University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes

Who: UNLV Lady Rebels (14-11, 7-7 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (4-20, 3-10 MW)
When: Saturday, Feb. 20 - 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: Alex Margulies
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com

It's a rivalry game in Reno this Saturday as the Wolf Pack hosts UNLV at 4 p.m. This is the second meeting this season between the two rivals with the Lady Rebels taking the game in January by a six-point margin. Saturday also marks Nevada's annual Play 4Kay pink game raising funds for the Kay Yow Foundation. Additionally the game is a Governor's Series contest which UNLV currently leads 7.5 to 4.5.

The Wolf Pack dropped a 76-63 decision Wednesday night to visiting San Jose State, where it led at halftime. Sophomore Teige Zeller was a bright spot for the Pack as she collected her first career double-double. Zeller scored 11 points and grabbed 18 rebounds during the game, 13 of which came on the offensive glass. Junior Stephanie Schmid and redshirt freshman AJ Cephas joined Zeller in double figures with 14 and 12, respectively.

The Lady Rebels are coming off a 62-51 home win over Air Force. UNLV sits in the middle of the pack in the Mountain West standings at 7-7 and has lost three of its last four games. Dakota Gonzalez, who led the team in scoring and rebounding vs. the Falcons, leads the team overall averaging 14.0 points per game but is shooting just 31.6 percent.

The interstate rivalry continues for the 38th time on Saturday. The Lady Rebels have seemingly dominated the all-time series, 30-7. The Wolf Pack snapped an eight-year drought to the Lady Rebels last year with its 71-62 victory at home. It marked Jane Albright's first victory over UNLV as the Nevada head coach.

QUICK HITS
-Jane Albright captured career win No. 500 on the road at San Diego State (70-64)
-Today marks the team's annual Play4Kay pink game, raising funds for the Kay Yow Foundation
-Fellow senior Kelsey Kaelin has produced 24 assists and just three turnovers in her last six games
-Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas is one blocked shots shy of breaking into the Nevada single-season top-10
-Following Saturday's game the Pack has just one remaining home game on the schedule
-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
10 - Players who have started a game this season for the Pack
18 - Rebounds grabbed by sophomore Teige Zeller Wednesday night (most by a Pack player in over a calendar year)
31 - National ranking for Stephanie Schmid in three-point shots attempted (184)
82 - Kelsey Kaelin's national rank in assist/turnover ratio (1.8, ranks second in the MW)
448 - Miles to get from Las Vegas to Reno

PLAY 4KAY
Today marks Nevada's annual Play 4Kay pink game. The Pack will go pink for cancer awareness and a number of activities are scheduled to raise funds for the Kay Yow Foundation and locally to Moms on the Run. A silent auction will be held during Saturday's game with items ranging from a signed football by members of the Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos, dinner with Jane Albright, a signed ball by Mimi Mungedi, among other items. A pink treadmill will also be on display as participants can walk or run on the treadmill during the game for a $100 donation. Nevada has set a goal of raising $2,016.

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

LAST TIME OUT
Fourteen percent offense in the second half was the downfall in a 76-63 loss for the Nevada women's basketball team to visiting San Jose State Wednesday night.

A bright spot for the Wolf Pack (4-20, 3-10 MW) came from sophomore Teige Zeller who collected her first career double-double. The New Mexico native scored 11 points and pulled down 18 rebounds, 13 of which came on the offensive glass. Her 18 rebounds are the most by a Pack player since Mimi Mungedi's 29 in February of last year, which also came against the Spartans (11-14, 9-5 MW).

Thanks to Zeller's work down low, the Pack outrebounded its opponent 56-45, which is a season-high number. Nevada's tenacity on the glass led to a collection of 32 offensive rebounds and 21 second chance points. Other players to reach double figures included junior Stephanie Schmid with 14 and redshirt freshman AJ Cephas with 12. Senior Kelsey Kaelin posted another game without turning the ball over and dished out four assists. In her last six games she has accumulated 24 assists to just three turnovers.

It was a high paced first quarter as the two teams combined to scored 51 points and the Spartans took the narrow 26-25 lead into the second. It was Nevada's second-highest points scored in a quarter this season. Right at the three minute mark of the second, Zeller's jump shot gave the Wolf Pack its first lead of the game, 37-35. Nevada was able to build on that lead after holding SJSU scoreless for over a three minute span. The Pack sat at a five-point lead with 20 seconds to play before halftime, but a scoop layup by Myzhanique Ladd brought it down to just a three-point lead for the Pack at the break.

Third quarter shooting woes continued tonight for Nevada as the team struggled to hit its shots. The Pack was just 3-of-23 (13 percent) in the third quarter and the bad luck continued into the fourth quarter. Combined for the second half, Nevada connected on 14.3 percent (6-of-42) from the field. The Spartans outscored the Pack 37-21 in the last two quarters of play.

Another element that did Nevada in was the long distance shooting by San Jose State. SJSU knocked down 11 shots from beyond the arc, while the Pack was just 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) in that category.

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 six games and has produced 24 assists during that stretch. She currently ranks second in the Mountain West in assist/turnover ratio at 1.8 and has broken into the top-100 nationally in that category at 82nd.

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 50 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.'