Rams travel for Saturday afternoon contest at BYU

Colorado State Rams (4-4) at BYU Cougars (6-3)
Saturday, Dec. 15 | 2 p.m. MT
Marriott Center (19,000) | Provo, Utah
Coverage: BYUtv | KARS 102.9 FM | Live Stats

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's basketball team hits the road this week for a Saturday afternoon contest against the BYU Cougars.

Colorado State (4-4) and BYU (6-3) are slated to tip off at 2 p.m. MT from the Marriott Center (19,000) in Provo, Utah. The two teams meet at BYU's home court one season after a matchup at Moby Arena that was won by the Rams, 56-54. The Cougars are 2-1 in home games this season.

Saturday's game will be streamed live on BYUtv. In addition, the Rams' game against the Cougars will be broadcast live on KARS 102.9 FM, with Matthew Wozniak on the call. Live stats will also be made available by BYU. Links to each can be found above or on the schedule page on CSURams.com.

Scouting the BYU Cougars

The BYU Cougars sit at 6-3 to open the 2018-19 season, with wins over TCU and Mountain West foe Utah State. BYU went 16-14 overall and 11-6 in conference play last season.
BYU was picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference this season behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. As part of the preseason polling, the Cougars' Brenna Chase and Sara Hamson were named to the All-WCC Preseason Team. Notably, the Cougars received one first-place vote from the conference's 10 head coaches.
One of BYU's strengths as a team this season is in how it takes care of the basketball. The Cougars are 47th in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (1.1), 64th nationally in turnovers per game (14.3) and 80th in assists per game (15.6).
Brenna Chase is BYU's chief facilitator, and ranks 73rd in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (2.2) as well as 94th in assists per game (4.6). Shaylee Gonzales is BYU's leading scorer and ranks 132nd in the NCAA in points per game with an average of 16.2.

A Colorado State Win on Saturday Would…

Be the 399th NCAA victory of head coach Ryun Williams' career.
CSU's third-straight win over a program from the state of Utah.

Rams Among National Statistical Leaders

Defensively, the Rams once again rank among the nation's elite. Colorado State is ninth in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (.323) and 40th in scoring defense (55.5).
Through seven games, Colorado State ranks second nationally in fewest personal fouls per game (12.0) and 15th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (12.9).
Individually, sophomore guard Lore Devos is 71st in field goals made (57) and 51st in minutes played per game (35.6).
Junior guard Mollie Mounsey ranks among the NCAA leaders in minutes played per game (36.3), placing 39th individually.

Rams Among Mountain West Statistical Leaders

As a team, Colorado State tops the Mountain West in scoring defense (55.5) and field goal percentage defense (.323).
Sophomore guard Lore Devos currently ranks third in the Mountain West in scoring to this point in the season (16.4). Additionally, she also ranks ninth in field goal percentage (.491), 10th in rebounding (6.0/game), second in minutes played (35.6) and ninth in offensive rebounds per game (2.5).
Devos converted on 11 of her field goal attempts against Northern Arizona (Dec. 5), tied for the second-most in a single game by any player in the Mountain West this season.
Devos' .727 (8-for-11) field goal percentage at Gonzaga ranks as the fourth-best in a single game by any player in the conference this season.
Junior guard Mollie Mounsey has corralled 6.1 rebounds per game this season, ranking ninth in the conference. Mounsey is also fourth in the league in three-point field goals made per game (2.3), second in the Mountain West in defensive rebounds per game (5.8) and tops in minutes played per game (36.2).
Mounsey corralled 13 rebounds against North Florida on Dec. 2, the fourth-most in a single game by any player in the Mountain West in 2018-19.
Sophomore guard Grace Colaivalu is averaging 4.3 assists per game, good for sixth in the conference. Additionally, the Sacramento, Calif., native is sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6).
Senior forward Tatum Neubert is ranked fourth in the league in blocked shots per game (1.3).

