University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes

Who: Nevada Wolf Pack (4-18, 3-8 MW) at Fresno State Bulldogs (13-9, 9-2 MW)
When: Sunday, Feb. 14 - 2 p.m.
Where: Save Mart Center - Fresno, Calif.
Live Stream: NevadaWolfPack.tv
Radio: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Audio: NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Play-by-Play Announcer: Don Marchand
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com

It's back to the road for the Nevada women's basketball team as the Wolf Pack travels to Fresno State this Sunday. It was a rough outing for the Pack Wednesday night, falling to the winless Air Force Falcons.

Despite a feverish attempt at a fourth quarter comeback, Nevada dropped a six-point contest, 59-53, to Air Force. It was too little, too late as the Pack ran out of time to take over the lead and maintain it. Junior Stephanie Schmid reached 20 points for the third time this season, leading all scorers. Sophomore Teige Zeller tied her career-high of 14 points for a second straight game and senior Nyasha LeSure reached double figures for the 16th time with a 10-point performance.

Fresno State remains the Mountain West's second place team despite its 65-54 double overtime loss to San Diego State on Wednesday. The Bulldogs sit 13-9 overall and are 9-2 in league play. They are winners of eight of their last 10 and escaped Reno back in January with an eight-point victory. Fresno State is led by Bego Faz Davalos, who enters Sunday's game averaging a double-double (12.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg).

As one of the most tenured series' in program history, Sunday will be the 49th meeting between the two schools. Fresno State has dominated overall and as of late. The Bulldogs boast 37 wins and have won 15 of the last 17 meetings.

QUICK HITS
-Jane Albright captured career win No. 500 on the road at San Diego State (70-64)
-Senior Nyasha LeSure is 13 points shy of 800 career points
-Junior Stephanie Schmid produced her third 20-point game Wednesday night
-Sophomore Teige Zeller has tied her career-high of 14 points in two straight games
-This is the 49th meeting between the Bulldogs and Wolf Pack
-The Pack will be without T Moe, Ashlee Jones, Julia Shelbourn and Mariah Williams for the duration of the season (injury)

500 WINS - A HISTORIC MILESTONE
Coach Jane Albright recorded career win No. 500 after the Pack's 70-64 win at San Diego State. Over the years she has established herself as one of the NCAA's winningest active coaches in Division I. Albright now ranks 31st among active head coaches in college women's basketball in victories. Now in her 32nd year as a Division I head coach, Nevada is Albright's fourth stop after beginning her career at Northern Illinois (1984-94) and moving on to Wisconsin (1994-2003) and Wichita State (2003-08) before coming to Reno. She has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances and won the WNIT in 1999-2000 with Wisconsin.

BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Conference rank for Kelsey Kaelin in assist/turnover ratio (1.7)
10 - Players who have started a game this season for the Pack
45 - National ranking for Stephanie Schmid in three-point shots attempted (158)
84 - Blocks this season for Nevada, ranks third in the conference
300 - Miles to get from Reno, Nev. to Fresno, Calif.

NEW SEASON, NEW TEAM
Since the start of conference play, it's been a new-look Wolf Pack. Comparing nonconference to conference statistics, the Pack has gotten its scoring margin down to just -6.1, where it was at -15.4 after non-league games. The offense is now hitting 38 percent of its shots after making 36.9 percent during November and December. The defense is much improved as well, limiting its opponents to 39 percent shooting when opposing offenses were knocking down 45.6 percent before.

SENIORITY
Senior Nyasha LeSure continues to add to her career season. During the home game against Wyoming, LeSure established a new career-high of 29 points, her fourth 20-point game of the season. Her 29 points is the most by a Wolf Pack player since Tahnee Robinson scored 35 vs. Idaho in the 2011 WAC Tournament. LeSure has now scored in double figures in 16 of 22 games. She now looks to eclipse the 800-point plateau, needing 13.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite outscoring Air Force in the final quarter, the Nevada women's basketball team dropped a 59-53 Mountain West decision on the road to the Falcons Wednesday night.

The Wolf Pack (4-18, 3-8 MW) got a 20-point outing from junior Stephanie Schmid, who also added four steals. Sophomore Teige Zeller tied her career-high of 14 points for a second consecutive game and senior Nyasha LeSure reached double figures with 10 points. LeSure is now just 13 points shy of 800 for her career.

Nevada led in the early goings but the Falcons (1-22, 1-11 MW) finished the opening quarter on a high note to take the lead. AFA forced three Pack turnovers in the final 35 seconds of the first to score six unanswered points and take a 12-11 lead into the second.

Overall through the first two quarters, Air Force committed more turnovers but turned eight Wolf Pack turnovers into 10 points. The Pack shot just 27 percent (10-of-37) in the first half to the Falcons' 46.9 percent (15-of-32). One of the biggest differences was play in the paint. AFA outrebounded Nevada 27-18 and scored 20 of its 33 first half points down low.

Heading into the final 10 minutes the Pack trailed by 13, 46-33, and made a valiant effort at a comeback. Sophomore Halie Bergman connected on a three-pointer with 5:48 to play that cut it back to single digits, 49-41, and forced the Falcons to call a timeout.

During the stretch run of the fourth, the Pack defense held its opponent to nearly a three minute scoring drought. That led to Nevada's ability to continue to chip away at the lead. With 3:19 on the clock, Schmid knocked down a clutch shot from beyond the arc and followed that up with a short jumper in the paint 30 seconds later that brought the Pack within three.

As momentum had shifted into Nevada's favor, LeSure hit the scoop layup and drew a foul with 1:48 remaining. Heading to the line with a chance to tie, LeSure swished in her free throw knotting the score up at 51-51. That was as close as the Pack would get however as the Falcons' Cortney Porter banked in a three on the next possession with just over a minute to go. Nevada began fouling to send the opposition to the free throw line, but AFA made 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 35 seconds to seal the win.

For Air Force, the victory is its first of the season and snaps a 32-game losing streak which dates back to last season. Nevada ended up winning the points in the paint battle, 28-24, but was dominated on the boards, 52-32.

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.

STEPPING UP
Senior guard Kelsey Kaelin is a natural shooting guard. Due to a
season-ending injury to starting point guard T Moe before the season began, Kaelin has been forced into that role and has filled in nicely. The Oregon native has turned the ball over just twice in her last four games and has produced 16 assists during that stretch. She currently ranks second in the Mountain West in assist/turnover ratio at 1.7 and is scratching the surface on breaking into the top-100 nationally.

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 Division I college basketball game prior to this season.

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)

HOLY SCHMID
Junior Stephanie Schmid put on the best display of three-point shooting by a Nevada player since the early 2000's versus San Francisco, and did it again at UNLV. Schmid knocked down seven shots from beyond the arc in each of those games, the most since Ashley Bastian hit seven against Saint Mary's in 2001. At UNLV Schmid made all seven of her three's in the second half, and hit five alone in the fourth quarter. She finished the game with 23 points, two shy of tying her season-high. All of her points came in the second half. With 45 made three-pointers, she ranks fifth in the conference in that category.

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.'