RENO, Nev. – The Nevada women's basketball team returns to the road for a pair of away contests this week, starting with a rivalry game down in Las Vegas as the Wolf Pack will battle the Lady Rebels of UNLV this Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. from the Cox Pavilion.

The Wolf Pack will be looking to make it two wins in a row after a thrilling 70-69 win over San Diego State its last time out. Nevada has been led lately by one of its seniors in Marguerite Effa, who has scored in double figures in four consecutive games. In that stretch, Effa is averaging 18.8 points per game and scored a career-high 31 points against SJSU. UNLV, which started the season 1-4, has been playing well in Mountain West action. The Lady Rebels are 6-4 in their last 10 games and will be in search of their sixth conference win of the season on Wednesday.

Wednesday's game marks the first of at least two contests between these two programs in the Silver State Series. On October 8, 2012 Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval announced the launch of the a new  competition that established a formal head-to-head athletic and academic challenge between longtime rivals -- the UNLV Rebels and the Nevada Wolf Pack. Originally called the Governor's Series, this all-encompassing competition will annually crown one school the winner of what is now the Silver State Series, presented by IBEW Local 401 and Nevada Donor Network.
 
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.

SERIES HISTORY
Nevada and UNLV have a long history and rivalry between them with Wednesday marking the 46th game in the all-time series. The Lady Rebels have historically had the upper hand in the series, winning 34 of the 45 previous contests, however the Wolf Pack is 3-2 over UNLV under head coach Amanda Levens. Perhaps the most notable victory over the Lady Rebels was in 2018 when the Pack topped UNLV 77-73 in double overtime in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament, sending the Pack to the semifinals.

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 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 four consecutive games and is averaging 18.8 points per game in that span.

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 Wednesday's game at UNLV, Nevada ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 13.83 per game. The Pack has dished out at least 10 assists in all but three of its 18 games, including a 20-assist game at Portland State. Nevada is led in the assist departmant by one of its newcomers in junior Miki'ala Maio. Maio has 43 assists on the year and ranks 14th in the MW averaging 2.87 assists per game. In her last three games, Maio has recorded 14 assists to just two turnovers.

MILESTONE WATCH
Nevada has a few players who are approaching milestones, some of whom could hit those numbers Wednesday evening at UNLV.

• Marguerite Effa - 4 points shy of 300 in her career
• Imani Lacy - 27 rebounds shy of 200
• Jacqulynn Nakai - 26 points shy of 100
• Essence Booker - 31 points shy of 400

DON'T FORGET ABOUT IMANI
Sophomore Imani Lacy has quietly been one of the most consistent Wolf Pack players through 18 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 ranks second on the team averaging 11.0 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 (1.64 bpg).

UP NEXT: THE PIT
The Wolf Pack has one more road contest ahead before it returns home next week for a pair of games. Nevada will travel to Albuquerque, N.M. to face the Lobos of New Mexico this Saturday, Jan. 25 at 12 p.m. PT. The Pack has not won in Albuquerque since late in the 2013-14 season.