Rams Continue Road Slate at Boise State

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Continuing its three-game road trip in a span of six days, Colorado State will now travel to Boise State for its first rematch of the Mountain West season, which is set for Saturday 2 p.m. MT tip in Boise, Idaho a ExtraMile Arena.

The Rams opened conference play against the Broncos on Dec. 28^th in Moby Arena and escaped with an 81-77 win to improve to 10-1. Since, CSU has gone 2-3, but are coming off an 88-72 win at Utah State. In the same time span, the Broncos have also gone 2-3 and won their last game, a 70-59 decision against Wyoming at home.

"Game twos have no secrets, but we will try to see what worked and what did not from the last meeting," head coach Ryun Williams said. "The game was hard fought down to the wire, and we expect nothing less this time around. Against Utah State, we facilitated the ball very well hence McKenna's [Hofshild] big game, however it was a collective effort too in moving the ball to open teammates. We need to continue that mindset and go 1-0 again on the road. Wednesday was the first time we've had five score into double digits all season, so we feel like we are still progressing to our full potential."

Boise State (6-11, 2-4 MW) was picked to finish sixth in the Mountain West. The Broncos are coming off a 70-59 home win against Wyoming in which they outscored the Cowgirls 28-11 in the fourth quarter. Boise's in-conference losses have come against teams ahead of them (NM, UNLV, CSU, SDSU). The Rams and Broncos met for the conference opener on Dec. 28th with CSU taking the four-point win after the fourth quarter saw 32 total free throws. McKenna Hofschild finished with a career-high 32 points, while Abby Muse led BS with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds.

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Last Time Out
• Last time out, the Rams defeated Utah State in Logan to a tone of 88-72. CSU had 26 assists on 34 field goals made - both season bests. Leading that trend was Hofschild who dished out a CSU record 17 assists. The mark passed Ellen Nystrom's previous best mark of 16. The 17 assists also is second all-time in MW history and second in all of NCAA this season. Also of note was Kendyll Kinzer's first-ever double-double, Petra Farkas' career-high 17 points and the return of Sydney Mech and her 11 points after missing eight games.

What to Watch for vs. Boise State?
• CSU FG% (41.7%; #3 in MW) vs. BS FG% defense (38.3%; #3 in MW)
• CSU 3FG% defense (30.4%; #4 in MW) vs. BS 3FG% (26.9%, #11 in MW)
• CSU's Defensive Reb/G (31.5,#1 in MW) vs. BS Offensive Reb/G (13.12, #1 in MW)
• CSU's front court vs. BS front court, where Broncos do most of its scoring

Scouting Report on Boise State
• The 2021-22 Broncos finished in 14-9 overall record with a 10-8 conference mark for sixth place. Although the Rams swept Boise State in the regular season, the Broncos defeated CSU 78-65 in the second round of the MW Tournament.
• The Broncos are slated to play four of their next five games at ExtraMile Arena.
• The Broncos rank in the top-three in several statistical categories in the Mountain West in the 2021-22 campaign, including assists, blocks, blocks per game, field-goal defense, free throw attempts, rebound margin, rebounds per game, and 3FG defense.

Assist Legend in the Making
• McKenna Hofschild is on pace (assuming there is 13 more games) for 197 assists this season, which would be CSU's single-season record. The top 10 list starts at 132. Last season, the MW Newcomer of the Year had 114 in 21 games played.
• Career-wise at CSU, that same projection would put her assist total at 342. CSU's career assist top 10 starts at 301. The junior has another season of eligibility. She had 31 assists at Seton Hall as a freshmen.

Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• CSU continues to lead the NCAA in turnovers per game (9.9) and is second in assist to turnover ratio (1.57). 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 10 of 16 games. Also, CSU has nine games with single-digit turnovers with three coming in conference play.

Murphy on the Glass
• Karly Murphy is second in the MW in boards per game (8.67) and fifth in total rebounds (130),but has played in less games than the four players ahead of her. She is on pace (assuming there is 13 more games) to have 243 rebounds, which would shatter her career best for a season. If she got close to that number she would be flirting with CSU's top 10 list for a season 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. Trying to replicate that success, CSU is 165 for 222 (74.6%) from the charity strike thus far, ranking 71st in NCAA. The trio of Karly Murphy, McKenna Hofschild and Upe Atosu are 130-of-171 for 76.0%. That means the rest are 35-of-51 for 69.3%.
• The Rams have four games under .700 from the line and four above .900.

CSU Home Promotional Schedule
• Aggie Game - Feb. 9th vs. Utah State
• Pink Out Game - Feb. 16th vs. Wyoming
• State Pride Game & Empower Women Day - Feb. 24th vs. San Diego State
• Senior Day/Green Out - Feb. 26th vs. UNLV

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 – Boise State
Overall: CSU trails 12-13
In Fort Collins: Tied, 5-5
In Boise: CSU, 7-4
Neutral: BS, 4-0
Current Streak: CSU, 1
Last: BS 77, CSU 81 (12/28/21) at CSU
Largest CSU Victory: 32
Largest CSU Defeat: 19
More on the matchup on pg. 8 of the Game Notes

A Colorado State Saturday Win Would Mean…
• CSU sweeps Boise State in the regular season for the second year in a row and fifth all-time (2011-12, 12-13, 15-16, 20-21)

How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Live Stats: http://csura.ms/WBBStats
Live Stream: http://csura.ms/Live
Television: Evoca
Radio: THE X 94.3 FM | https://csura.ms/Listen
Audio Stream: Varsity Network | https://csura.ms/VarsityNetwork

For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball

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Upe Atosu

Petra Farkas

McKenna Hofschild

Kendyll Kinzer

Sydney Mech

Karly Murphy

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