Dec. 27, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Game No. 11 
Colorado State (3-7) at UTSA (3-6)
Dec. 29, 2008 | San Antonio, Texas | Convocation Center (4,080) | 7 p.m. CT

Game No. 12 
Colorado State (3-7) vs. Prairie View A&M (2-8)
Dec. 30, 2008 | San Antonio, Texas | Convocation Center (4,080) | 5 p.m. CT

Rams visit San Antonio for Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic... 
Following a short break to celebrate the holidays, the Colorado State women’s basketball team returns to the court Dec. 29-30 at the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic in San Antonio, Texas. 

The Rams will play two games in the tournament, opening against host UTSA on Monday at 7 p.m. CT, followed by a matchup against Prairie View A&M at 5 p.m. CT on Tuesday. 

The Rams enter the contest 2-2 in their last four games, but still searching for the team’s first road win of the season.  Overall the Rams are 3-7. 

Both games will be broadcast live on AM 1410 KIIX.  Brian Roth, in his eighth season behind the mic for the Rams, calls all the action.  Nick Sebesta, the voice of the 2008 CSU women’s volleyball program, will provide color commentary.  Live game audio will also be available via Rams All-Access subscription on CSURams.com.

Live statistics and streaming video (via subscription) are available at GoUTSA.com. 

Rams vs. Roadrunners and Panthers... 
Colorado State holds a 2-1 advantage all-time in three meetings with the UTSA Roadrunners.  The Rams captured the last meeting between the two schools, a 63-59 decision in the same Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic on Dec. 31, 2005. 

Tuesday’s matchup with Prairie View A&M will mark the first in the series between the Rams and the Panthers. 

CSU vs. UTSA series history... 
01/20/88; L, 55-64 (San Antonio)
01/14/89; W, 71-57 (Fort Collins)
12/31/05; W, 63-59 (San Antonio)

More about UTSA... 
Head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair leads UTSA in her ninth season with the Roadrunners, where she has compiled a record of 139-106.  Rippetoe-Blair is 246-110 overall in 14 seasons as a head coach. 

The Roadrunners return seven letterwinners, including three starters, from last season’s team that finished with a 20-9 mark and participated in the NCAA tournament after winning the program’s first Southland Conference championship. 

Seniors Monica Gibbs, Onika Anderson and Ryba Pawlaczyk lead the Roadrunners on the court.  Gibbs ranks as the teams top scorer with 14.6 points per game, just ahead of Anderson, who averages 13.8 points per game.  Pawlczyk is the team’s top rebounder at 11 per game, which ranks 12th nationally.  Anderson’s 10.2 rebounds per game rank 26th in the country, while Gibbs’ 7.1 assists per game is sixth.

More about Prairie View A&M... 
Prairie View A&M is led by former WNBA all-star and two-time MVP Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, who also served a stint as the head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury (2001-02).  Cooper-Dyke has led the Panthers to back-to-back SWAC championships and NCAA tournament appearances, including last season’s 22-12 record, the first 20-win season in program history.   

The Panthers return four starters from last year’s squad and are led by a pair of junior guards in Candice Thomas and Gaati Werema.  Thomas ranks as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 10.9 points per game, just ahead of Werema who averages 9.0 points per game.  Werema is the team’s top rebounder, pulling down 5.4 boards per game. 

CSU-UTSA connections... 
Rams senior forward Carine Reimink has a connection to UTSA players Ryba Pawlaczyk and Valencia Cottom, having played with both at Casper College before coming to Colorado State in 2007-08. 

Head Coach Kristen Holt also has a connection to the UTSA coaching staff.  Luby Lichonczak, the associate head coach for UTSA, held the same position on former Rams head coach Tom Collen’s staff in 2001-02.  Lichonczak, joined the Rams staff after a successful head coaching career at Radford University.  Holt, who is in her second season as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level, spent six seasons (1995-01) as an assistant to Lichonczak at Radford before taking over the reins as interim head coach when Lichonczak left to come to CSU. 

Last time out... 
The Colorado State women’s basketball team fell to 3-7 last Sunday, dropping a hard-fought 67-56 decision to the Creighton Jays at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.

