Volume 125, No. 19, Border War Basketball Preview

BASKETBALL BORDER WAR Friday, February 19, 2016 Volume 125, No. 19 • collegian.com

True Gritt

Charity Stripe

Young Guns

PAGE 4

PAGE 12

PAGE 8-9

Former CSU star returns as graduate assistant

Senior Tiel Daniels showing improvement at the line

Freshman guards Nixon, Paige playing big minutes for men’s team PHOTO BY ABBIE PARRCOLLEGIAN

Go Rams!

BEAT the Cowboys!!

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sports Friday, February 19, 2016

“As far as the win-streak, it’s nice, but its not like a championship or anything. It’s just a win-streak. I mean, it’s a little history, but a championship is a lot better. That’s just our mindset right now.”

Keyora Wharry senior guard

CSU women’s hoops still focused on season goals heading into Border War

By Sam Lounsberry @samlounz

Nothing has been won yet.

Though the CSU women’s hoops team is on a record-breaking win-streak, the Rams know they still have a long way to go before achieving their goals for this season.

CSU vs. WYOMING Where: Arena Auditorium Laramie, Wyoming When: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Watch: csurams.com/videos

After falling as favorites in the quarterfinal of the Mountain West Tournament last year and missing out on the NCAA Tournament as a result, CSU clearly stated its goals from the beginning of the season. Most important among them, return to the MW Tournament and emerge as champions to secure an automatic bid to the Big Dance.

“Obviously, we want to get better,” senior guard Keyora Wharry said. “As far as the winstreak, it’s nice, but its not like a championship or anything. It’s just a win-streak. I mean, it’s a little history, but a championship is a lot better. That’s just our mindset right now.”

A goal the Rams have added since starting out the season 23-1 and 13-0 in the MW is ending undefeated in conference play.

Standing in their way Saturday is Wyoming (12-12, 5-9 MW). Though the Cowgirls’ conference record certainly doesn’t look intimidating, they have a weapon CSU still has to contain in Marquelle Dent. The guard averages 16.8 points per game and a league-best 5.5 assists.

Since CSU beat the Cowgirls

Colorado State players Elin Gustavsson (22), and Gritt Ryder (11), defend a Wyoming player during a previous game against Wyoming. collegian file photo

63-42 Jan. 30 at Moby Arena, head coach Ryun Williams is expecting some different strategies from UW coach Joe Legerski.

“Joe is a great coach,” Williams said. “I’m sure they’ll make some adjustments. We’ve seen some zone lately. They’ll do things differently, but we’ve seen a lot of different approaches in our 24 games so far. I feel like we’ve seen a lot, and our kids have done a great job of recognizing, getting organized and executing against really whatever has been thrown at them.”

But, the Rams are more con-

cerned with not beating themselves. Williams does not want his team to become the least bit satisfied with entering the record books, and to instead keep focus on perpetual improvement.

“Well, we have a lot of season left, so we have to keep improving,” Williams said. “That’s just our charge everyday in practice.

If you take your foot off the gas pedal right now, everything that you want and that’s ahead of you can be negated.”

While such a long win-streak might make it seem like the Rams are due for a loss, it has also built some serious momen-

tum for the team. This has been noticed in the past three games especially with how well CSU has shot the 3-ball. The Rams have made at least 12 3-pointers in each of their past three games, going 37-for-71 from deep for a shooting clip of 52 percent.

“Every time you win a game, it gives you extra energy, it gives you extra confidence,” forward Elin Gustavsson said. “I feel like we’re building up. When I pass to Jamie (Patrick), when I pass to my teammates, I trust them.

In my mind, I’m like, ‘they’re going to make it,’ even though I go for the rebound. I think it’s

all about that, we trust ourselves and we believe we’re going to make it.”

Right now, the Rams also believe they are on the right track toward a third straight conference championship and all their other goals, including completing a season sweep of Wyoming on Saturday.

“We’re still focused up here and have the right mentality,” Gustavsson said.