Quick Hits

After finishing the 2017-18 season with its fifth straight 20-win season and fifth consecutive postseason appearance, Colorado State touts a new-look squad for 2018-19. The Rams return seven players from last year's roster, but welcome as many newcomers to the team.
Among the returning players for Colorado State is talented sophomore guard Lore Devos, who is currently third in the Mountain West and the team leader in points per game (16.4). She scored a single-game team-high 23 points against Eastern New Mexico, North Florida and Northern Arizona.
Among the Rams' newcomers is junior guard Mollie Mounsey, who has been named the 2018-19 Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year. Mounsey, who averaged 21.0 points per game over the Rams' two exhibitions, is a two-time NJCAA First-Team All-American and led the nation (Division I, II, III, NAIA or NJCAA) in threes (143) in 2016-17 at Seward Country CC.
Senior forward Tatum Neubert, another newcomer for the Rams, averaged a double-double for the Rams in exhibition play. Neubert was one of three Rams to average double-digit scoring in those exhibitions (13.5/game) and corralled an average of 10 rebounds per outing.
Sophomore guard Grace Colaivalu is also among the returners for the Rams after earning the program's first Mountain West All-Freshman selection since 2013-14 (Ellen Nystrom, Elin Gustavsson) last season. Colaivalu averaged 7.3 points and 2.8 assists per game last season, with a notable stretch of 22.0 points per game over her first four career conference games.
Colorado State's coaching staff has also been retooled heading to the 2018-19 season, as the Rams welcomed Rico Burkett and Kellie Lewis to the staff. With those two additions, CSU has four coaches with NCAA head coaching experience on its staff this season, the most of any women's basketball program in the nation.

Devos Among Most Impactful Players on Offense in the Mountain West

Sophomore guard Lore Devos currently ranks as the No. 3 scorer in the Mountain West and team scoring leader, averaging 16.4 points per game this season.
No player in the conference accounts for anywhere near as much of their team's offense as Devos does. Devos' 16.4 points per game accounts for 31.3 percent of Colorado State's scoring offense (52.4/game), by far the most of any Mountain West player ranked in the top 10 in the league in scoring.
She has provided her offense for the Rams efficiently, shooting .491 from the floor, a mark that ranks ninth in the conference.
See below for a breakdown of each of the Mountain West's scoring leaders and how much of their team's offense is accounted for by each of them.

Percentage of Team's Scoring Offense Per Game (in order of Mountain West scoring leaders)
Candice White – 18.1 points per game, 25.7 percent of Fresno State's offense (70.4/game)
Jaisa Nunn – 17.5 points per game, 21.9 percent of New Mexico's offense (79.9/game)
Lore Devos – 16.4 points per game, 31.3 percent of Colorado State's offense (52.4/game)
Sophia Ramos – 16.0 points per game, 23.0 percent of San Diego State's offense (67.9/game)
Marta Gomez – 15.8 points per game, 21.5 percent of Wyoming's offense (73.4/game)
Aisia Robertson – 15.3 points per game, 19.1 percent of New Mexico's offense (79.9/game)
Naje Murray – 14.5 points per game, 20.9 percent of San Diego State's offense (69.5/game)
Shannon Dufficy – 14.4 points per game, 22.4 percent of Utah State's offense (64.4/game)
Terae Briggs – 14.3 points per game, 24.1 percent of Nevada's offense (59.4/game)
Katie Powell – 14.2 points per game, 24.9 percent of UNLV's offense (57.0/game)

Mollie Mounsey Named Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year

Junior guard Mollie Mounsey of the Colorado State women's basketball team was named the 2018-19 Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year on Thursday, Nov. 1.
Among the credentials for Mounsey in her junior college career were NJCAA First-Team All-America honors in each of her freshman and sophomore seasons. In 2016-17, Mounsey made 143 three-point field goals, the most of any women's basketball player in the nation among all Division I, II, III, NAIA or NJCAA schools.
Mounsey, who joins the Rams from Seward County Community College, is the second CSU player to receive a superlative award from the Mountain West in the preseason in the past three seasons. Former CSU great Ellen Nystrom was named MW Preseason Player of the Year prior to the Rams' 2016-17 campaign.

CSU Coaching Staff Among the Nation's Most Experienced

Entering this season, Colorado State women's basketball has four coaches on its staff with NCAA head coaching experience. No other women's basketball program in the nation has more than three.
Along with current CSU head coach Ryun Williams, each of Kellie Lewis (Florida Atlantic), Rico Burkett (Wayne State) and Chad Lavin (South Dakota, Wyoming) have been head coaches at an NCAA institution in their careers.
No other school has as many coaches with NCAA head coaching experience. Baylor, Texas Tech and UNCW each have three coaches on their respective staffs with NCAA head coaching experience.

Something About Season Openers for Devos

Sophomore guard Lore Devos paced the Rams with 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting in their win over Eastern New Mexico on Nov. 6. That season-opening performance mirrored her debut in 2017-18.
In the Rams' 2017-18 opener, Devos poured in a team-high 25 points on exactly the same 10-for-16 shooting from the floor. That remains Devos' career high, and is the most points scored by a player in their first game during the Ryun Williams era.
Devos' two collegiate season openers remain her two best scoring performances to this point in her career.

