RENO, Nev. – The Nevada women's basketball team will play a pair of games at Sacramento State this weekend, marking the team's second and third games of the 2020-21 season.
 
The Wolf Pack and Hornets will square up this Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13 with both games tipping off at 12 p.m. Nevada and Sacramento State were always scheduled to play on Saturday, but the two teams added a second game in Sacramento for Sunday to get an extra game in for both squads. Both games will be played in Sacramento.
 
Nevada has had three of its first four games either canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 and Sacramento State had a game against UC Davis that was scheduled to be played on Tuesday canceled.
 
ON THE AIR
Josh Suchon 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 Suchon's broadcast online at TuneIn.com or via the TuneIn app.
 
The game will also be live streamed on Pluto.TV on channel 1052.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Nevada and Sacramento State have a long history between them having played 30 games to this point. The Wolf Pack has the edge in the all-time series, 19-11, and has dominated as of late, winning the last 12 contests in the series. The last time the Hornets beat the Wolf Pack in women's basketball was during the 1995-96 season when Sacramento State pulled a 64-60 victory in Sacramento.
 
It's been all Wolf Pack in the series as of late with that 12-game win streak over the Hornets. In the Amanda Levens era the Pack has won twice over Sacramento State, the most recent of those victories coming last season, an 83-72 win at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
 
NEVADA IN SEASON OPENERS
The Wolf Pack is now 24-16 all-time in season opening games and sports a 20-6 record in season openers at home after its 66-65 season-opening win on Nov. 28 against William Jessup. Nevada is 2-2 in head coach Amanda Levens' tenure in season opening games.
 
QUICK HITS
• Nevada currently has a 12-game win streak over Sacramento State
• Nia Alexander needs 11 points to reach 600 in her career
• With 11 wins, Levens will reach 100 victories in her Division I career
• Nevada has had three of its first four games canceled or postponed
• The Wolf Pack ranks 13th in the nation averaging 13.0 steals per game
 
NEW LOOK PACK
The Wolf Pack will have a different look and feel to it this season with just six returners and 10 newcomers joining the program in the offseason. Of the six returners, senior Nia Alexander and Alyssa Jimenez each started in at least 28 games, with Jimenez starting in 30. Alexander leads all returners having averaged 5.5 rebounds per game in 2019-20, while Jimenez's 40 steals in her rookie season lead all returners.
 
Head coach Amanda Levens brought in 10 newcomers in the offseason, including four transfers and six freshmen. Two of the four transfers, Megan Ormiston from UC Santa Barbara and Bethany Carstens from Chicago State, will have to sit out the 2020-21 season under NCAA transfer rules. The other two transfers, Leta Otuafi and Eliska Stebetakova, join the Wolf Pack from junior colleges, making them eligible immediately. Otuafi, a native of nearby Fallon, transferred from Utah State Eastern, while Stebetakova joined the Pack from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Nevada has a few players who are approaching milestones, some of whom could hit those numbers this weekend at Sacramento State.
 
• Nia Alexander - 11 points shy of 600
• Da'Ja Hamilton - 50 points shy of 400
• Amaya West - 59 points shy of 300
• LaPraisjah Johnson - 75 points shy of 100
• Alyssa Jimenez - 95 points shy of 200
• Alyssa Jimenez - 3 rebounds shy of 100
 
STRONG OPENER
Newcomer, and junior college transfer Leta Otuafi, impressed in her Division I debut against William Jessup. Otuafi, who hails from the nearby town of Fallon, earned a start in the season opener and posted a double-double finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Her 12 rebounds led the team. Otuafi was strong from the free throw line in that game, hitting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
 
Senior LaPraisjah Johnson also posted a solid season opener, scoring a career-high 12 points coming off of the bench. Johnson's previous career high was four points. She also added four steals, two rebounds and one assist. Freshman Kenna Holt played 25 minutes in her collegiate debut and while she did not score, she led the team with six assists and added three steals to her first collegiate stat line. It was junior Da'Ja Hamilton though who led the team in scoring, tallying 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
 
CONFERENCE PLAY CHANGES
The Mountain West schedule will look slightly different this season than it has in the past. The conference schedule will go from 18 games to 20 games with Nevada playing each team in the league twice. In order to cut down on travel, the conference office announced that teams would play one another in a two-game series within a three-day time span in the same city. Nevada's first set of Mountain West games was scheduled to be played Dec. 4 & 6 at Air Force, but both games were postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Air Force program. No make up date has been announced yet for those two contests. Nevada's next set of scheduled conference games is Dec. 31 and Jan. 2 at home against New Mexico.
 
MEET THE NEWCOMERS
• #1 Andrea Jovicevic | 5-10 | G | Fr. | Podgorica, Montenegro/Bella Vista Prep
• #11 Kenna Holt | 5-8 | G | Fr. | Reno, Nev./Bishop Manogue HS
• #20 Bethany Carstens | 5-9 | G | So. | Kenai, Alaska/Chicago State
• #21 Alexis Elquist | 6-0 | F | Fr. | Elko, Nev./Elko HS
• #22 Gabby Rones | 5-5 | G | Fr. | Sacramento, Calif./West Campus HS
• #23 Lexie Givens | 6-0 | F | Fr. | Alameda, Calif./Alameda HS
• #31 Tiffany Siu | 5-6 | G | Fr. | Oakland, Calif./Oakland Technical HS
• #34 Leta Otuafi | 5-11 | F | So. | Fallon, Nev./Utah State Eastern
• #40 Megan Ormiston | 6-3 | F | Jr. | Murrieta, Calif./UC Santa Barbara
• #44 Eliška Štěbetáková | 6-2 | F | Jr. | Děčín, Czech Republic/NE Oklahoma A&M
 
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
By Class: Senior (2), Junior (4), Sophomore (4), Freshmen (6)
By State: California (5), Nevada (3), Arizona (2), Alaska (1), Washington (1), Texas (1), Colorado (1)
By Country: United States of America (14), Czech Republic (1), Montenegro (1)
By Position: Guard (10), Forward (6)
 
UP NEXT: FRESNO PACIFIC
Nevada will host Fresno Pacific for an early Friday game next week on Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.