University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes
San José State Game Notes

Who: San José State Spartans (10-14, 8-5 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (4-19, 3-9 MW)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 17 - 6:30 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

The Nevada women's basketball team returns home Wednesday night to host San José State, winners of its last four games. The Wolf Pack on the other hand will look to halt a four-game skid.

It was a much different Nevada team during its last time out at Fresno State. Prior to facing the Bulldogs, the Pack had lost its last three contests by an average of 15 points per game. The team turned it around on Sunday, and while still fell short in the end, kept it within single digits and even led at halftime. During the second quarter a milestone was reached for senior Nyasha LeSure as she collected the 800th point of her career. Also during that second quarter the Wolf Pack embarked on a 17-0 run that spanned over seven minutes to take a five-point lead into halftime.

San José State enters Wednesday's game on a four-game win streak and currently sits fourth in the Mountain West standings at 8-5 in league play. The Spartans boast the best scoring offense in the conference at 73.0 points per game, but rank last in the MW in scoring defense, surrendering 74.4 points per contest. SJSU is led on offense by junior Dezz Ramos who is the league's second leading scorer at 18.5 points per game.

The all-time series between these two schools is long standing at 43 previous matchups. It's been a fairly even series as well as the Wolf Pack owns a slight edge, 22-21. A majority of the Nevada wins in the series ranged from 2005-11 when the Pack collected 11 consecutive victories.

QUICK HITS
-Jane Albright captured career win No. 500 on the road at San Diego State (70-64)
-Senior Nyasha LeSure reached 800 career points on Sunday
-Fellow senior Kelsey Kaelin has produced 20 assists and just three turnovers in her last five games
-Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas is two blocked shots shy of breaking into the Nevada single-season top-10
-Nevada has a split schedule remaining with three home and three road games left in the regular season
-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
6.7 - Senior Kelsey Kaelin's assist/turnover ratio in the last five games
10 - Players who have started a game this season for the Pack
47 - National ranking for Stephanie Schmid in three-point shots attempted (170)
90 - Blocks this season for Nevada, ranks third in the conference
250 - Miles to get from San Jose, Calif. to Reno, Nev.

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 -6.3, where it was at -15.4 after non-league games. The offense is now hitting 37.7 percent of its shots after making 36.9 percent during November and December. The defense is much improved as well, limiting its opponents to 39.4 percent shooting when opposing offenses were knocking down 45.6 percent before. Turnovers have been cut down also from 19.7 per game to 16.0.

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 17 of 23 games. Additionally the Sparks native collected her 800th career point on the road at Fresno State.

LAST TIME OUT
A cold shooting third quarter allowed Fresno State to take the lead and eventually a 65-56 win over the Nevada women's basketball team Sunday afternoon.

A historic moment was reached by senior Nyasha LeSure in the second quarter as she scored the 800th point of her career. LeSure finished the game with a game-high 15 points and added five rebounds and three steals. Junior Stephanie Schmid also reached double figures with 10 points. Senior Kelsey Kaelin had a solid game as well posting a season-high nine points, tied her career-high of eight rebounds and collected four assists.

Nevada (4-19, 3-9 MW) found itself trailing the Bulldogs (14-9, 10-2) by six after the opening quarter and followed up with a monster second quarter. Down by seven early in that period, the Wolf Pack embarked on a 17-0 run that spanned over seven minutes to take a six-point lead. During that stretch, the Nevada defense forced the Bulldogs into six turnovers. Fresno State did not score for over eight minutes in the quarter. The Pack outscored its opponent 20-9 in the period to take a five-point lead into halftime, 31-26.

Nevada was able to maintain about a four-point lead for the first five minutes of the third quarter, until the Bulldogs tied it at 35 under the five minute mark. Fresno State then took over the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter thanks to a long ball by Alex Furr with just over two minutes to play in the third. Cold shooting in the third allowed the Bulldogs to regain the lead for good as the Pack connected on just 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) and was held scoreless for the last 3:40.

In the fourth Nevada kept it within striking distance as Fresno State did not build a double digit lead until late in the period. With just over a minute remaining, sophomore Halie Bergman swished in a three to cut it to seven. The Bulldogs hit a couple of layups and free throws inside that final minute however that sealed the win.

For the game, Nevada shot 34.5 percent (20-of-58) to Fresno State's 43.9 percent (25-of-57). The Bulldogs' Bego Faz Davalos posted nine blocks in the game.

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 three times in her last five games and has produced 20 assists during that stretch. She currently ranks second in the Mountain West in assist/turnover ratio at 1.7 and has broken into the top-100 nationally in that category at 94th.

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 47 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.'