After an undefeated 18-0 regular season in the Mountain West for the Colorado State women’s basketball team, several players were honored on Monday, when the Mountain West conference announced their all-conference award recipients.
Ellen Nystrom, a junior at CSU, was awarded one of the most prestigious awards as the Mountain West Player of the Year. She averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and nearly six assists per game.
Considered one of the most well-rounded and versatile players in the country, Nystrom acted as the “heart of the team” both offensively and defensively. Thus far, in her three seasons with the team, she has 103 assists, which ranks fifth in Mountain West history.
“It’s very fun of course, but that wasn’t my goal. Right now, my focus, and our team’s focus, is on this week and the conference tournament so that we end up where we want to be and where we set our goals for the season,” Nystrom said via CSU Athletics.
This was the third consecutive year that Nystrom was named to the all-conference and all-defensive team.
Senior guards Jamie Patrick and Keyora Wharry also earned spots on the 10-person All-Conference team.
In her final season, Patrick proved to be more than just a shooter. While working on expanding her game, she played a critical role in slowing down the opponent’s best shooter, working hard to help maintain their nationally-ranked defense. Offensively, Patrick met all expectations, with 15.2 points per game, a field-goal percentage of. 519, and a Mountain West record 57 three-pointers (a league-best 44.9% from beyond the arc).
“It’s an honor, especially with how good our team has been and how there hasn’t been just one scorer, there are multiple. It makes it even better knowing how awesome our team has been this year. I honestly didn’t expect it going into this season, but it’s not a big deal to me because team accomplishments mean so much more,” Patrick said.
The other senior with an all-conference mention was Keyora Wharry. Wharry was second on the team with 12.0 points per game and had a field goal percentage of .533, first among all conference guards. Wharry thrived under pressure and when the Rams perfect season was at risk, she consistently stepped up.
“It’s an honor. I definitely was’t expecting anything of the sort. It means a lot because it was such a surprise and completely unexpected,” Wharry said.
The last Ram to receive an award, was the head coach Ryun Williams. Williams was named Mountain West Coach of the Year for the second time in his four years at CSU. Under Williams, the Rams have gone 48-6 in the past three seasons.
“It’s something our whole team, our whole staff can be really, really proud of. It’s a staff award; it’s not Ryun Williams. I didn’t make one basket, I didn’t get one rebound, I didn’t have one assist. Our staff, and I think the head coach in particular, can be made to look good because of what they put out there on the floor. It’s all about the players and the amazing staff that I get to sit alongside,” Williams said.
With the conference tournament already here, the CSU Rams are hoping to ride the momentum from a perfect regular-season all the way to the top. In their first round game, they handily beat San Diego State 53-41 and extended their streak to 19-0. Up next: the winner of San José vs. New Mexico Wednesday at 7:30pm.
