'Dogs open MW play Thursday night with Colorado State

Thursday, December 3

Fresno, CA

6 P.M. PT

Fresno State

Colorado State

Photo by: Photo by Zak Krill

'Dogs open MW play Thursday night with Colorado State

12/2/2020 5:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Fresno State Game Notes Colorado State Game Notes

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Communications

Game 3: Fresno State (1-1) vs. Colorado State (2-0)
December 3, 2020 • 6 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Video/Local TV: Mountain West Network (PxP: Eric Bentley, Analyst: Matt Norville); MyTV53 (OTA)
Radio: 940 ESPN Radio (PxP: Jose Gonzalez)
Live Stats: bulldogslive.com
Series History: Colorado State 15-13
Last Meeting: Fresno State won 79-61 on Feb. 5, 2020 in Fresno, Calif.

Game 4: Fresno State (1-1) vs. Colorado State (2-0)
December 4, 2020 • 6 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Video/Local TV: Mountain West Network (PxP: Eric Bentley, Analyst: Matt Norville); MyTV53 (OTA)
Radio: 940 ESPN Radio (PxP: Jose Gonzalez)
Live Stats: bulldogslive.com

Bulldog Bones

The Bulldogs open up their conference schedule this week with games on back-to-back days (Thursday and Friday) versus Colorado State at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State was 1-1 last weekend in Las Vegas, Nev. at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. The 'Dogs dropped their first contest of the season to West Virginia before rebounding a day later with a 50-point win over Lamar.
The Bulldogs' 50-point win was their largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since defeating San Francisco 88-33 on Dec. 12, 1987.
With her final point of the season opener, senior guard Aly Gamez joined Fresno State's 1,000-point club, making her the 26th player in Fresno State's history to reach the milestone.
Hanna Cavinder led the Bulldogs in scoring in both games, averaging 21.5 points per game. Her 17 made field goals ranks No. 28 in the NCAA.
Fresno State entered 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.
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 Colorado State

Colorado State opened the season by defeating Regis and Colorado Christian by an average of 44.5 points per game.
CSU shot 61.1 percent (77-of-126) and 55.8 percent (24-43).
The Rams put up 111 points versus Regis.
Tori Williams averaged 20.5 points per game and was 11-of-13 from 3-point range, during the Rams' opening week of games.
CSU reloaded its frontcourt during the offseason and Karla Murphy (13.0/7.0) and Cali Clark (10.0/7.0) combined to average 23.0 points and 14.0 rebounds.
Seton Hall transfer McKenna Hofschild is the fourth Ram averaging double figures at 10.5 per outing.

History with Colorado State

Colorado State holds the all-time series lead, 15-13.
The Rams had a stretch of five straight wins from 2015-2017 but the Bulldogs have since taken control, winning five of the last six with all five wins coming during regular-season contests.
Fresno State has won its last two contests has won the last three contests in Fresno.
The previous two games at the Save Mart Center have been separated by one possession.

Half-a-hundred
Fresno State's game with a Lamar was one of the more high-scoring and lopsided games in the Bulldogs' favor during their history.

- Fresno State's 99 points was its most versus a Division I opponent since scoring 107 against San Jose State on March 7, 2014.
- The Bulldogs' 50-point win was its largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since defeating San Francisco 88-33 on Dec. 12, 1987.
- Fresno State's 50-point differential was more than Lamar's first three non-Fresno State games combined (-39; vs. No. 12/13 Texas A&M twice and San Diego State).

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

The trio
Like they did a year ago, the trio of Haley Cavinder, Hanna Cavinder and Maddi Utti were 1, 2, 3 in the scoring column for the Bulldogs during the opening two games of the season, accounting for 52.0 points per game.

- 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).

It's actually a big four
When Aly Gamez joins the double-digit party with the trio like she did versus Lamar, the Bulldogs' win probably has has gone up dramatically. Fresno State has lost just when game during the last two seasons when all four players have been in double figures.

- The 'Dogs are 9-1 since the start of the 2019-20 season when Gamez, Utti and the Cavinders each score at least 10 points.

Joining the club
Heading into the first game of the season, Aly Gamez was seven points shy of a 1,000 for her career. On her final point of the game, she reached that seventh point.

- Gamez is the 26th player in Fresno State's history to score 1,000 points in a career.
- The senior is the fifth player to join the illustrious club under Head Coach Jaime White (Alex Sheedy – 2014, Bego Faz Davalos – 2016, Candice White – 2018, Maddi Utti – 2020).

Playing with a chip
One of six returning All-Mountain West players from a season ago, Hanna Cavinder was the odd one out on this year's five-member preseason team. During the first weekend of the season, it looked like she came out to prove something, averaging 21.5 points per game in two contests.

- Cavinder led the team in scoring in both games with 19 and 24.
- The sophomore outscored Lamar in the first half, scoring 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting while the Cardinals were 8-of-31 for 18 points.
- She also had seven rebounds and seven assists during the weekend.

New face from Georgia
How'd the 'Dogs get a player to come all the across the country? A former player turned coach. LaToya Brown, who played at Fresno State for two seasons from 2008-2009, helped the Bulldogs land one of their latest players. Keely Brown was a star at Luella High School under the former Bulldog's tutelage. Choosing to follow in her coach's footsteps, Keely has quickly started to produce for the Bulldogs.

- Brown averaged 6.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assist per game during the Bulldogs' first two games of the season while playing 15.0 minutes per contest.

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