Tipoff against the Cowgirls is set for 2 p.m. in Laramie at Arena Auditorium.

Sam Lounsberry can be reached at sports@collegian.com.

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sports Friday, February 19, 2016

Colorado State looking to turn the corner against rival Wyoming in Border War matchup

By Keegan Pope @ByKeeganPope

Three years ago, the Colorado State men’s basketball team dominated rival Wyoming in both of its meetings during the 2012-13 season by an average of 20.5 points per game.

CSU was on its way to a second-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, while the Cowboys finished their season the lower-level College Basketball Invitational. But, since then, Wyoming has owned the Border War, winning the last four matchups, including a season sweep a year ago when the Cowboys stole CSU’s spot in the NCAA Tournament.

There’s still no love lost between these teams, but to put it simply, it hasn’t been much of a rivalry as of recent. Neither team is anywhere near where it was last year, talent or record-wise, but that doesn’t mean this one shouldn’t be just as heated, especially after the Cowboys dismantled the Rams in Laramie earlier this year.

The only hope for either of these teams making the NCAA Tournament this year is to win the conference title, but it could go a long ways in deciding where the teams are seeded in the upcoming Mountain West tournament. Currently, CSU sits in sixth place, while Wyoming is in ninth, but the teams are separated by just two games with five to play.

Following a pair of losses to UNLV and Utah State in which the Rams weren’t particularly impressive, CSU now looks to get back on track in one of its biggest games of the year. Here’s how the Rams can do it: Protect the 3-point line Wyoming has maybe the most dynamic player in the Mountain West in senior guard

Josh Adams, a Colorado native who wasn’t heavily recruited by the Rams. If it weren’t for the emergence of New Mexico’s Elijah Brown, Adams would be the runaway choice for Mountain West Player of the Year. But ,while Adams is most multi-talented player the Cowboys have, their biggest concern should be the 3-point shooting of Jason McManamen.

The Torrington, Wyoming native has been on a tear recently, and CSU fans should remember him well for putting a dagger in the Rams last year when these two teams played at Moby Arena. He’s considered by many to be the best pure shooter in the league, and should command a lot of CSU’s defensive attention.

If the Rams are able to run McManamen off the 3-point line

and keep him from getting into a rhythm, they’ll have a good shot at slowing down the Pokes’ attack.

Work for good shots This seems a like a no-brainer, but all too often CSU gets comfortable settling for contested 3-pointers, much like they did against Utah State Wednesday night. CSU is at its best when the Rams involve every option on offense instead of waiting for Antwan Scott or John Gillon to make plays.

Balance is key for this CSU team, and they can’t rely on any single player to carry their offense. Antwan Scott has been a huge part of the CSU offense since the loss of Gian Clavell, but CSU will need Gillon, Joe De Ciman, Emmanuel Omog-

bo and others to step up if CSU has a chance to beat the Cowboys.

Get the home crowd involved The crowds at Moby have been disappointing this season, to say the least. But, there always seems to be a little extra energy in the building when Wyoming comes to town. Albeit, part of that comes from the contingent of Wyoming fans who come down from Laramie. However, if CSU can get the home crowd involved, unlike it did last year during the loss to the Cowboys, it could be a huge help in getting some momentum going. And, how does CSU do that? By getting defensive stops and making shots.

Keegan Pope can be reached at kpope@collegian.com.

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sports Friday, Febraury 19, 2016

Gritt Ryder’s real injury pushed her to return to CSU

By Sam Lounsberry @samlounz

Former Colorado State women’s hoops star Gritt Ryder could be playing basketball professionally somewhere in Europe right now.

Instead, she is working as a graduate assistant for CSU coach Ryun Williams’ program this year while she pursues a master’s

2014, she sat out the next game a week later. By the start of MW play against Boise State Dec. 31, though, Ryder was back in action.

But, she shouldn’t have been.

Ryder’s injury was not a pulled hamstring, but a broken bone in her leg where the hamstring attaches. No wonder her pain lingered all season last year.

