'Dogs open season at South Point Thanksgiving Shootout

Game 1: Fresno State (0-0) vs. West Virginia (0-0)
November 27, 2020 • 1 p.m. PT • Las Vegas, Nev. (South Point Arena)
Video: Friday Stream ($)
Live Stats: bulldogslive.com
Series History: West Virginia leads 2-0
Last Meeting: West Virginia won 72-52 on Dec. 20, 2009 in Morgantown, W.V.

Game 2: Fresno State (0-0) vs. Lamar (0-1)
November 27, 2020 • 1 p.m. PT • Las Vegas, Nev. (South Point Arena)
Video: Saturday Stream ($)
Live Stats: bulldogslive.com
Series History: First Meeting

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State enters the season with seven of its top eight contributors from 2019-20. The group includes all five members of the starting five.
The 'Dogs return more than 93 percent of its points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks from last season.
The Bulldogs are one of six teams in the nation which returned all five starters and won at least 20 games last year. Fresno State's 25 wins were the most among the six.
The team is led by the scoring trio of Haley Cavinder, Hanna Cavinder and Maddi Utti. A year ago, they were one of only two trios in the country to have all three players average at least 15 points per game. The other trio was Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard who went No. 1, 2 and 8 respectively in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
Fresno State was the only team in the nation to have three players score 500 points (Haley Cavinder - 512, Maddi Utti - 509, Hanna Cavinder - 502).
A do-it-all type of player, Utti, a 5-foot-11 forward, was tabbed to preseason watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Katrina McClain Award and Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year.
For the first time since 2013, Fresno State was picked to finish first in the Mountain West as voted on by the league's head coaches and media. Senior forward Maddi Utti was also selected as the Preseason Player of the Year. She was joined on the All-Mountain West Team by sophomore Haley Cavinder.

Scouting West Virginia
- West Virginia enters the year after finishing 17-12 a season ago.
- The Mountaineers were 10-1 through the nonconference portion of their schedule before finishing 7-11 in Big 12 play.
- West Virginia averaged 64.0 points per outing, outscoring opponents by 2.7 points per game.
- Five of the Mountaineers' nonconference games were decided by single digits, with them going 4-1 in those contests. The lone loss was 82-75 to Creighton in the Cancun Challenge.
- WVU had three players who averaged double figures in last year, with two, Kysre Gondrezick and Kari Niblack, returning for 2020-21.
- A 5-foot-9 guard, Gondrezick led the team in both scoring (15.3) and assists (3.2) per game.
- Niblack, a 6-foot-1 forward, was third on the team in scoring (10.3) and led the Mountaineers in rebounding (6.9).

History with West Virginia
- The Bulldogs and Mountaineers have squared off twice in their history.
- Both meetings came on the same day of the year, Dec. 20.
- The games came in back-to-back seasons in 2008 and 2009.
- West Virginia defeated the 'Dogs 68-63 in the first meeting in Fresno, Calif. In the return trip to Morgantown, WVU won 72-52.

Scouting Lamar
- Lamar opened the season on Wednesday, falling 77-61 at No. 13 Texas A&M.
- Jayden Pimentel, a 5-foot-3 senior, led the Cardinals with 13 points in the loss.
- Lamar finished the 2019-20 season with a 10-19 overall record, 6-14 in the Southland.
- Angel Hastings is the lone Cardinal to return who averaged double digits a year ago, scoring 12.4 points per game.
- The Cardinals graduated both the leading scorer (Amber Vidal - 12.5 ppg) and rebounder from 2019-20.

History with Lamar
- Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between Fresno State and Lamar.

Calm under pressure
With all three of its primary ballhandlers back, Fresno State's offensive engine is expected to stay in high gear. Last year the Bulldogs' broke program records for least turnovers per game with 12. 1 (13.7 - 2017-18) and assist/turnover ratio of 1.30 (1.11 - 2011-12).
- Fresno State finished last year ranked No. 12 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio and No. 16 in turnovers per game.

