CSU women's basketball team sees five players leave the program

CSU women's basketball coach Ryun Williams will be replacing more than half of his roster after five players have left the program since the season ended.

Williams said Tuesday morning redshirt freshman guard Jordyn Edwards, sophomore guard Nathalie Linden, junior guard Callie Kaiser and sophomore center Anna Dreimane have left the program. It was reported last week that junior guard Sofie Tryggedsson was leaving the team.

Three seniors graduated, leaving Williams with seven returning players.

"This is a little bit uncommon having five kids transferring out,'' said Williams, whose team finished 21-12 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West. "Those players are transferring for a lot of the same reasons other players around the country are transferring — looking for more playing time, better opportunity and looking for a new adventure.

"We aren’t sitting here thinking the sky is falling and this doesn't shake me. I'm as confident as ever in what we do as a program. We know what we have done here in the last six years.''

Tryggedsson was the most productive player from among those leaving. She tied for third on the team with 24 starts in 33 games. The Denmark native averaged 6.1 points and 3.9 points and was one of the team's better defensive players.

Edwards, who is from Washington, showed flashes while starting eight games. She averaged 3.7 points per game. and scored in double figures four times. Kaiser, who is from Broomfield, started one game and averaged 3.8 points and 9.8 minutes per game.

Linden, who is from Sweden, played in 21 games, averaging 9.5 minutes. Dreimane, who is from Latvia, did not play this past year.

Williams would not elaborate on specific reason for why each player was leaving.

Williams will also be losing seniors Hannah Trvdy, Stine Austgulen and Veronika Mirkovic, who logged the most starts of any players last season.

However, Williams returns part-time starters Annie Brady, Grace Colaivalu and Lore Devos.

In December, Williams signed Mollie Mounsey, a shooting guard from Seward County Community College in Kansas and forward Janeta Rozentale from Latvia, who will be eligible to play in the 2018-19 season.

Mounsey averaged 18.9 points per game and shot 44 percent from 3-point range as Seward went 31-4 this past season. She was an NJCAA First-Team All-American in 2016-17.

Rozentale averaged 12.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for Latvia in U18 European play.

Williams said he and his staff will be looking to replenish his roster with transfers, JUCO players and high school players, looking especially for players who can score.

"As coaches we are always recruiting,'' said Williams, who this past season became the program's winningest coach. "There are a lot of kids who want to be a part of our Colorado State program. We will fill our roster with kids that want to be here.''

The Rams, who had won four straight MW regular season titles, finished tied for fourth in the Mountain West, lost in the semifinals of the MW tournament and lost in the second round of the WNIT 74-59 to South Dakota, where Williams coached immediately before coming to CSU.

Williams said the team decided not to hold its year-end celebration banquet scheduled for April 12 because of the number of players leaving. CSU said those people who have registered and paid for the event will have their money refunded.