She only found out about

been a total disappointment for Ryder, as she has enjoyed her return to CSU’s program in a grad assistant role.

“I’m so happy Coach (Williams) offered me this position because I love being here, even though it was a hard adjustment at first,” Ryder added.

The broken bone makes her performance last year, which earned her Co-Mountain West

Nystrom “That just tells you how mentally tough she is.”

If Ryder had been at full strength, it is hard to imagine Fresno State’s Alex Sheedy would have been included to share Player of the Year honors with her, and maybe the 23-8 record the Rams posted en route to a second consecutive conference championship would have had even a few more tallies in the win

Former CSU women’s hoops star Gritt Ryder works as a graduate assistant in the year following her senior season. Ryder came back to work for the program after discovering an injury that prevented her from playing professionally overseas right out of CSU. photo by kevin olson COLLEGIAN

degree in Business Administration from the University.

But, coming back to the program as a GA this year after leading the Rams to back-toback regular season Mountain West championships the last two seasons was not her first choice.

Rather, it was her fallback plan.

Playing professionally in Europe was the Denmark native’s true aspiration following her college career, but Ryder discovered a serious injury she actually played with nearly all of her 2014-15 senior season before she was able to sign with a pro club.

When Ryder appeared to pull a hamstring last season against Florida Atlantic Dec. 14,

the injury with an MRI scan last spring, well after CSU’s season had ended and she had already signed with an agent in hopes of landing a spot on a roster overseas.

“I think I’m at 90 percent now, but I actually broke the bone where the hamstring attaches back in December last year, so I played through that the whole year,” Ryder said. “We just didn’t know that was it. So, when I got the news back that that’s actually what happened, I was of course shocked, because I thought I was going to go play (professionally).”

Yet, the injury preventing the start of her pro career has not

Player of the Year, quite stunning. As a senior in 2014-15, Ryder averaged 34.8 minutes per game, and played all 40 minutes in six contests, including a fourgame stretch during which she never once saw the bench. Those kind of minutes had to take a toll on her body.

Yet in MW play, the point guard still averaged 10.3 points per game, 3.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists (third in the league). She was the most versatile player on the league’s top team.

“Even though she ran on one leg, she was still MW Player of the Year, so that’s kind of impressive,” said Ryder’s former teammate and current CSU star Ellen

column.

But, Ryder and her former teammates avoid wondering what last season would have looked like had she been healthy.

“That’s something I do not like to think about,” Ryder said.

“It’s kind of hard to think about what could have been if that hadn’t happened. But, I’m just happy with my years here at CSU, and I’m happy to have this (GA) opportunity, too.”

Nystrom echoed that sentiment, and hopes Ryder can get back on track toward a playing career.

“We still had a great year, and she still played very well, and I don’t think you should think

about what-ifs because what happened, happened,” Nystrom said. “I just hope she can continue to play professionally. ... It was just fun playing with her, really fun. She’s a great player and I hope she gets to where she wants to be.”

Both Ryder’s current MBA studies and graduate assistant position with the Rams will help her in the start to her career, no matter what she ends up pursuing. She says she still has a lot of decisions to make, including whether to enter the business world or stay around basketball to explore coaching.

“I’m looking at going into business somehow, or going into coaching, because it is fun and I would love to still be around basketball,” Ryder explained. “But, I don’t know. One day I want to do this, one day I want to do that, and then I want to stay in the U.S. and then I want to go back home, so I’m still a mess with decisions.”

Williams, her former coachturned-boss, said she could find success in coaching.

“Gritt would be a great coach,” Williams said.

“Her basketball IQ was really solid, she’s a team player, she knows the importance of roles, she knows when she should speak and not speak, she knows to give me the clipboard during timeouts,” he added with a smile.

“She’s doing a good job.”

Though Ryder’s senior season was certainly no disappointment, there are still times she wishes she were on this year’s team that is on a historic winstreak and undefeated in the MW through 13 games.

