RENO, Nev. – The Nevada women's basketball team is back at home for one game before hitting the road again to take on the Aztecs of San Diego State this Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. from Lawlor Events Center on alumni weekend.

The Wolf Pack (8-9, 1-5 MW) will be looking to get back in the win column after a tough trip to Wyoming on Wednesday night where the Pack fell 83-59 to the Cowgirls. It was a slow start in the first half for Nevada but the second half was much improved as the Pack outscored its opponent by five in the final two quarters. Senior Marguerite Effa continued her strong play as of late, leading the team with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Effa has scored in double figures in three consecutive games. Freshman Dom Phillips has also been playing well recently, adding 12 points at Wyoming. Phillips has scored in double figures in five games this season and in three of her last five games.

San Diego State will also be looking to get back in the win column after dropping its last two contests. The Aztecs enter Saturday's game with an 8-11 overall record and are 3-4 in league play, but fell at Boise State last Saturday and against conference-leading Fresno State on Wednesday. SDSU is led by senior Taylor Kalmer, who spent three seasons at Oregon. Kalmer is averaging 14.8 points per game and leads the Aztecs in field goal percentage (44.0 percent) and 3-point shooting (27 made 3-pointers).
 
ON THE AIR
Doug Greenwald will have the call in Northern Nevada on CBS Sports Radio 94.1 FM and 1450 AM with a 20 minute pregame show prior to tipoff. Fans can also tune in to listen to Greenwald's broadcast online at TuneIn.com or via the TuneIn app.
 
The game will also be live streamed on the Mountain West Network and broadcast regionally on Nevada Sports Net (Ch. 21). Alex Margulies (pxp) and Ashlee Jones (analyst) will have the call on the television and stream broadcast.

SERIES HISTORY
Nevada and San Diego State are a fairly new series with just 22 games between them. The all-time series began in 1983-84, but did not resume until the 2003-04 campaign. It's been a dead heat of a series as it's currently all tied up at 11 games a piece. Under head coach Amanda Levens, the Wolf Pack is 3-2 over the Aztecs, including a Mountain West Tournament victory in 2017-18 in the tournament's opening round.

ALUMNI WEEKEND
Nevada will celebrate alumni weekend on Saturday and honor the 1976-77 team at halftime with a banner unveiling for their 1976-77 Northern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, the program's lone conference title. The 1976-77 team finished the season with a 13-5 overall record, which included wins over California and Stanford, and a 10-1 mark in conference play. Led by first-year head coach Kaprice Rupp, the team featured four Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame selections in Pat Hixson, Regina Ratigan, Cindy Rock and Ellen Townsend.

MAR OH MAR
Senior Marguerite Effa has picked up her play as of late. The Los Angeles, Calif. native had the game of her career last week vs. SJSU. Effa totaled 31 points and 15 rebounds, both of which are career highs, to post her second double-double of the season. She was nearly unstoppable as she connected on 71.4 percent of her shots, hitting 15-of-21, setting career highs there too. Effa is now just the fifth player in the Mountain West this season to score 30+ points in a single game. She is the only player to score 30+ points in a single game and record a double-double while doing so. Effa has now scored in double figures in three consecutive games, leading the team with 16 points at Wyoming.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Wolf Pack concluded its non-conference schedule by defeating Cal Poly 71-40, marking its largest margin of victory of the season and largest since February of 2015. The 40 points surrendered to the Mustangs is tied for seventh-fewest allowed by an opponent in program history. Nevada posted a 7-4 record in its non-league slate, marking its second winning record in non-conference play in two of the last three years. During that stretch the Pack outscored its opponents by an average of 5.9 points per game and outrebounded teams by 1.5 rebounds per game.

CAN YOU ASSIST ME?
The Wolf Pack has been one of the best teams in the Mountain West in terms of sharing the basketball. Heading into Saturday's game vs. San Diego State, Nevada ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 13.53 per game. The Pack has dished out at least 10 assists in all but three of its 17 games, including a 20-assist game at Portland State. Nevada is led in the assist departmant by one of its rookies in Jená Williams. Williams has 38 assists to just 20 turnovers, and dished out a team-high five assists in the team's win over Cal Poly. Nevada has four players with positive assist to turnover ratios through 17 games led by freshman Alyssa Jimenez who has 21 assists to just nine turnovers.

MILESTONE WATCH
Nevada has a few players who are approaching milestones, some of whom could hit those numbers Saturday afternoon vs. San Diego State.

• Marguerite Effa - 21 points shy of 300 in her career
• Imani Lacy - 32 rebounds shy of 200
• Jacqulynn Nakai - 31 points shy of 100
• Essence Booker - 45 points shy of 400

DON'T FORGET ABOUT IMANI
Sophomore Imani Lacy has quietly been one of the most consistent Wolf Pack players through 17 games this season. She returned to the floor for the first time since Dec. 21 to help Nevada earn a 69-60 win over Utah State, scoring 12 points in her return. Lacy currently leads the team and is in the top 20 in the conference averaging 11.4 points per game. She has really improved her free throw shooting and shot blocking this season as well as she ranks ninth in the MW in free throw percentage (70.2) and is first in blocked shots per game (1.77 bpg).

UP NEXT: ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After enjoying a brief stint at home against San Diego State, the Wolf Pack will be road warriors all next week. Nevada will start its travel in the southern part of the state to take on in-state rival UNLV next Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. from the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas in a Silver State Series matchup. Following the short stay in Las Vegas, the Pack will head east to Albuquerque, N.M. to face the Lobos of New Mexico next Saturday, Jan. 25 at 12 p.m. PT.