Weber State University Athletics
Wildcats Host Colorado State Saturday Afternoon
12/5/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wildcats return to action after home win last week
The Weber State women's basketball team will return to action this Saturday for their first game in nine days. The Wildcats (3-3) will take on Colorado State Saturday afternoon in Ogden. WSU is coming off a home win over Eastern Michigan last Thursday and they have won their last two games.
Tuomi leads Wildcats against Eastern Michigan
WSU senior Sara Tuomi scored 20 points and had five rebounds and four assists in Weber State's 61-49 win over Eastern Michigan last Thursday. The Billings, Montana native also had three three-pointers and led the Wildcats in scoring for the third time in six games this season. She also became the ninth player in Weber State history to make 100 career three-pointers. On the year Tuomi is averaging 16.2 points per game which ranks fifth in the Big Sky. She is also ninth in the conference in rebounding at 6.5 per game.Ali Thorderson posts career-high in win
Weber State sophomore Ali Thorderson posted a career-high of 12 points in WSU's win over the Eagles. The Highlands Ranch, Colorado native scored 12 points on 4-6 shooting, including 4-5 shooting from three-point land. Thorderson, who scored just five points all last season, broke her career-high by six points. This season she is averaging 5.2 points per game and has knocked down nine three-pointers, the second most on the WSU team.
Wildcats knock down ten three-pointers in victory
The Wildcats were 10-19 from three-point land in Thursday's victory, the same game where Eastern Michigan was just 1-15 on three-pointers. Entering the game the Wildcats had made just 24 three-pointers and were averaging 4.8 per game but responded with ten against the Eagles. It marked the first time the ?Cats have made ten threes in a game since last January's home win over Montana.
Big Sky rankings
Weber State leads the Big Sky in scoring defense this season, allowing their opponents to score just 58.0 points per game. The ?Cats are also first in the conference in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to .365 shooting. WSU also ranks second in the three-point field goal percentage defense (.366) and rebounding defense (38.0). They rank last in the conference in rebounding at 35.2 per game and are also last in offensive rebounds at 9.33. The ?Cats rank eighth in scoring offense at 58.7 points per game.
Individually, Sara Tuomi is fifth in the league in scoring and she and Tashina Taylor rank in a tie for ninth in rebounding. Taylor is also third in the conference in blocks. Sophomore guard Tonya Schnibbe is third in assists, third in assist/turnover ratio, and is fourth in three-point field gaol percentage.
WSU hosts Rams Saturday afternoon
Weber State will play their second of three straight home games this Saturday when they host Colorado State for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff at the Dee Events Center. The game will be broadcast live on KWCR 88.1 FM with Eric Knighton calling the action and can also be heard live on weberstatesports.com. Video of the game is available on bigskytv.org.
Saturday's game is also Military Appreciation Day, honoring all military personnel, who along with their families, will be allowed free admission into the game.
Quoting WSU head coach Carla Taylor
"We have made some progress over the last few games and we did some good things in our last win against a good Eastern Michigan team. We have to keep focusing on the things we can control and continue to execute our offense."
About Colorado State
Colorado State enters Saturday's game with a 2-7 overall record. They are coming off a 84-77 win at home over Pacific Tuesday night that snapped a three-game losing streak. The Rams opened the season with four straight losses, including a 70-60 loss at Big Sky member Northern Colorado. They then defeated Navy but lost their next three games to Creighton, Denver, and Colorado, before knocking off Pacific. They are 0-4 on the road this year.
This season CSU is averaging 63.8 points per game but is giving up 75.2 a game. Their opponents have scored at least 70 points in eight of the nine games this season. The Rams are shooting 37 percent from the field and allowing their opponents to shoot 42 percent. They are also being outrebounded 43-37.
Colorado State is led by senior guard Sara Hunter who is averaging 13.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Sophomore Juanise Cornell is averaging 9.3 points and pulling down a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game. CSU is coached by Jen Warden who is in her third season with the team. Warden formerly was the head coach at Boise State.
Saturday's matchup is the first of three games this season against teams from the Mountain West for Weber State. The Wildcats will also take on BYU and Utah later this month.
All-time series
This will be the 21st meeting all-time between Weber State and Colorado State but the first meeting since 1999. The Wildcats hold an 11-9 all-time series advantage over the Rams but CSU has won the last three games played. The two teams last met in December 1999 where CSU won 86-59. In games played in Ogden the Wildcats lead 6-2 all-time.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's game the ?Cats will stay home to host another Mountain West team next week. WSU take on BYU next Wednesday. That game will be a special 12:00 p.m. start at the Dee Events Center as part of Field Trip Day for local area schools coming to the game.