University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes

Who: Nevada Wolf Pack (0-3) vs. Loyola Marymount Lions (0-3)
When: Sunday, Nov. 22 - 4:30 p.m. PST
Where: Stan Sheriff Center - Honolulu, Hawaii
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com
Radio: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Audio: NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Play-by-Play Announcer: Don Marchand

Sunday afternoon the Nevada women's basketball team concludes its trip to Hawaii and the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic with a matchup against Loyola Marymount. Both of these teams enter Sunday with an 0-3 record, meaning someone will be getting their first W of the new season.

For the Wolf Pack, the team is coming off of a 70-57 loss at the hands of Washington State. Despite a slow opening half for Nevada, the Pack outplayed and outscored the Cougars in the second half and look to carry that momentum into Sunday's game. Nevada shot 43.8 percent overall, its best offensive showing through its first three games.

For the Lions, they are fresh off of a 65-51 loss to tournament host Hawaii. LMU hit just 27.9 percent (17-of-61) from the floor during that game and recorded 21 turnovers. The Lions were led on the scoresheet by reserve NK Ilang, who totaled 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

These two teams have played one another nine times in program history with the Wolf Pack having the edge in the series, 7-2. It has been a number of years, however, since they have met. Nevada's last win over LMU came in the 1988-89 season, while the Lions last victory over the Pack was during the 1990-91 campaign.

QUICK HITS
-Jane Albright is four wins shy of 500 career victories and is one away from 100 wins at Nevada
-Senior Nyasha LeSure posted the third double-double of her career Friday against Washington State (18 pts, 10 rbs)
-Sophomore Teige Zeller registered her first double-digit rebound performance (10) against the Bobcats
-Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas notched the first double-digit scoring performance of her career vs. WSU (16 points)
-The Pack will be without junior T Moe and senior Julia Shelbourn for the duration of the season (injury)
-On Friday, Nevada outshot its opposition for the first time in its three games

COUNTDOWN TO 500
Coach Jane Albright enters the season just four wins shy of eclipsing 500 victories for her career. Over the years she has established herself as one of the NCAA's winningest active coaches in Division I. At the start of the season, Albright ranked 30th among active head coaches in college women's basketball by victories. As part of the celebration to this milestone, a special ticket promotion will be in place until win No. 500. For each home game, game tickets will be the same price as the number of wins Albright needs to get to 500.

FAMILIAR PLACE
Even though no current student-athlete has taken the upcoming trip before, Nevada has had its fair share of flights back and forth from Honolulu. For 12 seasons the Wolf Pack and Rainbow Wahine were foes in the Western Athletic Conference and would meet twice a year. This will mark the Pack's first trip to Hawaii since it joined the Mountain West in 2012-13.

GET TO THE LINE
Despite the season being just three games in, there has already been improvement from the Wolf Pack on the free throw line. During its season opener, Nevada hit 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the foul line. Last season the Pack averaged just 60 percent from the charity stripe and only had three games above 71 percent all season. Nevada currently ranks fifth in the Mountain West in this category (68.7 percent).

BY THE NUMBERS
4 - Wins shy of 500 career victories for Jane Albright
5 - Pack's rank in the MW in free throw percentage (68.7 percent)
16 - First double-digit scoring effort from AJ Cephas
20 - New career-high in points for Nyasha LeSure
2,564 - Miles the Pack will travel to get to Honolulu

LAST TIME OUT
A slow opening half for the Nevada women's basketball team proved to be the difference maker in a 70-57 loss to Washington State as it opened the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic Friday night.

Senior Nyasha LeSure scored in double figures (18) for a third straight game and added 10 rebounds to notch her first double-double of the season. Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas also posted double digits in points, finishing with a career-best 16 and brought in seven boards. Freshman Riana Everidge nearly collected her first double digit scoring night, posting nine points.

