University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes

Who: Nevada Wolf Pack (1-9) at Illinois-Chicago Flames (7-2)
When: Tuesday, Dec. 22 - 10 a.m. PST
Where: UIC Pavilion - Chicago, Ill.
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com
Live Stream: ESPN3
Radio: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Audio Only: NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Play-by-Play Announcer: Don Marchand

Just prior to the start of the holiday break, the Nevada women's basketball team will play its final nonconference game of the season Tuesday morning at Illinois-Chicago. It will be the Wolf Pack's final chance to tune things up before Mountain West play begins Dec. 30.

It's no secret that it has been a tough stretch of nonconference games for the Pack as it has suffered through three season-ending injuries. Nevada will have the chance to right the ship however against the Flames. This will be Nevada's second mid-week morning tip-off of the season with the game scheduled to begin at noon local time, 10 a.m. from Reno. Tuesday's contest can be seen on ESPN3.

The Flames enter the game at 7-2 overall but just had a five-game win streak snapped on Sunday at the hands of Toledo. The Rockets overtook the Flames 60-51 in Chicago. All eyes will be on UIC's Ruvanna Campbell who is averaging well above a double-double with 18 points and 14.1 rebounds per game. Also prominent on the scoresheet is Kendyl Nunn who puts up nearly 15 points per contest.

QUICK HITS
-Senior Nyasha LeSure has scored in double figures in eight of the first 10 games this season
-LeSure is also one game shy of her 100th career game in a Wolf Pack uniform
-Rookie Camariah King smashed her previous best in assists with nine at Pacific
-10 different Wolf Pack players have started a game through the first nine
-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 three wins shy of 500 career victories and got her 100th win at Nevada last Tuesday

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
As the nonconference schedule winds down, Nevada will play in its second consecutive road contest. This marks the first time this season the Wolf Pack has played back-to-back on the road. Earlier in the season, the Pack played two in a row in Hawaii, but being a tournament set-up those games were deemed neutral site games.

COUNTDOWN TO 500
Coach Jane Albright is now just three wins shy of eclipsing 500 victories for her career after the Pack's 57-51 win over San Francisco State last Tuesday. 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.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Number of nonconference games remaining
3 - Wins shy of 500 career victories for Jane Albright
8 - Games Nyasha LeSure has scored in double figures
10 - Players who have started a game this season for the Pack
1,914 - Miles to get from Reno to Chicago, Ill.

THE LONG BALL
Nevada has struggled with shooting from beyond the arc this season, that is until the team's game against San Francisco. The Wolf Pack tied the single-game school record with 11 made three-pointers in the game and compiled the best three-point shooting percentage (54.2 percent) since 2009. The Pack got a lot of help in the area from junior Stephanie Schmid, who hit seven three's.

LAST TIME OUT
A strong fourth quarter by Pacific led the Tigers to a 74-52 win over the Nevada women's basketball team Thursday night at the Spanos Center.

Junior Stephanie Schmid led the Wolf Pack (1-9) on offense, totaling 15 points. Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas (11) and senior Nyasha LeSure (10) also reached double figures in the game. For LeSure this now marks her eighth game getting to double digits in points. Freshman Camariah King had a solid game at the point, dishing out a career-high nine assists. The story of the night though for Nevada was turnovers as the team finished with a season-high 27, which led to 28 Tigers' (7-4) points.

It was a slow start out of the gate for both teams as Nevada trailed 5-0 until senior Kelsey Kaelin hit the Pack's first bucket with under six to play in the first quarter. It took the Wolf Pack much of the opening quarter to get things rolling on offense. The Pack was just 1-of-11 from the field until the last minute when it hit three consecutive field goal attempts to bring it to a 12-10 deficit after one.

At the start of quarter two and on the Pack's first possession, King nailed a jumper with the shot clock expiring which tied the game at 12. Schmid entered double figures after knocking down a contested three-pointer under the three minute mark, cutting the deficit to 23-19. As the quarter ticked down, the Tigers' Desire Finnie hit a catch-and-shoot turnaround jumper with three seconds on the clock to send Pacific into the locker room with a 30-23 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter the Pack chipped away and chipped away and got the opponent lead down to as many as four, but the opposition gave it right back and maintained its lead all the way through. With under four to play in the period, Pacific's Emily Simons' layup gave the Tigers their first double digit lead of the game, 48-38.

The Tigers maintained around an 11-point advantage for most of the final quarter. Pacific began to put the game out of reach however with just a couple of minutes remaining as it stretched its lead out to as many as 16. Until freshman MorningRose Tobey's reverse layup with six seconds left, Nevada did not score a basket for four and a half minutes, helping the Tigers claim the 22-point win.

SENIORITY
Senior Nyasha LeSure is making a name for herself through the first 10 games of the season. The Sparks native has scored in double figures in eight of 10 games, including a career-high 20-point performance against Montana State. With 14 points against San Francisco, LeSure has broken into the 600-point total for her career.

THE TRES
Tuesday's game at Illinois-Chicago will air on ESPN3. This is the first and only regular season game of the year that the Wolf Pack can be found on an ESPN network.

Stephanie Schmid FOR THREE
Junior Stephanie Schmid put on the best display of three-point shooting by a Nevada player since the early 2000's versus San Francisco. Schmid knocked down seven shots from beyond the arc, the most since Ashley Bastian hit seven against Saint Mary's in 2001. She hit four alone in the first quarter and scored all 14 of Nevada's first quarter points. For the game, Schmid shattered her previous career-high of 12 points and finished with 25 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 (eligible players)
By Class: Senior (2), Junior (2), Sophomore (2), Freshman (7)
By State/Country: California (3), Nevada (3), New Mexico (1), Illinois (1), Washington (1), Oregon (1), Montana (1), Missouri (1),
Switzerland (1)
By Position: Guard (9), Forward (4)

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.'