Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
Bulldogs and Wolf Pack meet again in MW quarterfinals
3/7/2021 2:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2021 • 2:30 p.m. PT • Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
Stream: Mountain West Network (PxP: Nate Kreckman / Analyst: Krista Blunk)
Radio:Â 940 ESPN Radio (PxP: Jose Gonzalez)
Live Stats:Â bulldogslive.com
Series History:Â Fresno State lead 49-13
Neutral Sites:Â Fresno State leads 3-1
Last Meeting:Â Fresno State won 75-61 in Fresno, Calif. on Jan. 16, 2021
Bulldog Bones​​​​​​
- Fresno State enters Monday's quarterfinal contest with Nevada as the No. 4 seed at the Mountain West Championships. The Bulldogs have been the No. 4 seed twice in the last three seasons (2018, 2019).
- Monday marks the second straight season that the 'Dogs and Wolf Pack will meet in the quarterfinals with Fresno State winning last season's version in the 1/8 matchup.
- Each time the Bulldogs have opened up the tournament against Nevada, Fresno State has reached the championship game (2017, 2020).
- Fresno State is 15-6 all-time in the Mountain West tournament.
- On Sunday morning, the Mountain West honored Haley Cavinder as its Player of the Year, the second consecutive year a Bulldog has earned the award (Maddi Utti - 2020).
- On the All-Mountain West Team, Haley was joined by twin sister Hanna Cavinder. The duo is 1-2 in the league in scoring at 19.9 ppg and 17.5 ppg, respectively. They rank among the top 20 scoring duos in the country at 37.4 ppg.
- Maddi Utti earned honorable mention, the third straight year the senior has garnered All-MW or honorable mention.
- Averaging 79.3 points per game, Fresno State's high-powered offense is 0.9 ppg ahead of the program's single-season record.
- Fresno State's offense is one of three in the MW to rank in the top 20 nationally. The Bulldogs check in at No. 14. The 'Dogs have also moved up to No. 21 in field goal percentage, connecting at a 45.8 percent clip.
- With one of the two leading the Bulldogs in scoring in all 23 games, Fresno State is 8-3 this season when the duo scores at least 38 points.
- Nevada enters this week's tournament having won its last four games, following two weeks off due to Covid-19 protocols. The Wolf Pack sit at 13-8 overall, 9-7 in conference play.
- While Nevada is in the middle of the pack in the league in scoring at 64.5 points per game, it defense is its staple, holding teams to 63.4 ppg, third-best in the conference.
- While the Wolf Pack is allowing opponents to shoot 40.1 percent, the Pack have been strong against the 3, holding teams a below 30 percent (28.9%).
- Nevada's offense runs through All-MW performer De'Ja Hamilton. The junior leads the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) and assists (2.9 apg), and is also chipping in 4.1 rebounds per game.
- Behind Hamilton is a group of four players who average between 7.5-9.5 points per game.
History with Nevada
- Fresno State holds a 49-13 record all-time with Nevada.
- While the Bulldogs have dominated the series, three of their 13 losses have come in the last nine games.
- The 'Dogs have swept the Bulldogs in their four matchups during past two seasons.
- Fresno State is 3-0 against the Wolf Pack in the Mountain West tournament.
- Fresno State's last win against the Pack in the Mountain West tournament came in 2020, 75-71.
- The last two tournament contests between the 'Dogs have Pack have been decided by five points or less.
The five are back                                                                                                                                    Â
In 2019-20, Fresno State was led by its starting lineup of Haley Cavinder, Hanna Cavinder, Aly Gamez, Wytalla Motta and Maddi Utti in the MW Tournament. The five scored 229 of the team's 245 points (93.5 percent). While the Bulldogs have proved to be deeper this year with plenty of production from their bench, the experience from last year could prove to be a factor for the starters this week in Las Vegas.
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Record-high scoring                                                                                                                             Â
Averaging 79.3 points per game thus far, the Bulldogs' offense is scoring 3.2 points per game better than a year ago when they posted the second-highest season average in program history (76.1 ppg). The 'Dogs are currently on pace to break the program record of 78.4 points per game which was set during the 1986-87 season.
- Fresno State ranks 14th nationally in scoring offense (79.3 ppg) and is shooting at a 45.8 percent clip which ranks 21st in the NCAA.
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Prior to playing a defensive-minded Air Force team, Fresno State's offense had been clicking on all cylinders. During the six-game stretch leading up to the Falcons, the Bulldogs had dropped at least 90 points four times. Three of those came in three straight games. It was the first time in program history that a Bulldog team has accomplished that feat. That run had brought Fresno State's season total to seven with four coming against Mountain West opponents. Only two other teams in the MW have recorded a 90-point game in conference (Colorado State vs. Utah State, New Mexico vs. Utah State twice).
- Fresno State had scored at least 90 points in six games during Jaime White's previous six seasons with the Bulldogs.
- During the previous eight seasons, Fresno State had only reached 90 points against Mountain West opponents three times.
- All seven of Fresno State's 90-point games have come against Division I opponents. The other 10 teams in the Mountain West have combined to post five 90-point games against DI competition.
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Calm with the ball                                                                                                                                  Â
With all three of its primary ballhandlers back, Fresno State's offensive engine was 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.
 - Fresno State currently ranks 18th nationally in turnovers per game (12.2) and 29th in assist/turnover ratio (1.18).
