University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes

Who: San Francisco Dons (4-2) at Nevada Wolf Pack (0-6)
When: Tuesday, Dec. 1 - 6:30 p.m.
Where: Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
Live Stream: NevadaWolfPack.tv
Radio: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Audio Only: NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Play-by-Play Announcer: Don Marchand
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com

Not much down time for the Nevada women's basketball team as they get ready to host the San Francisco Dons Tuesday night at Lawlor Events Center. This is the second straight season the Wolf Pack and Dons have met. USF took last year's contest in San Francisco by the final score of 63-48.

The Wolf Pack is still in search of its first win of the year after falling in both games of the annual Nugget Classic. During those two games, redshirt freshman AJ Cephas was named to the all-tournament team. Cephas averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and connected on 56.3 percent (9-of-16) of her shots. She also added seven blocks, six of which came against Utah Valley alone, six steals, an assist and went 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line.

San Francisco enters Tuesday's game with a 4-2 record and is coming off of a one-point win (95-94) on the road against Sacramento State. The Dons have scored 70 points or more in four of their six games, including the 95-point performance during their last game.

QUICK HITS
-Senior Nyasha LeSure has scored in double figures in five of the first six games to open the season
-Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas posted back-to-back games in double figures over the weekend, averaging 12.0 ppg
-Nevada put up 24 three-point attempts vs. Middle Tennessee, which ranks in the single-game top-10
-Nine different Wolf Pack players have started a game through the first six
-The Pack will be without juniors T Moe and Ashlee Jones and senior Julia Shelbourn for the duration of the season (injury)
-Jane Albright is four wins shy of 500 career victories and is one away from 100 wins at Nevada

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.

CEPHAS EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas had a productive weekend on the hardwood after being named to the Nugget Classic all-tournament team. Cephas averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and connected on 56.3 percent (9-of-16) of her shots. She also added seven blocks, six steals, an assist and went 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line. Her six blocks against Utah Valley rank in a tie for the fifth most all-time in a single-game at Nevada.

GET TO THE LINE
Despite the season being just six games in, there has already been improvement from the Wolf Pack on the free throw line. During Friday's game against Utah Valley, Nevada hit 84.2 percent (16-of-19) 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 sixth in the Mountain West in this category (67.5 percent).

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Number of nonconference home games remaining for Nevada
4 - Wins shy of 500 career victories for Jane Albright
7 - Points Nyasha LeSure needs to reach 600 for her career
16 - Number of times Nevada and San Francisco have played one another
218 - Miles travelled by San Francisco to get to Reno

SENIORITY
Senior Nyasha LeSure is making a name for herself through the first six games of the season. The Sparks native has scored in double figures in five of six games, including a career-high 20-point performance against Montana State. She enters Tuesday night's game just seven points shy of eclipsing 600 points for her career.

LAST TIME OUT
In the final game of this year's Nugget Classic, the Nevada women's basketball team fell 90-46 to Middle Tennessee State Saturday evening.

Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas was named to the all-tournament team for her performance over the last two days. Cephas averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and connected on 56.3 percent (9-of-16) of her shots. She also added seven blocks, six steals, an assist and went 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line.

Middle Tennessee (2-3) got off to a quick start scoring the game's first 10 points before a short jumper by senior Kelsey Kaelin put Nevada (0-6) on the board. The Wolf Pack trailed by just six at the end of the first quarter after freshman Camariah King hit a long two at the buzzer.

The Blue Raiders began to pull away midway through the second quarter, using a 7-0 run to stretch its lead out to 16. A pull-up jump shot by Kaelin and a three-pointer by junior Stephanie Schmid cut it back to 10, but MTSU finished the quarter with 10 straight points over the last 3:16 to take a 41-21 lead into halftime.

It was the third quarter that allowed the Blue Raiders to really pull away, outscoring the Wolf Pack by a 31-8 margin. Nevada brought it back though in the fourth and played right with its opponent, totaling 17 points to MTSU's 18.

Cold shooting was the story for the Pack as the team connected on just 24.6 percent for the game. Schmid, along with Cephas, reached double figures and led the team with 11 points.

INJURY BUG
The Wolf Pack has been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug, losing three starters for the season. During the preseason, Nevada lost 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 Julia Shelbourn and junior Ashlee Jones for the season after they both suffered injuries during games.

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.'