Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, February 17
Fort Collins, CO
6:00 PM
Colorado State
vs
Wyoming
Rams Pink Out for Thursday’s Border War
2/16/2022 2:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Colorado State to Host Wyoming Thursday Evening
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Fittingly, Colorado State and Wyoming's only missing Mountain West opponent on its played games are each other and both series' games will play out in the final five contests of the season, starting with Thursday's meeting at Moby Arena.
Game one is the Rams' Pink Out and is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. MT, while game two will be the regular-season finale and UW's Senior Night in Laramie on March 2nd at 6:30 p.m. Both matchups will be broadcasted on Mountain West Network.
Aside from the special jerseys, the Border War always carries an extra layer of prestige. Last year, Colorado State obtained the rare two-game home sweep due to the COVID scheduling and climbed on top of the all-time series record at 53-51. However, the two schools disagree on that number with Wyoming crediting two games in 1973-74 prior to CSU's first official team in 1974-75 therefore the Cowgirls insist the series is tied at 53-all.
Then when you look at this season's Mountain West standings, you'll see that a lot will ride on how these two games play out. Four of Colorado State's five remaining games are against teams sitting above the Rams' current sixth-place spot in the Mountain West standings. Wyoming represents one of those teams as the Cowgirls sit fourth with an 8-5 conference record.
"Right now, Wyoming is the hottest team in the conference with six wins in its past seven games," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Last year, they won the conference tournament, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and several of their players returned this year, so they are a very talented and experienced team. Offensively, Wyoming is very efficient with its motion offense, which will challenge our defense in the ability to sustain assignments as the Cowgirls are known to work to the end of the shot clock. This is the Border War, our most played opponent, so we need the Ram fans there to help us finish off this season strong."
UW (12-10, 8-5 MW) was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West. Despite going 8-8 in conference play last season, the Cowgirls rallied off four wins in the conference tournament to claim the title as a No. 7 seed. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. The three returning starters, Tommi Olson, Alba Sancez Ramos and Quinn Weidemann, have combined for 206 career starts. The Cowgirls have won six of their past seven games, including four straight.
RAMS NOTEBOOK
Last Time Out
• The Rams completed their second MW sweep of the season (USU, SJSU), defeating the Spartans 84-70. CSU went 11 for 12 from the free-throw line down the stretch as a part of an outstanding 30-of-31 clip throughout the game - good for the second-best mark in program history. From deep, it was not the Rams' day as they were 2-of-20 from 3-points land, but that makes their 84-point game that much more impressive. Junior guard McKenna Hofschild tied her career-best 32 points, while dishing out seven assists. She passed Gritt Ryder (2013-14; 148 assists) and tied Deb Spickler (1981-82; 151 assist) on CSU's all-time single season assist list.
What to Watch for vs. Wyoming?
• CSU Scoring Offense (70.6; #3 in MW) vs. UW Scoring Defense (58.8; #2 in MW)
• CSU Field Goal Percentage Defense (38.2%; #1 in MW) vs. UW FG% Offense (40.3%; #6 in MW)
• CSU Rebounding Margin (-0.52; #6 in MW) vs. UW Rebounding Margin (+6.41; #2 in MW
• CSU McKenna Hofschild Asst/TO Ratio (3.08, #2 in MW) vs. UW's Tommi Olsen A/T ratio (3.0, #3 in MW)
Scouting Report on Wyoming
• For the second-straight seasin, junior McKinley Bradshaw (15 ppg) is leading the team in scoring. She dropped a career--high 33 points at San Jose State on Valentine's Day. Last season, she scored 23 points in the two games vs. the Rams. The top UW scorer in both games was Quinn Weidemann with 14 and 15 points.
• Freshman Allyson Fertig has started the last 15 games and is second on the team in scoring with a 10.8 ppg clip, while leading the rebound efforts with 7.6 per game.
Upe There It Is
• Upe Atosu has led the team in scoring five times. She has nine straight games of double-digit scoring outputs, including three 20+ games in a row currently. Six of her eight career 20+ scoring games are from this season.
