventh in the country at 1.44. 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 11 games. Also, CSU has only four games with double-digit turnovers (16 vs ORU; 10 vs. HU; 13 vs. WSU; 11 vs. CSU-P).

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 in boards per game (8.6) and fifth in total rebounds (86). She is on pace to have 232 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 120 for 153 (78.4%) from the charity strike thus far, ranking 10th in NCAA. Karly Murphy is a nearly perfect 20-of-22, while Upe Atosu has missed five at 36-of-41. McKenna Hofschild also has 35 FTM.

Mountain West Player of the Week(s)
• Dec. 12, 2021: McKenna Hofschild. Between the two games (WSU, CSUP), the guard averaged 16.5 points, eight assists and three rebounds per game. Against Weber State, she dropped 23 points for her second 20+ scoring game of the season and dished out five assists. Recording her first-ever double double, she scored 10 points and passed out 11 assists versus CSU Pueblo for the first point-assist double double since Ellen Nystrom (1/21/17).

• Dec. 6, 2021: Karly Murphy. One thing constant at the Arizona State Classic was the play from Murphy. She notched her third double-double of the season against HU, tallying 12 points and 13 rebounds with the latter tying her season-high. Narrowly missing another double-double against UTSA, she had a team-high 16 points with nine rebounds. In both games, she shot an efficient 50% from the field and was 4-of-6 from the free throw line.

• Nov. 22, 2021: McKenna Hofschild. The guard averaged 19 points per game and led CSU to three wins in the week before Thanksgiving. She dropped a career-best 27 on Denver. Collectively, she scored 57 points for her second-best three-game total in her career after 61 points in a trio of games last season that coincidentally earned her MW PoW Week honors (1/11/21) too.

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. The win over Boise State made it the sixth time the program has started 10-1. For Williams it is his second such start, joining the 2015-16 team that finished 31-2 overall, winning the MW outright and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Williams and Tom Collen ('97-98, '98-99, '00-01 and '01-02) are the only CSU coaches to have 10-1 starts.

Series History: Colorado State – San Diego State
Overall: Tied, 30-30
In Fort Collins: CSU, 17-11
In San Diego: SDSU, 18-10
Neutral: CSU, 3-1
Current Streak: CSU, 2
Last: SDSU 77, CSU 84 (12/10/20) at CSU
Largest CSU Victory: 47
Largest CSU Defeat: 39
More on the matchup on pg. 8 of the Game Notes

A Colorado State Monday Win Would Mean…
• The Rams move to 11-1 for the fifth time in CSU history. The '01-02 team falls out of the list in the first paragraph above.

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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