Returning production
With 10 players returning from last season's squad, Fresno State sees the bulk of its production coming back. Nine of the players were ranked in the team's top 10 in minutes while the 10th player redshirted due to injury.
- What is back? 92.2% of minutes, 93.6% of points, 93.1% of rebounds, 95.8% of assists, 93.2% of steals, 95.3% of blocks

Top of the league
After winning her first Mountain West regular season title, and advancing the Bulldogs to their third MW championship appearance under her guidance, Jaime White holds the highest winning percentage among active coaches in the league, both overall and in conference games during her six seasons in the conference.
- White is 124-72 overall (.633) and 74-34 in the MW (.685).

Not overlooking her now
Being a tweener can you get you overlooked. Playing at a small school can also get you overlooked. One's heart should not be overlooked. One of the best players to put on a Fresno State jersey, Maddi Utti has proved in three seasons that she was overlooked. The undersized 5-foot-11 forward has proved it through sheer determination and impressive athleticism.

Efficiency has been the key for Utti. No wasted movements. For her career, Utti enters 2020-21 second in program history in field goal percentage (.539), fifth in rebounds per game (7.34), ninth in steals per game (1.9) and 16th in points (1,200).

In elite company
In November, reigning Mountain West Player of the Year, Maddi Utti was one of 50 players named to the Naismith Trophy watch list, was one of 20 players selected to the Katrina McClain Award watch list, and was one of 25 players tabbed to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watch list.
- Utti was one of 10 players on the Naismith Trophy watch list from a non-P5 school, and one of six of those 10 players not from UConn.
- Last year, Utti was one of five players in the nation to average at least 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals. She finished the season with 509 points, 284 rebounds and 73 steals.

Looks can be deceiving
She may only be 5-foot-6 but don't call her small. Haley Cavinder played big time and time again in 2019-20 en route to breaking the program's freshman records for both points (512) and rebounds (233). The then-freshman led the Bulldogs in scoring in her first year in Fresno, averaging 16.0 points per game.
- Among all freshmen in the nation in 2019-20, Cavinder out-shot them all from deep sinking 85 3-pointers on the year.
- Cavinder was the only freshman in the country to average at least 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game.
- She also dropped at least 20 points in a third of her games (11).

Racking up league honors in a hurry
She came in with hype and didn't disappoint. Like with any freshman, ups and downs came but at the end of the day the body of work was there. When the regular season came to a close she was one of just two players in Mountain West history to be named both preseason and postseason Freshman of the Year.
- On her biggest stage of the season, Cavinder showed what was still coming as she averaged 20.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game at the at the Mountain West tournament.
- Earlier this month she was named to the five-member Preseason All-MW Team, a rare feat for a sophomore in the league.

She's a problem too
While she may have been outdueled by her elder twin for the program's freshman scoring record, Hanna Cavinder finished just behind Haley in second with 502 points. She also ended the season second in assists (118) and third in steals for freshmen in Bulldog history.
- The freshman record she did break was most made free throws with 116 as she was a nightmare for opposing defenses to keep in front of them when she put the ball on the floor.

Disregard at your own risk
She may get overlooked by the numbers that the Bulldogs' scoring trio puts up, but Aly Gamez is the glue. She'll do whatever the team needs. She is the difference maker, and that includes as a scorer. Five of the Bulldogs' seven losses last season came when Gamez failed to score in double figures.
- Fresno State was 15-2 when Gamez scored at least 10 points.
- Gamez finished the season reaching double figures in 11 of her last 12 games.
- She also has a penchant for the big moment, going 2-for-2 in her career on last second game-winning attempts.

"Fresno State Athletics: The Pride of the Valley" – The Bulldog Foundation creates championship experiences for Fresno State student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in life. To become a BDF member, please call 559-278-7160.

Follow us on:
Twitter:  @FresnoStateWBB
Instagram:  fresnostwbb
Facebook:  FresnoStateAthletics

'Dogs open season at South Point Thanksgiving Shootout

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Haley Cavinder

Hanna Cavinder

Aly Gamez

Maddi Utti

Fresno State Athletics