• In her third year at the NCAA level, she has eclipsed her season-best totals in several categories including points, field goals, 3s, games started, game played, minutes, and free throws. To tie in the other categories: rebounds (20), assists (11), and steals (2).
COVID Back Affecting Schedules
• On Jan. 31, the MW announced some slight schedule adjustments. CSU's home game against Wyoming (2/16-2/17) slid back a game and so did its contest at Nevada (2/19-2/20). The Rams now have four days of prep before the Cowgirls instead of three but lost a day on the backend before playing San Diego State on now three-days' rest.
Assist Legend in the Making
• McKenna Hofschild is on pace (assuming there is 6 more games) for 191 assists this season, which would set the CSU single-season assist record. Against Utah State, she tallied 13 assists to jump from outside of the top 10 to eighth. She passed three Dee Dee Dominguez's marks, knocking off her 1995-96 total of 132 from the top 10.
• She already obtained the CSU single-game assist record at Utah State with 17. In the MW record book, it is second.
• Career-wise at CSU, that same projection would put her assist total at 305. Last season, the MW Newcomer of the Year had 114 in 21 games played. 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.
SINGLE SEASON ASSIST LIST
Rank Player (Season) Assists
1. Ellen Nystrom (2015-16) 186
2. Becky Hammon (1998-99) 174
3. Ellen Nystrom (2016-17) 173
4. Becky Hammon (1997-98) 161
5. Jasai Ferrucho (2003-04) 158
T6. McKenna Hofschild (2021-22) 151
T6. Deb Spickler (1981-82) 151
8. Gritt Ryder (2013-14) 148
9. Dee Dee Dominguez (1994-95) 143
10. Dee Dee Dominguez (1992-93) 136
Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• CSU continues to lead the NCAA in turnovers per game (9.9) and is third in assist to turnover ratio (1.51). 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 14 of 23 games. Also, CSU has 11 games with single-digit turnovers with six coming in conference play.
Murphy Approaching Milestones
• Karly Murphy wears 42, which is also the magic number for her to reach the 1,000-point career mark. Prior to her time at CSU, she tallied 267 points twice at Wisconsin Green Bay to toal 534 points. In her other two seasons, she was redshirted (2016-17) and was hurt in the first game of the season (2018-19). She is a dozen points away from setting a new season-high mark for points (268).
• Karly Murphy is third in the MW in boards per game (8.9) and fourth in total rebounds (197). She is on pace (assuming there is 6 more games) to have 250 rebounds, which would be flirting with CSU's top 10 list for a season that starts at 248. She has already passed her previous single-season high of 146. At Air Force, she grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.
Hitting the Free Shots
• 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 265 for 338 (78.4%) from the charity strike thus far, ranking 11th in NCAA. The trio of Karly Murphy, McKenna Hofschild and Upe Atosu are 225-of-280 for 80.4%. That means the rest are 40-of-58 for 68.9%.
• The Rams have five games under .700 from the line and six above .900.
• At San Jose State, the Rams went 30-for-31 for a 96.8% clip - good for second all-time in CSU history. Upe Atosu (12-12) and McKenna Hofschild (11-11) tied the single game FT% record as well.
• McKenna Hofschild has made her past 30 free throws, dating back to the Fresno State game.
CSU Home Promotional Schedule
• Pink Out Game - Feb. 16th vs. Wyoming
• State Pride Game - 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. Williams is 11-9 all-time versus Wyoming.
Series History: Colorado State – Wyoming
Overall: CSU leads, 53-51
In Fort Collins: CSU, 28-21
In Laramie: UW, 20-27
Neutral: CSU, 5-3
Current Streak: CSU, 2
Last: UW 65, CSU 68 (2/6/21) at CSU
Largest CSU Victory: 41
Largest CSU Defeat: 60
More on the matchup on pg. 5& 8 of the Game Notes
A Colorado State Thursday Win Would Mean…
• The Rams and Cowgirls would be tied at 8-6 in the MW and Ryun Williams' second three-game winning streak vs. UW.