Newcomers' Exhibition Play a Sign of Things to Come?

Colorado State cruised to a pair of exhibition victories prior to the 2018-19 season, and the impact of a pair of their newcomers was one reason why.
Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year and junior guard Mollie Mounsey posted a 21.0 points per game average in the Rams' two exhibitions, a team high. Mounsey shot 10-for-14 (.714) from beyond the three-point arc over those two games.
Senior forward Tatum Neubert was one of three Rams to average double-digit points in those two exhibitions, joining Mounsey and sophomore guard Lore Devos (17.5/game) with 13.5 points per game. More notably, Neubert averaged a double-double over those two games, averaging exactly 10 rebounds per game.

Rams Make Fifth Consecutive Postseason Appearance in 2017-18

Among the many accomplishments of the 2017-18 Colorado State women's basketball team was its fifth consecutive postseason appearance. The Rams received an at-large bid to the Postseason WNIT, and advanced to the second round for the second straight season.
Colorado State defeated Western Illinois, 67-64, last season, and took down Saint Mary's, 80-68, in overtime in the opening round two years ago for its most recent postseason victories. Before those two WNIT wins, CSU had not won in the postseason since 2003.
CSU will be looking to make its sixth consecutive postseason berth in 2018-19. The Rams have only had one longer streak of consecutive postseason appearances, reaching the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT in seven consecutive seasons from 1998-04.

Rams Win 20 Games for Fifth Straight Season

Colorado State women's basketball went 21-12 in 2017-18, clinching its fifth straight season with at least 20 wins under now-seventh-year head coach Ryun Williams.
Outside of those five seasons, Colorado State has only won 20 games or more in nine other seasons. That gives Williams 35.7 percent of the 20-plus-win seasons in program history.
Former CSU head coaches Greg Williams, Tom Collen and Chris Denker combined for the only stretch with more consecutive seasons of 20 victories or more from 1995-2003. Ann Matlock coached the only other CSU team with 20 wins or more in 1981-82.

Williams Ranks Among CSU, Mountain West Coaching Greats

Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams enters his seventh season at the helm of the program in 2018-19. Williams has won 136 games in his tenure to this point, making him the winningest coach in program history.
In addition to that, Williams has won 81 conference games, by far the most in program history. Former CSU head coach Tom Collen is the closest with 56 conference wins.
Williams also ranks as the third-winningest coach in Mountain West history in terms of win percentage in conference games (76.4 percent, 81-25). The only coaches with better records in conference play are former Utah head coach Elaine Elliott (.793, 130-34), as well as former Fresno State head coach and current TCU head coach Reagan Pebley (.778, 28-8).
Ryun Williams' seventh season as CSU basketball coach makes him one of the two longest-tenured head coaches in program history. Greg Williams also served as head coach for seven seasons from 1990-97.

Dropping Knowledge

Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams is one of 32 voters for the USA TODAY Sports Women's Basketball Coaches Poll. The panel, which is chosen by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), votes weekly throughout the regular season.
The voters are chosen based upon the 32 conferences that receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Each conference has one representative, and the names of the voters are published along with each week's poll.
Williams is in his second season as a voter after completing his first year voting in the coaches' poll in 2017-18.

Newcomers in the Lineup for the Rams

Among the storylines for Colorado State women's basketball this season will be the integration of seven newcomers into the 2018-19 lineup. The seven newcomers will mesh with the return of six letterwinners, along with one redshirt.
Of those newcomers, two are graduate transfers and are eligible to contribute immediately. Those players are guard Roichelle Marble (Wisconsin) and forward Tatum Neubert (LSU/Oregon).
Also among the newcomers are junior guard Mollie Mounsey (Seward County CC), a two-time NJCAA First-Team All-American, and freshman guard/forward Taylor Mole (Australia), who joins the Rams with international playing experience.
Jamie Bonnarens (Cameron), Megan Jacobs (Utah) and Tori Williams (Utah) will redshirt per NCAA transfer rules before playing for the Rams next season.

Rams Return Mountain West All-Freshman Selection

Among the returners for Colorado State in 2018-19 is sophomore guard Grace Colaivalu, who was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team last season.
Upon receiving that distinction last season, Colaivalu became the first Ram to earn an all-conference freshman team selection since 2013-14 and the third all-time. The only other two Rams to be named to the MW All-Freshman Team were Ellen Nystrom and Elin Gustavsson, each in 2013-14.

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