'Dogs open season with Eastern Washington

Friday, November 10

Fresno, Calif.

7:30 p.m. PT

Fresno State

Eastern Washington

'Dogs open season with Eastern Washington

11/9/2017 11:15:00 AM | Women's Basketball

The women's game will follow the men's game as a part of Friday evening's doubleheader.

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Communications

Game 1: Fresno State (0-0) vs. Eastern Washington (0-0)
Nov. 10, 2017 – 7:30 p.m. PT – Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Video: Mountain West Network (Randy Rosenbloom)
Radio: 790 AM ESPN2 (Randy Rosenbloom)
Live Stats: Stats
Series History: Bulldogs lead 2-1
Last Meeting: Fresno State won 67-45 on Nov. 25, 2000 in Fresno, Calif.
Next Up: vs. Arizona State (Nov. 15 • 3 p.m. PT), vs. UC Riverside (Nov. 19 • 2 p.m. PT)

GAME DAY DOUBLEHEADER INFORMATION

Bulldog Bones

• The 'Dogs opened up the season last Friday with with an exhibition game, defeating Fresno Pacific 93-59. Junior Candice White led the team with 24 points, six rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Katelin Noyer chipped in 15 points and six rebounds while Jordanna Porter scored 12 points in 11 minutes off of the bench.

• Fresno State is coming off of an 18-15 season in which it reached the MW Tournament championship game for the second time in as many seasons. The Bulldogs reached the title game by winning three games in three days.

• The Bulldogs return eight letter winners from a season ago, including preseason all-conference selection Candice White.

• White is the fifth Bulldog to earn preseason honors in the program's six years in the Mountain West, joining Ki-Ki Moore, Taylor Thompson, Alex Sheedy and Bego Faz Davalos.

• Fresno State enters the season as the 11th-youngest team in the NCAA in relation to percentage of underclassmen.

• The 'Dogs added four freshman during the offseason, with all seeing at least 15 minutes of action in the team's exhibition game. Another new face to the court this season will be Utah transfer Jordanna Porter who redshirted the 2016-17 season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

• Head Coach Jaime White enters her fourth season at Fresno State. She has guided the Bulldogs to the Mountain West Tournament championship game in each of the last two seasons.

• She is joined by associate head coach Mandi Carver who is in her fourth season under White, and second in her current role. After spending one season as the program's Director of Operations, Bobby Ratterree was moved up to assistant coach during the offseason, while Shannon Bush joined the staff this summer as an assistant coach after previously having coached at Siena.

Fresno State vs. Eastern Washington

• Fresno State holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series.

• The Bulldogs and Eagles have not played since Nov. 25, 2000 when the 'Dogs picked up a 67-45 victory in Fresno.

• Prior to that, the two teams had not played since 1984. Fresno State topped Eastern Washington by 77-73 on Jan. 7, whle EWU evened the series the following year on Nov. 25, 73-57. Both games were played in Cheney, Washington

A look at Eastern Washington

• Eastern Washington is coming off of a 19-14 season in which it reached the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational.

• The Eagles finished fourth in the Big Sky with a 12-6 record and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament.

• EWU returns its top player from a season ago in Delaney Hodgins. The senior was named the Big Sky Conference Preseason MVP after averaging 17.5 points per game and being named All-Big Sky First Team. She is fifth in the program's history in scoring with 1,428 career points, 437 behind her older sister Haley Hodgins who currently holds the record.

White tabbed to preseason All-MW team

After averaging a team-high 14.8 points per game last season, junior guard Candice White is expected to once again be the engine that makes Fresno State go in 2017-18. Gaining the respect from coaches throughout the Mountain West last year, she was the only junior named to this season's preseason all-conference team. White averaged just 6.3 minutes as a freshman, but broke out in 2016-17, earning All-MW honorable mention as she was one of the most used players in the conference (34.1 minutes per game) and became one of the league's most lethal scorers.

• White recorded 28 double-digit performances in 33 games last year, including 15 straight against conference opponents.

• Her 489 points scored was the 10th-most in a single season at Fresno State.

• She led the Bulldogs in points (489), steals (50), 3's made (69), and was second on the team in rebounds (171) and assists (69) in 2016-17 season.

• Nationally, White finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 15 in free throw percentage in the NCAA at 87.7 percent (100-of-114) and No. 37 in 3-point percentage at 40.1 (69-of-172), and is 11th and 24th, respectively, among returners. The 87.7 percent was the highest free-throw percentage in a single season at Fresno State.

• The junior finished last year with the second-highest field-goal percentage among MW returning guards (.438) while 69 of her of 160 field goals came from beyond the 3-point line. She was fourth in the conference in 3-point percentage (.401) and fifth in 3's made per game (2.1).

Bulldog youth

When the 2017-18 season gets underway, Fresno State will enter it as the 11th-youngest team in the NCAA in regards to the percentage of underclassmen on its roster. With four freshmen joining the team this season, and no seniors on the roster, 69.2 percent of the Bulldogs' roster is made up of underclassmen.

• The Bulldogs have a total of nine underclassmen on the roster; four freshmen, four sophomore and one redshirt sophomore.

New faces

The Bulldogs will have five new faces on the court this season, Jaime White's third straight season with at least five new available players.

• Genna Ogier, according to Australian basketball website The Pick and Roll, is rated as the No. 4 Aussie freshman playing in the NCAA this season.

• Bree Delaney was a catalyst for her New South Wales state team in Sydney throughout her five-year run in the program.

• Maddi Utti was a four-time Oregon 4A all-state honoree and three-time league MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

• Aly Gamez was a two-time all-district selection for MacArthur in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, leading the team to a district championship.

• Also coming into the mix for the Bulldogs this season will be redshirt sophomore Jordanna Porter who sat out the 2016-17 after transferring from Utah.

Australian influence

When it comes to international talent, Australia has been a prime target for the Fresno State program dating back to the early 2000's. Prior to this season, 11 Aussies have suited up for the Bulldogs since the 2002-03 season. This year, two more join the program in Bree Delaney and Genna Ogier.

Noyer stepping into center stage

With the departure of two-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Bego Faz Davalos, sophomore Katelin Noyer will now move into starting center spot for the 'Dogs. The 6-foot-4 sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand played sparingly in 22 games last season but stepped up when called upon on the road at Nevada (12 points) and New Mexico (nine points and seven rebounds).

• A member of the New Zealand Women's Basketball National system during the past four years, Noyer has an ample amount of international experience to help draw upon as she moves in her new role.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogschoarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.

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