Fresno State travels to Montana, Portland for weekend games

Game 3: Fresno State (2-0) at Montana (1-0)
Nov. 15, 2019 • 6 p.m. PT • Missoula, Mont. (Dahlberg Arena)
Live Stream: Pluto.tv
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
Series History: Fresno State leads 1-0
Last Meeting: FS won 61-58 Dec. 10, 2017 in Fresno, Calif.

Game 4: Fresno State (2-0) at Portland (3-0)
Nov. 17, 2019 • 1 p.m. PT • Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
Live Stream: wccsports.com
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
Series History: Portland leads 1-0
Last Meeting: UP won 76-69 on Dec. 14, 2012 in Portland, Ore.

Bulldog Bones

For the first time since Jaime White's first season as Fresno State's head coach, the Bulldogs have started the season 2-0.
The 'Dogs have averaged 76 points per game thus far while holding opponents to 58.5.
Fresno State's offense is led by freshman twins Hanna Cavinder (22.0) and Haley Cavinder (18.5) who have combined to score 40 points and 41 points in their first two games with the Bulldogs.
Hanna is just the second Bulldog to register back-to-back 20-point performances to open a career.
Last time out, Fresno State saw three 'Dogs combined to score 62 of the team's 73 points as Maddi Utti and Hanna had 21 apiece while Haley scored had her first career 20-point outing.
In each of their first two games, the Bulldogs have started slow but has picked up in the second have as they have averaged 20 more points in the second half than the first, averaging 48 points per second half
Maddi Utti was tabbed as one of five players selected to the preseason All-Mountain West team. Haley Cavinder was tabbed as preseason Co-Freshman of the Year, the program's first player to earn that distinction.

Scouting Montana

Montana enters friday's contest with a 1-0 record, after a 98-45 victory over MSU Northern.
Montana had five players score in double-figures in the first game of the season.
53 of Montana's 98 points were scored off the bench.
Montana finished the game against MSU Northern with a field-goal percentage of 59.4, and 57.9 from 3-point range.
Taylor Goligoski led the Lady Griz with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Senior point guard McKenzie Johnston was named to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team.
Montana was picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky coaches' preseason poll.

History with Montana

Fresno State owns the all-time series record 1-0.
The last time the two teams faced each other, Fresno State defeated Montana 61-58 on Dec. 10, 2017 in Fresno, Calif.
Aly Gamez and Maddi Utti both scored in doubel-digits against the Lady Griz in 2017, posting 13 points and 10 points, respectively.

Scouting Portland

Portland is 3-0 this season, and 1-0 at home.
This week, Portland posted a 78-39 victory over Warner Pacific.
Portland has outscored its opponents 226-159, and is averaging 75.3 points per game.
UP has outrebounded its opponents 118-102, averaging 39.3 rebounds per game.
Portland is led by the duo of Haylee Andrews and Alex Fowler who are averaging 16.7 and 14.7 points apiece this season.
Andrews has recorded a total of 50 points and 18 rebounds.
Fowler has recorded a total of 44 points and 23 rebounds.
Portland was picked to finish 10th in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

History with Portland

Fresno State owns the all-time series 1-0.
The last time the two teams played, Fresno State defeated Portland 76-67 in Fresno, Calif. on Dec. 14, 2013.

Halftime adjustments

Fresno State has had a pair of slow starts to its first two games of the season. At Cal Poly, the 'Dogs scored just 28 in the opening half. A week later against UC Davis, the Bulldogs had just eight points after 10 minutes and and again finished the half with 28 points. The difference in their games though have been the second half in which they're averaging 48 points, a 20-point increase.
- Fresno State has shot 49.1 percent in the second half of its games (30-of-61).

Explosive trio

Against UC Davis, Fresno State saw three players score at least 20 points as Maddi Utti and Hanna Cavinder totaled 21 points apiece. Haley Cavinder added 20 points. The trio accounted for 62 of the team's 73 total points, 84.9 percent of the team's offense.

- Fresno State's bench accounted for just three points in the game.

H&H

Unlike the famous New York City bagel shop, Fresno State's version of H&H haven't been serving up bagels to start their careers as twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder combined for have combined to score 40 points and 41 points in consecutive games.

- With only 14 points at the half at Cal Poly, the two scored 15 of the Bulldogs' 20 points in the third quarter and had a hand final 18 as Fresno State turned a two-point deficit into a seven-point lead. The duo then combined to score the first seven points of the fourth quarter to double the team's lead.

Rare company

Hanna Cavinder's 23 points at Cal Poly is the most by a freshman in their first career game at Fresno State. It surpassed the 22 points that was registered twice during the early 1980's.

- In the following game, Cavinder became just the second Bulldog to ever record back-to-back 20-point games to start a career and start a career with 44 points through two games.

Picking up where she left off

While the high shooting percentage was not there against a much taller Cal Poly frontline, Maddi Utti still nearly recorded a double-double against the Mustangs, registering 11 points and 9 rebounds. The junior recorded seven double-doubles during her sophomore campaign with all seven coming during conference play.

Utti's shooting percentage was back to normal in game two versus UC Davis as the junior shot an efficient 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from the floor as she posted her first 20-point game of the season, with 21.

- Utti entered the season with 11 career double-doubles which ranks 12th on Fresno State's all-time list.

- Utti entered the 2019-20 season with the most career double-doubles of active players in the Mountain West.

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Fresno State travels to Montana, Portland for weekend games

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Players Mentioned

Haley Cavinder

Hanna Cavinder

Aly Gamez

Maddi Utti

Fresno State Athletics

Fresno State travels to Montana, Portland for weekend games

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Haley Cavinder

Hanna Cavinder

Aly Gamez

Maddi Utti

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