“I think it’s so unique how they (CSU’s current players) play together and how they care about each other, but I’m just happy I’m still a part of it,” Ryder said. “Because also, even though sometimes it’s of course hard to say, ‘I wish I could still play,’ but just still to be a part of this run they’re making right now is a lot of fun.”

For now, Ryder will help the Rams continue improving in practice as they near the end of the regular season.

“She can give some good advice, even though she’s not an assistant coach; she’s a grad assistant coach,” Nystrom said. “But, if you need her she helps you out.

She just does a lot of little things.

She’s a very smart player so you can learn a lot from her.”

Sam Lounsberry can be reached at sports@collegian.com.

collegian.com

The Rocky Mountain Collegian | Friday, February 19, 2016

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sports Friday, February 19, 2016

CSU’s historic season the product of selfless, instinctive play in Williams’ system

By Emmett McCarthy @emccarthy22

Practice is over. The Colorado State women’s basketball team is stretching before a brief film session.

“You should write a story on this sweet jumpshot,” head coach Ryun Williams yells out before splashing a jumper from behind the arc in Moby Arena (and then another, just for good measure).

The Rams are in the midst of a historic season, which now includes a program-record 20game win streak. Williams – now in his fourth year as head coach – has reshaped the program.

He knows how he wants his team to play, and the women have proven to be more than capable. They wear opponents out in transition, they defend fullcourt and they have enough depth to do it for the full 40 minutes. The roster is filled with players “You change the way to play based on the strengths of your players,” Williams said. “That’s what we’ve done and this group has evolved into a really nice team.”

It has resulted in not just a lot of wins, but also an aesthetically pleasing style of basketball.

The offense can run through the guards or the forwards. Players at every position can handle the ball and make the correct pass.

But, according to Williams and the team, it is nothing too fancy.

“We don’t run many plays,” Williams said. “We’re a motion type of team. We play certain concepts is what we do.”

Despite being arguably the best shooter in the conference, Jamie Patrick frequently finds herself being left open behind the arc. But, it is rarely the result of a set play.

You would think it would take some set plays to get an elite shooter such as Jamie Patrick open so regularly. But, she said it is not really by design, and offered an explanation similar to Williams’.

“It’s just our motion,” Pat-

rick said. “Our motion is either our pro-post motion, or (Keyora Wharry) in the pro or something like that, and it’s either down screen, invert, stag... it’s pretty much anything.”

According to Ellen Nystrom,

of the time. It’s mostly coach who calls the plays.”

And, they really do run opponents off of the court: CSU’s average margin of victory over the last six games is 25.7 points.

Williams is extremely vocal

Wednesday, the student sections remained empty.

Maybe it’s a stretch to think students will show up to watch women’s basketball when they cannot even be bothered to support the men’s team – CSU ranks

“I remember talking to Becky Hammon one time,” Patrick said, “and she said she filled the stands.”

It was Hammon and the 1998-1999 team that had held the winning-streak record prior

Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams talks to Alana Arias, left, and Jamie Patrick, right, during a game earlier this season.

photo by javon harris COLLEGIAN

the offensive looks the Rams get so frequently are the result of their defense and tempo. Because the team has ball handlers at every position, it is difficult for opposing teams to match up in transition. Shooters like Patrick get left open, and forwards occasionally run the floor unguarded.

“We try to run first of all,” Ellen Nystrom said. “So, if we can run, we just try to run, and then we just go into our motion most

and often quite animated during games. But, running a specific offensive set is rarely among the instructions he barks from the sideline.

“I think you see our kids playing instinctive motion basketball,” Williams said. “They play off of each other. We’re unpredictable.”

What is predictable, though, is the attendance at the games.

Even as the the Rams cemented their spot in CSU history

third-to-last in the Mountain West with an average attendance of 3,647 at men’s basketball games.

