University of Nevada Athletics

Nevada Game Notes
Air Force Game Notes

Who: Nevada Wolf Pack (4-17, 3-7 MW) at Air Force Falcons (0-22, 0-11 MW)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 10 - 6 p.m. PST
Where: Clune Arena - Colorado Springs, Colo.
Live Stream: NevadaWolfPack.tv
Radio: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Audio: NevadaWolfPack.com/audio
Play-by-Play Announcer: Don Marchand
Live Stats: NevadaStats.com

Wednesday night the Nevada women's basketball team travels to Air Force and looks to get back on track after suffering consecutive double digit losses. The Wolf Pack offense, which had been posting season-highs in points per game, had a rough last time out on Saturday, scoring a season-low 37 points to the No. 1 team in the Mountain West.

It was a game to forget for Nevada this past Saturday as it fell 64-37 to Colorado State, who remained perfect in league play and improved to 20-1 overall with the win. Sophomore Teige Zeller was the only Pack player to register double figures as she tied her career-high of 14 points. For the first time since Feb. 11 of last year, senior Nyasha LeSure was held scoreless. With three assists and no turnovers senior Kelsey Kaelin produced her third straight game without a turnover.

It's been a rough season for the Falcons who remain winless 22 games into the season. Air Force's closest chance at pulling out a win came during conference play, a four-point loss at home to UNLV back on Jan. 16. AFA's Cortney Porter is the team's only player averaging points in double figures at 10.7 per game.

In 12 meetings in the all-time series, the Wolf Pack holds a 10-2 lead. Nevada took the earlier meeting this season, 68-57, from Lawlor Events Center. The last time the Falcons topped the Pack was back in 2013.

QUICK HITS
-Jane Albright captured career win No. 500 on the road at San Diego State (70-64)
-Senior Nyasha LeSure is 23 points shy of 800 career points
-Senior Kelsey Kaelin has produced 15 assists and no turnovers in her last three games
-Sophomore Teige Zeller tied her career-high of 14 points during the loss to Colorado State
-Air Force is looking to snap a 32-game losing streak, which dates back to last season
-The Pack will be without juniors T Moe and Ashlee Jones and senior Julia Shelbourn 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
12 - Previous meetings between the Pack and Falcons
47 - National ranking for Stephanie Schmid in three-point shots attempted (158)
1,104 - Miles to get from Fort Collins, Colo. 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 -6.1, where it was at -15.4 after non-league games. The offense is now hitting 38.4 percent of its shots after making 36.9 percent during November and December. The defense is much improved as well, limiting its opponents to 39.3 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 15 of 21 games. She now looks to eclipse the 800-point plateau, needing 23.

LAST TIME OUT
Colorado State, the Mountain West leader, remained perfect in league play with a 64-37 win over the Nevada women's basketball team Saturday afternoon.

The Rams (20-1, 10-0 MW) were in control the entire game after staking an 11-0 lead as the game began. CSU led by as many as 16 in the opening quarter and held Nevada (4-17, 3-7 MW) to just six points, which tied a season-low. The closest the Wolf Pack would get was 11 points two minutes into the start of the second quarter after scoring the period's first five points.

A 25-point third quarter produced by the Rams proved to be the real dagger in the game as the Pack scored just nine. Overall Nevada shot just 25.5 percent (12-of-47) on offense to CSU's 43.5 percent (27-of-62). Colorado State also won the battle down low, outrebounding the Pack 42-31. Nevada's 37 points are a season-low.

Sophomore Teige Zeller led Nevada on offense, tying her career-high of 14 points. She scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half. Despite registering just three assists, senior Kelsey Kaelin produced her third consecutive game without a turnover.

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. Thanks 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 not turned the ball over in her last three games and has produced 15 assists during that stretch. The last player to record that kind of streak, among players who average at least 15 minutes per game, was Aja Johnson last season during nonconference play. 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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Nevada has enjoyed a total of 12 days in Reno since its last road trip, which was to San Diego State. Now it's back to the road for the Wolf Pack with a pair of back-to-back away contests on the docket this week. Following Wednesday's game at Air Force, Nevada will return to Reno for two days before shipping off west and head for Fresno, Calif. to play the Bulldogs on Sunday. The Pack has eight remaining regular season games, five of which are on the road.

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.

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 43 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.'