Rams Start Three-Game Homestand Sunday

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Kicking off a three-game conference homestand, the Rams host San Jose State Sunday at 12 p.m. MT inside of Moby Arena.

CSU's recent planned six-day trip to California for two games was cut in half to three days and one game after Fresno State had to postpone last Thursday's game due to COVID issues within the program. Thus, the Rams will have had five days in between games once they take the court against the Spartans for the Sunday matinee. Colorado State (10-2, 1-1 MW) split its first two conference games, defeating Boise State at home and losing to San Diego State in California.

"The scheduling changes due to COVID is an obstacle for teams all over the country and across several sports even professional, so it is not an excuse to not be ready," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Unfortunately, the Fresno State game was postponed, because we would have liked to get in another challenge of an away game, which we've only had two true away games thus far. San Jose State comes in having had its past few games postponed, so the Spartans will be eager to play and we must match that energy on the floor for the whole 40 minutes."

San Jose State (3-9, 0-1) was picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West but did receive one first-place vote. Three of SJSU's first four conference games have been postponed due to COVID complications, including the last two because of its opponents. The last time the Spartans took the court was on New Year's Eve, which was an 83-48 home loss to Nevada. CSU and SJSU did not meet in 2020-21 since the Spartans opted out of the season on Jan. 14th - the same day that the two schools were supposed to start its two-game series. They had nine canceled games when they pulled the plug.

RAMS NOTEBOOK

Last Time Out
• The Rams fell 73-63 at San Diego State in a game that the Aztecs controlled from the second quarter to the final buzzer. CSU mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, outscoring SDSU 26-18, but could not get closer than nine points. McKenna Hofschild led CSU with 22 points for her fourth game with at least 20 and her sixth-straight game in double digits. Karly Murphy notched her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Aztecs outshot the Rams in field goals, threes and free throws.

What to Watch for vs. San Jose State?
• CSU Scoring Defense (56.0; #1 in MW) vs. SJSU Scoring Offense (59.9; #11 in MW)
• CSU Scoring Margin (+11.08; #1 in MW) vs. SJSU Scoring Margin (-16.3; #12 in MW)
• CSU 3FGM/G (7.58; #2 in MW) vs. SJSU 3FG/G (6.75; #5 in MW)
• CSU Turnovers Per Game (10.0; #1 in NCAA) vs. SJSU Steals/G (7.25, #6 in MW)

Scouting Report on San Jose State
• The 2019-20 Spartans finished in a tie for third place in the Mountain West standings, the best-ever finish for a team picked last in the conference's preseason poll. In addition, the team's 19 wins on the 2019-20 campaign were the program's most since the 1979-80 team won 22 games.
• Four-year starter, Cydni Lewis returns to the court for her fifth season with the Spartans. The senior entered the season averaging 7.1 points per game and shooting 32% from behind the arc.
• The Spartans have five transfers including four from NCAA DI: A'tyanna Gaulden (Georgia Southern), Deja Ross (Xavier), Stephanie Torres (Eastern Florida), Ellie Boni (Colorado State) and Ella Ogier (Omaha).
• Ellie Boni, who spent her freshman season at CSU in 2020-21, will return to Moby Arena for the first time in a different uniform. She started the first nine games of the season but has not appeared in the past three contests. She is averaging 7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 32.6 minutes per game, while shooting 30.8%.

COVID Back Affecting Schedules
• An eight-day break in between games turned into 15 days for the Rams after the Dec. 21st game at Northern Illinois was canceled due to COVID complications. Unfortunately, sports around the country are experiencing the same déjà vu feeling with that subject. Last season, CSU had a 19-day holiday break and then two unplanned breaks of 10 days and 20 days due to COVID complications in other programs.
• Now with the Fresno State game postponement, the Rams will have five full days in between their next game at home versus San Jose State instead of three days.
• Six out of 20 MW games thus far have been postponed through the Jan. 6th games. However, already one game has been postponed for Jan. 9th, bringing that total to seven out of 25 if the other four get played.

MW Season-Opening Thriller vs. Boise State
• 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.

Defense Wins Games
• Outside of three games (UoL, BS, SDSU), 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 (56.0 ppg) that checks in at No. 44 nationally. The Rams are No. 1 in field goal defense (35.2%) for the Mountain West that is No. 38 in NCAA.

Fourth Quarter Clamps
• The Ram defense is pinching their opponents in the final quarter. Opponents are 60-of-189 shooting in the final 10 minutes for a 31.7% clip. Harvard was just 1 for 21 and CSU-Pueblo 2 for 14. Only four schools have shot over 40% in the quarter: LU (9-17;.529), WSU (8-18, 44.4%), BS (9-15, 60%), and SDSU (6-15, 40%). CSU has outscored its opponents by 50 points for an average of 4.2 points in the final frame.

Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• The Rams lead the NCAA in turnovers per game at 10.0. CSU's assist to turnover ratio is also sixth in the country at 1.4. 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 12 games. Also, CSU has only five games with double-digit turnovers (16 vs ORU; 10 vs. HU; 13 vs. WSU; 11 vs. CSU-P; 11 vs. SDSU).

Murphy on the Glass
• Karly Murphy is second in the MW in boards per game (8.8) and fifth in total rebounds (97). She is on pace (assuming there is 17 more games) to have 247 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 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 128 for 167 (76.6%) from the charity strike thus far, ranking 29th in NCAA. The trio of Karly Murphy, McKenna Hofschild and Upe Atosu are 99-of-123 for 80.4%. That means the rest are 29-of-44 for 65.9%.
• However, the Rams are in a colder streak from the line. In the past two games (BS & SDSU), CSU is 34-of-51 shooting for a 66.6% clip, which dropped them from 81% to 76.6% on the season.

Mountain West Player of the Week(s)
• CSU's four MW weekly nods lead all MW including the Freshman of the Week numbers, which a Ram has not won. McKenna Hofschild is the first three-time recipient on the season for the Player of the Week award and first Ram to earn three MW weekly honors since Ellen Nystrom in 2016-17.

• Jan. 3, 2022: Hofschild scored a career-high 32 points – the most by a Ram vs. a MW opponent since Elin Gustavsson dropped the same number against San Diego State on Jan. 28, 2017. The free-throw line was a point of attack for CSU with a season-high 37 attempts - 20 coming from Hofschild, tying a school record.

• 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.

CSU Home Promotional Schedule
• UCHealth Game - Jan. 15th vs. New Mexico
• 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 – San Jose State
Overall: CSU leads, 16-6
In Fort Collins: CSU, 8-2
In San Jose: CSU, 6-3
Neutral: CSU, 2-1
Current Streak: SJSU, 3
Last: SJSU 69, CSU 64 (2/22/20) at SJSU
Largest CSU Victory: 52
Largest CSU Defeat: 12More on the matchup on pg. 8 of the Game Notes

A Colorado State Sunday Win Would Mean…
• The Rams halt a three-game Spartan win streak in the series.

How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Live Stats: http://csura.ms/WBBStats
Live Stream: http://csura.ms/Live
Television: Evoca/Local3
Radio: KARS 102.9 FM | https://csura.ms/Listen
Audio Stream: Varsity Network | https://csura.ms/VarsityNetwork
Gameday Headquarters: https://csura.ms/WBBGameDay

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

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Upe Atosu

Ellie Boni

Petra Farkas

McKenna Hofschild

Kendyll Kinzer

Karly Murphy

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