'Dogs clash with Rams in Colorado on Saturday

Saturday, February 17

Fort Collins, Colo.

1 p.m. PT

Fresno State

Colorado State

Photo by: Keith Kountz

'Dogs clash with Rams in Colorado on Saturday

2/16/2018 11:40:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Tipoff slated for 1 p.m. PT at Moby Arena.

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Communications

Game 26: Fresno State (15-10, 10-4) at Colorado State (18-7, 10-4)
Feb. 17, 2018 – 1 p.m. PT – Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
Video: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: Sidearmstats
Series History: Rams lead 14-8
Last Meeting: Fresno State won 56-45 on Jan. 6, 2018 in Fresno, Calif.
Next Up: vs. UNLV (Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. PT)

Opening Tip
• Fresno State heads into Saturday afternoon's matchup having won seven its last eight games.
• Saturday's clash with Colorado State is a meeting of the two longest winning streaks in the Mountain West as the Bulldogs have won five straight and the Rams have won six in a row.
• The two teams sit in a three-way tie for third place along with Boise State, one game outside of first.
• Saturday afternoon's game will stream live on the Mountain West.

Bulldog Bones
• After her first 20-point game since Jan. 13, Candice White leads the conference in scoring at 17.0 points per game. The junior has scored in double figures in 21 of 25 games this season and has posted six games with 20 or more, and two with at least 30. In league play she is averaging 17.4 per game which ranks fourth.
• Maddi Utti and Aly Gamez have each scored 151 points in conference games (10.8 ppg).
• Fresno State ranks No. 7 in the NCAA in 3-point percentage at 26.2 percent (120-of-458). The 'Dogs have held seven opponents to three or less 3's in a single game and seven opponents to 3-point percentages below 20.
• Fresno State is 14-4 this year when holding teams to below 30 percent shooting 3.
• Fresno State is 7-1 during its last seven games and is doing so with a collective effort. Four 'Dogs are averaging between 10.8-13.5 points with White leading the group. The Bulldogs are 5.6 percent better than their opponents from the field (42.3-36.7), and a 12.4 percent advantage from 3 (33.6-21.2).
• The Bulldogs are 8-0 in conference play when leading after three quarters, and 2-4 when trailing. The 'Dogs two wins when trailing came in their last two games, recovering from a four-point deficit to win by six at San Diego State, and a two-point deficit to win by 10 versus San Jose State.
• Two indicators for success this season, in which the Bulldogs have not lost, are outrebounding opponents (8-0) and Fresno State's starters outscoring their counterparts (11-0).

Fresno State vs. Colorado State
• The Bulldogs are 8-14 all-time against the Rams.
• After dropping the last five games to Colorado State, the longest losing streak to any Mountain West opponent since joining the league for the 2012-13 season, Fresno State won the first game in this year's season series 56-45.
• The Bulldogs are 3-7 all-time at Colorado State.
• The 'Dogs have lost their last four games at Moby Arena with their last win coming on Jan. 27, 2013 (69-58).

A look at Colorado State
• Colorado State enters Saturday's game with the longest current winning streak in the conference at six games. The Rams sit at 18-7 overall and 10-4 in conference play.
• After a 29-point win over San Diego State to start its win streak, CSU has played five relatively close games, winning by an average of 7.6 points.
• Once again, Colorado State boasts one of the top defenses in the country, ranking fourth in field-goal percentage defense (33.8) and fifth in three-point percentage defense (25.8).
• While Grace Colaivalu was the lone Ram averaging double figures the first time around when the Bulldogs and Rams met, the redshirt freshman has seen her time on the court significantly drop. Senior Hannah Tvrdy has taken over the bulk of the scoring responsibilities, averaging 19.7 points per game during the last six games.
• Stine Austgulen is shooting 45.9 percent from behind the arc (51-of-111) on the season which ranks No. 3 in the MW and No. 12 in the NCAA.

