University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes
Air Force Game Notes

Who: Air Force Falcons (0-13, 0-2 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (1-13, 0-3 MW)
When: Saturday, Jan. 9 - 4 p.m.
Where: Lawlor Events Center - Reno, Nev.
Live Stream: NevadaWolfPack.tv
Radio: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Audio: NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Play-by-Play Announcer: Don Marchand
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com

As the short two-game home stand draws to a close, the Nevada women's basketball team hosts the Air Force Falcons this Saturday at 4 p.m. As evidenced by the two records, one team will be earning its first Mountain West win of the season.

Through three conference games, the Wolf Pack is playing some of its best basketball of the year. Even though there are still three losses in the column, Nevada has lost two of those three by single digits. Shooting percentage has gone up, turnovers have gone down. The Pack defense has tightened up as well allowing its opponents to hit just over 40 percent. During its last time out against Fresno State, Nevada produced its lowest turnover number of the season at 11.

On the other side of the ball, Air Force has struggled overall this season as well. The Falcons enter Saturday's game averaging just 45.2 points per game and have lost 23 straight dating back to last season. A bright spot for the Falcons however is the season-high 60 points they posted during an 81-60 loss at San Jose State in their MW opener.

Nevada leads the series history at a 9-2 advantage and has won the last five meetings. Since joining the Mountain West, Jane Albright has led the Pack to a 6-1 record against the Falcons.

QUICK HITS
-Senior Nyasha LeSure posted a career-high 24 points at Wyoming on 10-of-19 shooting
-Sophomore Teige Zeller has posted back-to-back games in double figures (10, 12)
-Nevada collected its best shooting percentage of the season (47.2 percent) vs. Fresno State
-10 different Wolf Pack players have started a game this season
-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

AWAKEN
Saturday marks the team's 'Awaken' game, a new cause this season from an organization that is based in Reno. Awaken is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase awareness and education surrounding the issue of sexual exploitation and to provide shelter and restoration for its victims. The organization has been around for five years now and they have helped 229 girls begin a new life. For Saturday's game, fans are encouraged to donate gift cards to the organization that will help the victims with anything they may need to start over such as food, clothing, gasoline, etc.

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
3 - Wins shy of 500 career victories for Jane Albright
10 - Players who have started a game this season for the Pack
11 - Season-low in turnovers Wednesday by Nevada
47.2 - Pack's best shooting percentage of the season vs. Fresno State
1,104 - Miles to get from Colorado Springs, Colo. to Reno, Nev.

THROWN INTO THE FIRE
With three season-ending injuries to members of the starting lineup, coach Jane Albright's freshmen have had the opportunity to see a lot of minutes, and what better way to learn the college game than to get out there on the court. Of the 10 scholarship players on the roster, only three (Kaelin, LeSure, Zeller) had played in a college basketball game prior to this season.

LAST TIME OUT
A season-low 11 turnovers were not enough for the Nevada women's basketball team to take down Fresno State Wednesday night in Mountain West action, falling 67-59.

The ultimate difference maker proved to be trailing 23-16 heading into the second quarter. The final three quarters were played at just a one-point differential as the Bulldogs (7-7, 3-0 MW) had the edge 44-43. Nevada (1-13, 0-3 MW) did not lead in the game, but nearly erased a 16-point deficit late in the third.

The Wolf Pack defense tightened up after allowing the Bulldogs to shoot 62.5 percent (10-of-16) in the opening quarter. Fresno State finished the quarter converting seven of its last nine shot attempts. Nevada held its opponent to 31.4 percent (11-of-35) shooting in the second half.

In the third quarter and down by as many as 16 at the halfway point of the period, the Wolf Pack embarked on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to seven, 51-44, and force the Bulldogs to call a timeout. Nevada hit 5-of-5 during that stretch and held Fresno State scoreless for three and a half minutes.

The closest the Pack would get in the final quarter was three points after freshman MorningRose Tobey hit a pair of free throws. With 7:45 left on the clock, Nevada had plenty of time to take over the lead but the Bulldogs hit key shots when they needed to, capped off by a three-pointer by Moriah Faulk that extended the Fresno State lead back to double digits, 65-55, with just over four to play.

Junior Stephanie Schmid finished with a game-high 18 points and no turnovers. Sophomore Teige Zeller had established a new career-high last weekend at Wyoming and followed that up by re-establishing a new career-high, scoring 12 points. Freshman Riana Everidge was the only other member of the Wolf Pack to tally points in double figures with 11 after knocking down 5-of-6 from the field.

Overall the Pack enjoyed one of its best offensive performances of the season, shooting 47.2 percent (25-of-53) for the game, seven percent higher than its opponent. The contest did not feature many trips to the free throw line as the two teams attempted just seven foul shots each. With 12 assists and 11 turnovers, Nevada posted its first game of the season with a positive assist to turnover ratio.

SENIORITY
Senior Nyasha LeSure is seemingly back on track after a career performance at Wyoming. The Sparks produced a career-high 24 points against the Cowgirls on 10-of-19 shooting, her second 20-point game of the season. Prior to the Wyoming game, she had scored just 13 points total in her last two contests. LeSure has now scored in double figures in nine of 14 games. She now needs 18 points to reach the 700-point total for her career.

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. Redshirt freshman Mariah Williams has also missed time this season still recovering from an injury she sustained last season.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.'