University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes
Boise State Game Notes

Who: Boise State Broncos (17-10, 10-6 MW) at Nevada Wolf Pack (5-22, 4-12 MW)
When: Tuesday, March 1 - 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

Another season is almost in the books, but not before the Nevada women's basketball team hosts Boise State Tuesday night. The game will be the final regular season home game and will serve as senior night.

The Wolf Pack will honor four of its own prior to tipoff, including Nyasha LeSure, Kelsey Kaelin, Julia Shelbourn and Shannon Gough. Gough is a junior in terms of eligibility but will graduate this May. Looking ahead to the game itself, Nevada is coming off of a pair of road losses and looks to end the home schedule on a high note. If the Pack can beat Boise State it would be its second home win in a row after defeating UNLV back on Feb. 20.

The Broncos have struggled as of late, winning just one of its last five games. Despite that dip, BSU remains third in the Mountain West standings. Boise State is led by Brooke Pahukoa who averages 14.5 points per game. Miquelle Askew (12.6 ppg) and Shalen Shaw (12.0 ppg) also average in double figures. Shaw is also the team's leading rebounder, grabbing 8.6 boards per contest.

At 49 games, the all-time series between the Wolf Pack and Broncos is the longest in Nevada women's basketball program history. Boise State has the overall edge, winning 34 of 49 games. However, Nevada is an even 7-7 against the Broncos in the past eight years under Jane Albright.

QUICK HITS
-Jane Albright captured career win No. 500 on the road at San Diego State (70-64)
-The Nevada and Boise State all-time series is the longest in Nevada program history
-Senior Kelsey Kaelin has produced 28 assists and just 11 turnovers in her last nine games
-Redshirt freshman AJ Cephas has broken into the Nevada top-10 in single-season blocks (33)
-Nevada will split its remaining regular season games between home and away
-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
46 - Rebounds grabbed by sophomore Teige Zeller in her last four games
43 - National ranking for Stephanie Schmid in three-point shots attempted (197)
121 - Kelsey Kaelin's national rank in assist/turnover ratio (1.6, ranks second in the MW)
421 - Miles to get from Boise, Idaho and Reno, Nev.

SENIOR NIGHT
Tuesday night prior to tipoff between the Wolf Pack and Broncos, Nevada will honor its four seniors. To be honored includes Nyasha LeSure, Kelsey Kaelin, Julia Shelbourn and Shannon Gough. While Gough is a junior in terms of eligibility, she will graduate this May and will not return to the team in 2016-17.

LAST TIME OUT
A 29-point third quarter proved to be the difference in a 74-56 loss for the Nevada women's basketball team to No. 25 Colorado State Saturday afternoon.

The Wolf Pack (5-22, 4-12 MW) battled hard through the first two quarters, holding a lead five times. It was just an eight-point deficit at halftime, 35-27, before a strong third quarter distanced the Rams (26-1, 16-0 MW) from the Pack.

The lead for CSU escalated quickly as the team went on 18-2 run that took just over three minutes off the clock. That offensive push extended Colorado State's lead up to 26, 61-36, with still much of the third quarter remaining. In that third quarter the Rams shot an impressive 73.3 percent (11-of-15) and outscored the Pack 29-10.

Nevada never quit in the game and turned the fourth quarter around, winning the period by a 19-10 margin. That final quarter brought it from a 30-point game down to an 18-point contest.

The Wolf Pack played the game down a post player as senior Nyasha LeSure did not see the court and the remaining post players got into foul trouble early on in the first half. Junior Stephanie Schmid was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line and led the Pack in scoring with 13 points. Freshman Riana Everidge posted 11 points and had a near double-double with nine rebounds. Sophomore Teige Zeller was the other Pack player to reach double figures with 10 and added eight boards.

COMING ON STRONG
Over the last four games sophomore Teige Zeller has been a force to be reckoned with on the glass. Zeller grabbed a career-high 18 boards at home against San Jose State and added 11 points to post her first career double-double. The New Mexico native is averaging 11.5 rebounds per game in the last four and 10 points per contest. She has also added three assists, five blocks and five steals. She fell one rebound shy of a second double-double at Utah State, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds.

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 18 of 26 games. Additionally the Sparks native collected her 800th career point on the road at Fresno State.

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 11 times in her last nine games and has produced 28 assists during that stretch. She currently ranks second in the Mountain West in assist/turnover ratio at 1.6 and is close to breaking into the top-100 nationally at 121st.

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 55 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.'