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Let it rain                                                                                                                                                    Â
During the last 12 games, the Bulldogs have found their stroke from 3, knocking down 8.9 made 3-pointers per game. The stretch includes eight games with double digit 3's, seven more than that of the team's first 11 games.
 - After a slow start to the season from deep, Fresno State has risen to 27th nationally in 3-point percentage at 36.7 percent. The Bulldogs are 45th in 3's made per game with 8.0.
- In league play, the 'Dogs are pacing the conference at at 38.7 percent.
- Aiding in the Bulldogs' higher percentage in conference play is having four players 40 percent from 3 in Bree Delaney (50.0%), Maddi Utti (43.2%) and Kendyll Kinzer (43.1%) and Aly Gamez (42.0%).
- While the high-percentage group does not include Haley Cavinder, the sophomore who is shooting 37.5 percent in conference has the ability to explode at any minute, leading the league with 42 made.
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Socially distant defense                                                                                                                      Â
The Bulldogs have done well in the past about not fouling but this season, they have taken it to another level while playing through a pandemic. Fresno State has the fourth-fewest personal fouls per game in the NCAA, committing 13.0 per contest.Â
- The 'Dogs have committed 55 less fouls than its opponents. That has resulted in Fresno State attempting 88 more free throws than its opponents, or 3.9 more free throws per game.
- The Bulldogs have had committed single-digit foul totals three times with a season low seven coming against Saint Mary's.
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Twin scoring 'Dogs                                                                                                                                Â
Averaging a combined 37.4 points per game, Haley Cavinder and Hanna Cavinder rank among the nation's best scoring duos. Throughout the first half of the of the season, the Bulldogs have been led in the scoring column by Haley (19.9 ppg) and Hanna (17.5 ppg) who rank first and second in the MW. The two have combined to score at least 38 points in 11 games, helping the 'Dogs to a 8-3 record in those contests.
 - They are one of 12 sets of teammates nationally who average more than 17.0 ppg.
- The two rank among the top 20 nationally among the top scoring duos.
- The two have combined to go for 40-plus on seven occasions, and are 5-3 in such games.
- Fresno State is 5-4 when the duo scores below 35 points.
- Haley is currently on pace to break Ki-Ki Moore's school record for the fastest player to score 1,000 points. Moore accomplished the feat in 60 games. The twins have played in 55.
Rising to another level                                                                                                                         Â
As a freshman, Haley Cavinder led the Bulldogs in scoring at 16.0 points per game. She is doing the same again but has increased that average to a league-leading 19.9 points per game. On Sunday, the increased
 - Cavinder is averaging 20.6 points per game in conference play, 3.2 points clear of the second-highest average.
- Cavinder is also third the league in rebounding at 7.9 rebounds per game.
- The sophomore ranked first in the league in scoring, third in rebounding, fifth in steals and 3-pointers made per game and sixth in assists.
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On Sunday morning, Haley Cavinder was tabbed as the conference's Player of the Year. She became the first sophomore to win the Mountain West's top honor since 2004. She joins Kim Smith (Utah) and Linda Frolich (UNLV) as the only sophomore to accomplish the feat.
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The Bulldog point guard becomes only the third player in Mountain West history to earn Player of the Year on a team that finished outside of the top three, joining Jennifer Schlott (Utah State) and Linda Frolich (UNLV) who did it twice.
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All heart                                                                                                                                                      Â
At 5-foot-6, Haley Cavinder is not only pound-for-pound one of the best rebounders in the Mountain West, pulling down 7.7 per game for third-best in the league, she is one of the best in the nation. Cavinder is one of 15 players nationally under 5-foot-10 to average at least 7.0 rebounds per game. Of those 15, only Cavinder is listed at 5-foot-6 or shorter. The other 14 are all 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9.
 - Cavinder has grabbed at least eight rebounds 11 times this season.
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 Bucket getter                                                                                                                                           Â
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 and she has been in attack mode from the start of the season to prove that it was a mistake. The sophomore finished the season averaging 17.5 ppg, second to only her sister.
- Cavinder has reached double digits in 21 of 23 games, hitting the 20-point mark eight times.
- In the season finale against UNLV, the sophomore scored a career-high 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting.
- With the fourth-most field goal attempts in the league (336), Cavinder ranks third in field goal percentage at 47.3 percent, 4.2 percent higher than any other player who had taken at least 200 attempts.
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More than a bucket                                                                                                                                                                        Â
While scoring is where she does her most of her damage, routinely making plays that would make Houdini do a double take, Hanna Cavinder is also a crafty passer on the offensive end is a pest on the defensive end.
 - Cavinder has led the team led the team in assists in 11 games and steals seven times.
- The sophomore ranks eighth in the MW in assists (3.7) and ninth in steals (1.6) per game.
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A pretty good third option                                                                                                                 Â
While Maddi Utti was the 2020 MW Player of the Year, and for good reason, the preseason player of the year has been hampered all year with a shoulder injury. Despite the injury, Utti has still put her versatility on display all year and it didn't go unnoticed by coaches as she earned Mountain West honorable mention.
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The senior finished league play as one of only two players to rank in the top 16 in the league in scoring (12.2 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and assists (2.7 apg). The Seaside, Ore. native shot 51.4 percent (one made FG shy of minimum required for rankings), while also shooting a career-best 43.2 percent from 3 (19-of-44). Utti ranked seventh in steals (1.7 spg) and was the only post player in the league to rank in the top 15 in assists, checking in at No. 13 with 2.7 per game.
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