How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Live Stats: http://csura.ms/WBBStats
Live Stream: http://csura.ms/Live
Television: Mountain West Network
Radio: The X 94.3 | 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
Game one is the Rams' Pink Out and is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. MT, while game two will be the regular-season finale and UW's Senior Night in Laramie on March 2nd at 6:30 p.m. Both matchups will be broadcasted on Mountain West Network.
Aside from the special jerseys, the Border War always carries an extra layer of prestige. Last year, Colorado State obtained the rare two-game home sweep due to the COVID scheduling and climbed on top of the all-time series record at 53-51. However, the two schools disagree on that number with Wyoming crediting two games in 1973-74 prior to CSU's first official team in 1974-75 therefore the Cowgirls insist the series is tied at 53-all.
Then when you look at this season's Mountain West standings, you'll see that a lot will ride on how these two games play out. Four of Colorado State's five remaining games are against teams sitting above the Rams' current sixth-place spot in the Mountain West standings. Wyoming represents one of those teams as the Cowgirls sit fourth with an 8-5 conference record.
"Right now, Wyoming is the hottest team in the conference with six wins in its past seven games," head coach Ryun Williams said. "Last year, they won the conference tournament, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and several of their players returned this year, so they are a very talented and experienced team. Offensively, Wyoming is very efficient with its motion offense, which will challenge our defense in the ability to sustain assignments as the Cowgirls are known to work to the end of the shot clock. This is the Border War, our most played opponent, so we need the Ram fans there to help us finish off this season strong."
UW (12-10, 8-5 MW) was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West. Despite going 8-8 in conference play last season, the Cowgirls rallied off four wins in the conference tournament to claim the title as a No. 7 seed. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. The three returning starters, Tommi Olson, Alba Sancez Ramos and Quinn Weidemann, have combined for 206 career starts. The Cowgirls have won six of their past seven games, including four straight.
RAMS NOTEBOOK
Last Time Out
• The Rams completed their second MW sweep of the season (USU, SJSU), defeating the Spartans 84-70. CSU went 11 for 12 from the free-throw line down the stretch as a part of an outstanding 30-of-31 clip throughout the game - good for the second-best mark in program history. From deep, it was not the Rams' day as they were 2-of-20 from 3-points land, but that makes their 84-point game that much more impressive. Junior guard McKenna Hofschild tied her career-best 32 points, while dishing out seven assists. She passed Gritt Ryder (2013-14; 148 assists) and tied Deb Spickler (1981-82; 151 assist) on CSU's all-time single season assist list.
What to Watch for vs. Wyoming?
• CSU Scoring Offense (70.6; #3 in MW) vs. UW Scoring Defense (58.8; #2 in MW)
• CSU Field Goal Percentage Defense (38.2%; #1 in MW) vs. UW FG% Offense (40.3%; #6 in MW)
• CSU Rebounding Margin (-0.52; #6 in MW) vs. UW Rebounding Margin (+6.41; #2 in MW
• CSU McKenna Hofschild Asst/TO Ratio (3.08, #2 in MW) vs. UW's Tommi Olsen A/T ratio (3.0, #3 in MW)
Scouting Report on Wyoming
• For the second-straight seasin, junior McKinley Bradshaw (15 ppg) is leading the team in scoring. She dropped a career--high 33 points at San Jose State on Valentine's Day. Last season, she scored 23 points in the two games vs. the Rams. The top UW scorer in both games was Quinn Weidemann with 14 and 15 points.
• Freshman Allyson Fertig has started the last 15 games and is second on the team in scoring with a 10.8 ppg clip, while leading the rebound efforts with 7.6 per game.
Upe There It Is
• Upe Atosu has led the team in scoring five times. She has nine straight games of double-digit scoring outputs, including three 20+ games in a row currently. Six of her eight career 20+ scoring games are from this season.
• In her third year at the NCAA level, she has eclipsed her season-best totals in several categories including points, field goals, 3s, games started, game played, minutes, and free throws. To tie in the other categories: rebounds (20), assists (11), and steals (2).