But, there’s really no excuse not to come watch a team that plays an exciting brand of basketball and has won 20 consecutive games. After all, attendance was not a problem for the Rams in the 1998-1999 season, when they were led by basketball legend Becky Hammon led CSU to a 33-3 record.

to Wednesday.

“It’s awesome that we’re breaking it, because she’s such a legend and her team was a legend, so it’s really awesome to be compared to them,” Patrick said.

“And, if that is going to help increase our attendance, I hope we keep winning and we do that.

I hope people start recognizing that and will come, especially the students.”

Emmett McCarthy can be reached at sports@collegian.com.

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SPORTS

Mountain West Men’s Basketball Standings Overall: (14 — 12) Conference: (6 — 7) Overall: (19 — 7) Conference: (12 — 1)

Overall: (16 — 10) Conference: (9 — 4)

Overall: (15 — 12) Conference: (6 — 8)

Overall: (13 — 11) Conference: (5 — 8) Overall: (17 — 9) Conference: (8 — 5) Overall: (11 — 15) Conference: (5 — 9) Overall: (16 — 9) Conference: (8 — 5) Overall: (13 — 14) Conference: (4 — 10) Overall: (17 — 10) Conference: (8 — 6) Overall: (8 — 18) Conference: (3 — 11)

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SPORTS Friday, February 19, 2016

Futures of young Colorado State guards look promising Paige and Nixon making big impact as freshmen for the Rams

By Sam Lounsberry

E

@SamLounz

very college basketball player wants to show up on campus and play big minutes

right away.

But, that isn’t always how it works. You have to earn every bit of tick you get for a Division I basketball program.

Just ask CSU guard JD Paige, who was redshirted last season. The former Rangeview High School star out of Aurora did not expect to sit out for a year when he arrived in Fort Collins.

“It was a shocker,” Paige said of being asked to redshirt last year.

Of course, there were a few guys ahead of him by the names of Daniel Bejarano, Stanton Kidd and Gian Clavell, the guys who led the Rams to a program record 27 wins alongside J.J. Avila last season.

“Stuff happens and you have to embrace it,” Paige added. “The main thing was just accepting what happened and moving on from it.”

This season is a little different. Not only has Paige played in all 26 games, averaging 16.5 minutes per game this year in his redshirt freshman season, but a true freshman in Prentiss Nixon has risen alongside him,

receiving 15.6 minutes per game. In fact, Nixon has also started five games, as he has proven to be a solid ball handler and an accurate shooter, hitting 26 of 62 3-point attempts on the year for a 42 percent clip.

“Prentiss, we just didn’t know what we had with him,” senior forward Tiel Daniels said. “He injured his foot when he first got here, so we didn’t know if he was going to redshirt or not. And then, out of nowhere, he comes in and plays hard, he’s scrappy, he doesn’t back down from anybody and he can shoot the ball.”

Daniels has nothing but optimism for Paige’s potential growth over the next three years, too.

“We knew what Jeremiah was,” Daniels said. “Coach wants him to play the way he needs to play, so sometimes that’s why he wasn’t in games. When he finally bought in, he was in the games and helping us out.”

Helping out might be an understatement. Since Clavell was declared out for this season with injuries, Paige has stepped up in a big way in some lategame situations.

First, against UNLV at Moby Arena Jan. 6, Paige scored seven points in the final 48 seconds en route to a comeback win. The next game at San Jose State on Jan. 9, Paige made a steal at the last second of regulation and layed it in at the buzzer to force overtime, leading to a CSU win.

“We definitely knew what we had with him,” Daniels said of Paige. “You know, he’s long, he’s athletic, he can shoot the ball, he’s real loose with it and has a real nasty crossover. The kid can just play.”

JD PAIGE

Essentially, the future looks bright for the Rams’ backcourt. Head coach Larry Eustachy also has high hopes for 6-foot-8-inch sophomore forward Kimani Jackson to become more formidable in the frontcourt. The junior college transfer averages only 9.4 minutes per game this season.