Race to the finish
With five games left in the conference season, the top six teams in the Mountain West remaining with three games of one another leaving what could be a wild finish to the season. Boise State, Colorado State are in a three-way tie for third place, one game behind UNLV and Wyoming which are tied for first. New Mexico is in sixth, three games out of first, and two out of third.
• All of the top six teams play at least two games against teams in the top six. Fresno State and New Mexico have the toughest stretch and both play four top-six teams in their remaining four games. Both face Colorado State, UNLV and Wyoming with the last game of the season being against one another.
• UNLV and Wyoming each have five games remaining, while the other four teams only have four.
• The Bulldogs are two games ahead of New Mexico with four games to play as the 'Dogs look to secure one of five byes in the Mountain West Tournament.

Exceeding expectations
Picked seventh in Mountain West preseason coaches poll, Fresno State has already proven that preseason polls don't matter. With Wednesday's win over San Jose State, the Bulldogs made sure that they will finish no worse than sixth in conference this season.
• At 10-4, one game back of first place, and playing three of the top four teams in the conference in the next three games, Fresno State holds any championship aspirations in its own hands.
• With four games left in the conference season, the Bulldogs have increased its 2016-17 conference win total by two.

Balancing act
Balance has been a key factor in the Bulldogs' success this season. Fresno State is 9-2 on the year when having at least three players scoring in double figures. On the other side, the 'Dogs are 6-8 when only having two players reach double figures.
• Eight Bulldogs have scored in double figures this season, with five of them recording at least one 20-point game.
• During Fresno State's latest run of winning six of its last seven games, four 'Dogs are averaging between 13.5-10.8 points (Candice White, Maddi Utti, Kristina Cavey, Aly Gamez). During the previous 17 games in which the Bulldogs were 8-9, only one player was in double figures as White was averaging 18.6 points per game.

Youth invasion
This week will mark the Bulldogs' last two games against some of the youngest teams in the country. In regards to percentage of freshman on its team, Fresno State is the 11th-youngest team in the NCAA (69 percent) while Colorado State is the 18th-youngest (53.3 percent).
• The Bulldogs have already twice faced Air Force (fifth) and Utah State (fourth), and San Jose State (third) and Colorado State (18th) once.

Not your typical freshmen
With four freshmen who came in ready to compete from the start this season, head coach Jaime White has thrown her newest group into the fire allowing them to learn on the fly. Fresno State's four freshmen Bree Delaney, Genna Ogier, Maddi Utti and Aly Gamez are all averaging over 15 minutes per game while Utti and Gamez pace the group with averages of 30.7 and 28.0 minutes per game, respectively. The group has accounted for 69 of a possible 125 starts.
• Like Utti, Gamez moved into the starting lineup during the nonconference season. Gamez earned her first start at point guard this season at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 30. The two rank second and third on the team in scoring at 10.0 and 9.3 points per game.
• Collectively, the four freshman have accounted for 44.1 percent of the Bulldogs' scoring.

Making them count
A 72-percent shooting team from the foul line through the nonconference portion of its schedule, Fresno State has seen that number rise through conference play. Shooting 77.6 percent in conference play, the Bulldogs season average has risen to 74.9 percent, 0.7 percent above the program record which has stood since 1985.
• The 'Dogs rank 43rd nationally in free-throw percentage.
• 26.4 percent of the team's free throws have been attempted by Candice White who ranks third in the NCAA at 94.2 percent.
• Four Bulldogs, who have at least 15 attempts, are shooting over 70 percent on the year.

Holding the perimeter
Fresno State is one the most frustrating teams this season for 3-point shooters as the Bulldogs rank No. 6 nationally in the in 3-point percentage defense at 25.9 percent (125-of-483). The 'Dogs have held seven opponents to three or less 3's in a single game and seven opponents to 3-point percentages below 20. Fresno State is 13-4 this season when holding its opponents to below 30 percent from 3.
• Leading the league in conference games in 3-point percentage defense at 23.3 percent (65-of-279), the Bulldogs have not allowed a Mountain West opponent to shoot better than 28 percent from 3 in any of their 10 wins. On the contrary, two of their four losses have come when allowing opponents to shoot above 38 percent from 3.
• The Bulldogs held Utah State to 6.7 percent (1-of-15), Air Force to 8.3 percent (1-of-12) and Colorado State to 18.5 percent (5-of-27), the lowest, second-lowest and fifth-lowest percentages for an opponent this season.

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