After nine first-half lead changes, a slow start to the second half by the Colorado State offense helped Creighton establish a double-digit lead that they would never relinquish. 

Guard Kim Mestdagh provided a spark off the bench early and often for the Rams.  She entered the game and rattled off a quick eight points to give the Rams a 21-19 advantage with 8:43 left in the opening stanza.  Mestdagh finished with a team-high 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including 50 percent (3-for-6) from three-point distance.  Senior guard Kandy Beemer added nine points for the Rams on 3-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while senior forward Britney Minor led the Rams with eight rebounds in the contest.

With the Rams trailing by 19, the largest deficit of the game, and 15 minutes remaining on the clock, forward Juanise Cornell was injured while going for a rebound on the Rams end of the court.  Cornell, who earlier in the game had eclipsed 500 career points at CSU, was taken off the court on a stretcher for precautionary reasons but had movement in her extremities and was taken to Creighton University Medical Center for further evaluation.  Cornell was released following the game with a sprained neck and a concussion.  She left the game with eight points and a career-high two blocks.

Cornell reaches milestone... 
Junior forward Juanise Cornell is more than halfway to becoming the 15th player in Colorado State women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.  Cornell, who has started 67 of 69 career games played at Colorado State, eclipsed the 500-point mark in the Rams loss at Creighton on Dec. 21. 

Cornell, who will celebrate her 21st birthday on Wednesday, is also the Rams’ active leader in career rebounds, and is rapidly closing in on 500 boards.  Heading into action this week, Cornell has 453 career rebounds, just two rebounds shy of the CSU career top-20 list.  Her 6.6 rebounds per game average ranks ninth on the Rams’ career list.

Mestdagh becoming a regular... 
Freshman guard Kim Mestdagh has become a regular on the court for the Rams, and has started five of the Rams’ last six games.  During that stretch, Mestdagh is averaging 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.  Mestdagh, a native of Ieper, Belgium, has also connected on 46.9 percent (15-for-32) from three-point range during that span, and is shooting a team-best 54.2 percent (26-for-48) overall.    

Beeming from long distance... 
Senior captain Kandy Beemer ranks as one of the top three-point threats in CSU history.  With 62 career treys, Beemer is 17th on the CSU career list, while her .341 shooting percentage from long range is 15th in the Rams’ record books.  Beemer has connected on at least one three-pointer in each of the Rams’ games this season, including five games in which she has hit at least three shots from downtown.  Beemer currently ranks fourth in the Mountain West Conference  in three-pointers made per game (2.3). 

Rebounding Rams... 
Colorado State ranks second in the Mountain West Conference in rebounding, averaging 41.5 boards per game.  New Mexico ranks atop the nine-team league, just ahead of the Rams at 43.0 rebounds per contest.  CSU’s 14.00 offensive rebounds per game rank third, just behind San Diego State (14.6) and BYU (14.4). 

Injury update... 
Forwards Juanise Cornell and Meghan Heimstra are expected to be available for the Rams during this week’s action at the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic.  Heimstra was held out of the Rams game at Creighton on Dec. 21 after suffering a concussion in the Rams’ home victory against Northern Iowa on Dec. 14.  Cornell left the game at Creighton and was taken to Creighton University Medical Center for precautionary reasons.  She was released with a sprained neck and a concussion. 

Change in Air Force game time... 
Colorado State’s Feb. 21 home game against the Air Force Falcons has been moved to a 7 p.m. tip time to accommodate for a time change in the Colorado State at Air Force men’s game also scheduled for that day at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.  The men’s game, originally slated for 7 p.m. was moved so as not to conflict with an Air Force hockey game, and the women’s game was moved to accommodate television broadcasts for both games, which will air live on The Mtn.  The men’s game will now tip at 4 p.m. 

Up next... 
The Rams have test remaining before tipping off their Mountain West Conference Schedule.  Colorado State hosts South Dakota at 2 p.m. MT on Saturday at Moby Arena.  The game will mark the third meeting between the Rams and the Coyotes, who jumped from NCAA Division II to Division I this season.