“Kimani is just a sophomore,” Eustachy said before CSU faced Wyoming earlier this season. “If he were on Wyoming’s team, he’d probably be playing 25 minutes a game, but Tiel is playing so well.”

Though Eustachy-coached teams often feature many junior college transfers Rams fans only get to watch for a year or two, they will be able to track Paige and Nixon for the next three, as well as this year’s redshirts Anthony Bonner and 6-foot-10 inch center Nico Carvacho for the next four, granted they all stay in the program.

“You can see, you’re either a good player or you’re not a very good player,” Eustachy said late last month.

“You can see that these are good players. Even the guys you can’t see that are redshirting are good players, and they might have helped us win a game or two more this year. There’s a real bright light there with a couple of freshmen. I really like where we’re at.

In a long, roundabout way, I like the youth, the talent of the youth. Equally the mental makeup of the youth, they’re tough kids.”

CSU fans should be excited to finally watch some talented freshmen enter the program and develop over their full college careers.

Sam Lounsberry can be reached at sport@collegian.com.

PRENTISS NIXON

16.5 minutes per game

15.8 minutes per game

4.8 points per game

5.5 points per game

48 total rebounds 32 total assists

44 total rebounds 23 total assists

16 total made 3-pointers

41.9 percent 3-point FG

JD Paige, freshman guard.

PHOTO BY LUKE WALKER COLLEGIAN

Prentiss Nixon shoots a jumper over a Nevada defender. PHOTO BY RYAN ARB COLLEGIAN

Friday, February 19, 2016 Volume 125, No. 19 • collegian.com

PHOTO BY ABBIE PARR COLLEGIAN

Collectible Poster #1 CSU vs. Wyoming

| 15 | Tiel Daniels | Forward | Senior |

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SPORTS Friday, February 19, 2016

SHOOTING STARS Stats during conference play

Antwan Scott 18.0 4.3 1.7 0.7 41 43.0 2.0 31.5 45-56 35

Josh Adams Points Per Game Rebounds Per Game Assists Per Game Steals Per Game Total 3-pointers Field Goal Percentage Turnovers Per Game Minutes Per Game Free throws Made-Attempted Season High Points

21.2 5.8 4.3 1.4 32 40.4 3.5 36.5 72-93 38

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sports Friday, February 19, 2015

Daniels’ improved free throw shooting proving key Senior center’s work in the offseason paying dividends for CSU men’s hoops team

By Emmett McCarthy @emccarthy22

Tiel Daniels started 32 games for Colorado State last season, but he did not always finish them. Head coach Larry Eustachy would often go with John Gillon or Gian Clavell to close out games instead.

Daniels’ 43.6 percent free throw percentage was a problem. And, he knew it. So, when the season ended, he took two weeks off to recover, and then got to work.

“I got in the gym, and I just made my mind up that I’m better than 42 percent, or whatever it was,” Daniels said.

The forward made 51 free throws (out of 117) as a junior.

Over the summer, before his senior year, he made more than double that amount every day.

“I would make 125, that was just the standard,” Daniels said.

“I would do that in the morning, the afternoon, at night. Some days, even more than that.”

Once he had seen the ball go through the net enough time, he refined his approach.

“I was able to get to a point where I wanted quality instead of quantity,” Daniels said. “So, out of 50, I had to make at least 30. There would be times where I would get to 29 out of 50, and so I would have to start over again. I kept doing that, and I did that up until this point today, I still do it.”

A couple rough games at the line early in the season were not enough to make him forget about all of the work he had put in, both physically and mentally.

“Everytime I go to the line, I just tell myself, I’ve been here before,” he said. “Countless hours that I’ve put in in the gym… shooting and shooting, muscles memory, repetition.”

He even changed his motion. Well, not his shooting form specifically, but the motions he went through to set up his shots.

Last season, he would set the ball, dip down, then come up to release it. This season, he dips down, and then sets the ball on the way up to release it.

“It’s a little more smoother,” Daniels said. “It’s a little less of a pause, go up, then shoot. There’s a little hitch at the top, but it’s how I’ve been practicing and I’m not going to change it.”