COVID Back Affecting Schedules
• On Jan. 31, the MW announced some slight schedule adjustments. CSU's home game against Wyoming (2/16-2/17) slid back a game and so did its contest at Nevada (2/19-2/20). The Rams now have four days of prep before the Cowgirls instead of three but lost a day on the backend before playing San Diego State on now three-days' rest.
Assist Legend in the Making
• McKenna Hofschild is on pace (assuming there is 6 more games) for 191 assists this season, which would set the CSU single-season assist record. Against Utah State, she tallied 13 assists to jump from outside of the top 10 to eighth. She passed three Dee Dee Dominguez's marks, knocking off her 1995-96 total of 132 from the top 10.
• She already obtained the CSU single-game assist record at Utah State with 17. In the MW record book, it is second.
• Career-wise at CSU, that same projection would put her assist total at 305. Last season, the MW Newcomer of the Year had 114 in 21 games played. 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.
SINGLE SEASON ASSIST LIST
Rank Player (Season) Assists
1. Ellen Nystrom (2015-16) 186
2. Becky Hammon (1998-99) 174
3. Ellen Nystrom (2016-17) 173
4. Becky Hammon (1997-98) 161
5. Jasai Ferrucho (2003-04) 158
T6. McKenna Hofschild (2021-22) 151
T6. Deb Spickler (1981-82) 151
8. Gritt Ryder (2013-14) 148
9. Dee Dee Dominguez (1994-95) 143
10. Dee Dee Dominguez (1992-93) 136
Protecting the Rock Better than ALL
• CSU continues to lead the NCAA in turnovers per game (9.9) and is third in assist to turnover ratio (1.51). 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 14 of 23 games. Also, CSU has 11 games with single-digit turnovers with six coming in conference play.
Murphy Approaching Milestones
• Karly Murphy wears 42, which is also the magic number for her to reach the 1,000-point career mark. Prior to her time at CSU, she tallied 267 points twice at Wisconsin Green Bay to toal 534 points. In her other two seasons, she was redshirted (2016-17) and was hurt in the first game of the season (2018-19). She is a dozen points away from setting a new season-high mark for points (268).
• Karly Murphy is third in the MW in boards per game (8.9) and fourth in total rebounds (197). She is on pace (assuming there is 6 more games) to have 250 rebounds, which would be flirting with CSU's top 10 list for a season that starts at 248. She has already passed her previous single-season high of 146. At Air Force, she grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.
Hitting the Free Shots
• 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 265 for 338 (78.4%) from the charity strike thus far, ranking 11th in NCAA. The trio of Karly Murphy, McKenna Hofschild and Upe Atosu are 225-of-280 for 80.4%. That means the rest are 40-of-58 for 68.9%.
• The Rams have five games under .700 from the line and six above .900.
• At San Jose State, the Rams went 30-for-31 for a 96.8% clip - good for second all-time in CSU history. Upe Atosu (12-12) and McKenna Hofschild (11-11) tied the single game FT% record as well.
• McKenna Hofschild has made her past 30 free throws, dating back to the Fresno State game.
CSU Home Promotional Schedule
• Pink Out Game - Feb. 16th vs. Wyoming
• State Pride Game - 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. Williams is 11-9 all-time versus Wyoming.
Series History: Colorado State – Wyoming
Overall: CSU leads, 53-51
In Fort Collins: CSU, 28-21
In Laramie: UW, 20-27
Neutral: CSU, 5-3
Current Streak: CSU, 2
Last: UW 65, CSU 68 (2/6/21) at CSU
Largest CSU Victory: 41
Largest CSU Defeat: 60
More on the matchup on pg. 5& 8 of the Game Notes
A Colorado State Thursday Win Would Mean…
• The Rams and Cowgirls would be tied at 8-6 in the MW and Ryun Williams' second three-game winning streak vs. UW.
How to Follow Along
Attached: Game Notes.
Live Stats: http://csura.ms/WBBStats
Live Stream: http://csura.ms/Live
Television: Mountain West Network
Radio: The X 94.3 | 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
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
F
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