Turnovers were the story for the Wolf Pack (0-3) in the first two quarters, turning the ball over 18 times to the Cougars' (3-0) four. WSU was able to convert those turnovers into 15 of its 36 first half points. The other story of the opening half was foul trouble as starting point guard Kelsey Kaelin accumulated three personal fouls in the first two minutes of the game.

After starting the ball game down 10, the Pack clawed its way back to just a four-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, trailing 19-15. In the second quarter however, the Cougars used a pair of 7-0 runs to outscore the Wolf Pack 17-6 and took a 15-point lead into halftime.

It was a much different Nevada team that came out of the locker room for the second half. In the third quarter, the Pack turned the ball over just three times and won the period, 24-18, trailing by just nine as the final quarter got underway.

The beginning minutes of the fourth quarter were all Cougars as they stretched their lead back out to double figures (16). The Wolf Pack began to chip away at that lead, getting to the free throw line but the deficit was too great to overcome with just a few minutes remaining.

For the game, Nevada shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field, its best shooting percentage through its first three games. The Pack also outrebounded its opponent for a second consecutive game and recorded its highest scoring contest thus far.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS
As if being a 41 percent shooter from the three-point line and scoring over 1,000 points in two seasons at junior college weren't enough to raise the bar, Stephanie Schmid has other accolades to hype up her arrival to the Pack. Schmid was tabbed as the Mountain West Co-Newcomer of the Year when the conference announced its preseason poll and awards. The 5-10 guard transferred to Nevada from Arizona Western College where she hit more than 200 shots from three-point range and connects on nearly 91 percent of her free throws. In needing help to generate more points, Nevada has its expectations on Schmid being the person to deliver.

INJURY BUG
Unfortunately for the Wolf Pack it has already been bitten by the injury bug, losing two players for the season. During the preseason, Nevada lost starting point guard T Moe for the duration of the year. Moe, who missed 26 games last year due to a knee injury, will again have knee surgery and begin rehab, cutting her season well short. The team also lost senior forward Julia Shelbourn for the season after she suffered a knee injury as well during the Pack's second game against Montana State.

MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON POLL
The Mountain West released its 2015-16 women's basketball preseason poll with Nevada predicted to finish in the 10th spot in the 11-team league, as voted on by the league's head coaches.

1. Colorado State
2. New Mexico
3. Boise State
4. Fresno State
5. UNLV
6. San Diego State
7. Wyoming
8. San Jose State
9. Utah State
10. Nevada
11. Air Force

In addition to the preseason rankings, preseason awards were announced as well with Nevada junior transfer Stephanie Schmid earning Co-Newcomer of the Year honors. Schmid is a transfer from Arizona Western College where she posted over 1,000 points in her two years there.

2015-16 ROSTER BREAKDOWN
By Class: Senior (3), Junior (4), Sophomore (2), Freshman (7)
By State/Country: California (5), Nevada (3), New Mexico (1), Illinois (1), Washington (1), Oregon (1), Wisconsin (1), Montana (1), Missouri (1),
Switzerland (1)
By Position: Guard (11), Forward (5)

HISTORICAL TEAM INFORMATION
The University of Nevada women's basketball program began in the year 1899, when the team, coached by Ada Edwards, earned its first win over a varsity opponent, Stanford. Since its inception in 1899, records of the program's history have not accurately been kept up to date. For the purposes of all records, wins and losses and other statistical information related to the Nevada women's basketball program, the 1981-82 season will be considered the first for the program, the first year women's basketball was recognized by the NCAA.

WOLF PACK ORIGIN
In the 1921-22 athletic season, a local writer described the spirited play of a Nevada team as a 'pack of wolves'. The name stuck and soon almost every reference to the athletic teams was the Nevada Wolves. In 1923, the students officially designated 'Wolves' as the school's mascot.

Since all teams are a group of players, the word pack followed quickly. In 1928-29, the Nevada student handbook referred to the athletic teams as Wolf Pack and two school songs were adopted, entitled 'The Wolf Pack' and 'Here Comes the Wolf Pack.'