It seems like a minor detail, but it’s made a big difference.

The 66.1 percent clip he has been shooting in conference play might not sound amazing, but it goes beyond the number.

He’s not a liability. Eustachy is able to play his best defender in crunch time without worrying about him being hacked.

“Against Air Force, it would have been time to take a bad free throw shooter out, and he was in there,” Eustachy said.

“He was in there in the press offense. I said, ‘you notice you’re

in here for the first time in this situation… you’ve earned it.’”

Against Boise State, he calmly drained two free throws to put CSU up by in the final minute. And, no one was really surprised.

“It changes his whole game when he can make free throws, because he gets fouled so much,” Eustachy said. “Equally important, we get to (the bonus) pretty quick. He’s just hard to guard. It adds a whole new dimension to his game.”

Daniels is a brilliant passer in the post with underrated moves on the low block. Now, he can actually take the time to execute without worrying about getting hacked whenever his teammates feed him the ball.

He ranks third on the team in scoring during conference play at 11.8 points per game, more than double his average in conference play last season (5.4). He has gone from just being someone who rebounds and defends, to one of CSU’s most reliable options.

While free throws are just a small part of his game, the improvement it has caused in the rest of his game is huge.

“I can take my time down there,” Daniels said. “Fake right, go left. Fake left, go right. Really get into a move I like. My confidence is just through the roof and that’s the biggest thing.”

Emmett McCarthy can be reached at sports@collegian.com.

Colorado State center Tiel Daniels attempts a free throw during a game earlier this season. Collegian File Photo

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sports Friday, February 19, 2016

CSU women’s hoops not overlooking Wyoming

By Keegan Pope @ByKeeganPope

Throw out the record books, and especially the recent results.

Colorado State and Wyoming face off Saturday in Laramie in the annual Border War, and despite CSU’s 23-1 record and 20-game winning streak, the Rams are adamant they aren’t overlooking their northern rivals.

CSU is fresh off of a 91-64 demolition of Utah State in which the Rams broke the school record for consecutive wins, which was previously held by the 1998-99 Becky Hammon-led team.

The Cowgirls, on the other hand, sit at 5-9 in league play and 12-12 overall, good for eighth place in the Mountain West standings. After major losses due to graduation and an injury to senior Jordan Kelley, Wyoming has fell on hard times and has now lost its last five meetings with CSU. Still though, players insist the recent history doesn’t mean anything.

“It’s a special game,” junior forward Ellen Nystrom said.

“There’s lot of emotion and it just gives more energy and gets us more hyped for the game. It’s always hard playing there, and it’s always a tough place to play, but I think we’re ready and we’ve proved that.

“Hopefully someday they’re asking the question of who rivals the Rams’ atmosphere.”

Ryun Williams Head Coach

Maybe unlike any other fan base in the Mountain West, Wyoming had a rabid interest in women’s hoops, and the Cowgirls rank near the top, or at the top, of the league each year in attendance. Though they’ve struggled this season, the Cowgirls still manage to have the second-best home attendance in the league behind New Mexico. That kind of attendance, according to CSU head coach Ryun Williams, is why Wyoming is so hard to beat at the Arena Auditorium.

“Laramie and New Mexico, they outdo the rest of the league,” Williams said. “Hopefully someday they’re asking the question of who rivals the Rams’ atmosphere. Those two environments are just so difficult. You don’t want those two places to get momentum and to get loud, so that’s why you’ve got to be on

Forward Elin Gustavsson, boxes out her Wyoming opponent for a rebound during a prevous game against Wyoming. Collegian file photo.

your game. You have to really go in there and concentrate and do things right. It really gives them an added advantage, and we have to be able to take that away.”

For most of CSU’s roster, when they showed up, the Border War was just another game on the schedule. Of the Rams’ 15 players, just two hail from the state of Colorado and just six come from the United States.

But, as players have become accustomed to the rivalry, it has begun to take on more and more meaning. It is no longer just some game against Wyoming, it’s the Border War, with an emphasis on the war.

“When you first come in to the program, you see ‘Border War’ on the schedule and you wonder what it’s all about,” said senior guard Jamie Patrick, a transfer from Hutchinson Community College. “Then (your teammates) tell you about it and before you even play them, you hate them because it’s the Border. That’s how it’s always been, and now that we are a part of CSU, it’s definitely a game we have a lot of respect for and take very seriously.”

Keegan Pope can be reached at kpope@collegian.com.

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SPORTS Friday, February 19, 2016

Mountain West Women’s Basketball Standings Overall: (13 — 11) Conference: (6 — 7) Overall: (23 — 1) Conference: (13 — 0)

Overall: (15 — 9) Conference: (11 — 2)

Overall: (11 — 13) Conference: (6 — 7)

Overall: (12 — 12) Conference: (5 — 9) Overall: (16 — 9) Conference: (9 — 5) Overall: (9 — 15) Conference: (4 — 9) Overall: (11 — 14) Conference: (9 — 5) Overall: (4 — 20) Conference: (3 — 10) Overall: (14 — 11) Conference: (7 — 7) Overall: (1 — 24) Conference: (1 — 13)

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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Across 1 Fry 6 Kung __ chicken 9 Market Fresh sandwich and salad seller 14 Time of old Rome 15 Unevenly distributed, in a way 17 Brought on 18 Write-off 19 Charming 21 D.C.’s Walter __ National Military Medical Center 22 Mennen lotion 23 Govt. mtge. insurer 26 One hoping to provide many happy returns?

28 Hammer number 30 Big name in hairstyling 32 Hyperbola part 33 Sudden stream 35 Pull on 36 Flee 38 Adjudicates 40 Maple syrup target 41 Nearly 43 Take badly?

45 Taoist complement 46 Uncommitted

48 Farrow of film 49 Ottoman title 50 Tack on 51 “A Death in the Family” author 53 Relative of Rex 55 Energetic and enthusiastic 59 Run up the score on 62 Place for a Char-Broil 63 Removes restrictions on, as funds 64 Hole __ 65 Third-longest African river 66 Uncertain no.

67 Handles Down 1 “Do the Right Thing” pizzeria 2 From the top 3 Suspected of misdeeds 4 Certain student 5 Hams 6 First-serve figs.

7 Island reception 8 Spent 9 If nothing else 10 Depend 11 Pal 12 Start of an engagement?

RAMMIES LUKE MEACHAM

13 ‘60s protest org.

16 Big bag carrier 20 Modify to fit 23 State Department neighborhood ... and what 3-, 8- and 29-Down all have?

24 Philly trademark 25 “They that have done this deed are honourable” speaker 26 Changing place 27 Examined closely 29 Psychedelic rock classic of 1967 31 Seek redress 34 Brazilian-themed Vegas hotel, with “The” 37 Tsk relative 39 Nebula Award genre 42 One may begin with “In a world ... “ 44 U-shaped, more or less 47 Longhorn rival 52 Adlai’s running mate 54 1997 Elton dedicatee 55 “Spenser: For __” 56 Annoyance 57 Hessian article 58 Achieves 59 Fifth-century conqueror 60 Athlete’s wear, for short 61 It increases during plant

The Rocky Mountain Collegian | Friday, February 19, 2016

The campus squirrels are in on it...

Are you?

Visit our blog at collegian.com/blog The squirrels love it.

Yesterday’s solution

SUDOKU

Yesterday’s solution growth: Abbr.

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www.Wendys.com

3710 S College Ave (970) 223-4399

719 S Lemay Ave (970) 493-3041

1405 W Elizabeth St (970) 484-7131

Bring in your ticket stub after the game and get a small order of fries!

Proud supporter of the CSU Rams for 35 years!

GOOD LUCK RAMS!

16 Friday, February 19, 2016 | The Rocky Mountain Collegian collegian.com