Series Record: UNLV leads 15-7 • Last Meeting: 1/6/12 - UNLV 73, FS 71 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Opening Tip The Fresno State women's basketball team hits the road this week to face the UNLV Lady Rebels in search of their fifth consecutive win on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside Cox Pavilion.
After getting the weekend off, the 'Dogs closed out the month of January last Wednesday night with a 60-47 victory over Air Force to finish with a 7-1 record during the month. The 'Dogs also pushed its home winning streak to 20 with the win, now the nation's third-longest active home winning streak.
The Bulldogs (14-6, 6-1 MW) enter Wednesday's game having matched its longest winning streak of the season at four. Since falling on the road at Wyoming on Jan. 16, the 'Dogs have won by a double-digit margin in all four games and have not let an opposing team score more than 58 points.
Last time out the Bulldogs forced 30 turnovers, matching a season-high set at home versus UT Arlington on Dec. 2. The 'Dogs forced 20 of the Falcons turnovers in the first half which led to a 23 point lead during the opening frame. Fresno State has held a lead of 20 or more during each of the past four wins.
The 'Dogs travel to Las Vegas with a 3-1 record in conference games on the road, a drastic improvement from its 2-5 nonconference struggles. Fresno State will look to keep racking up wins against a Lady Rebel team who has only surrendered 60.5 points per game at home to conference opponents.
Fresno State will count on Ki-Ki Moore to be its spark at UNLV as she has averaged 18.3 points per game since conference play began. Moore has scored at least 15 points per game in her last nine contests, which includes all seven conference games.
Bulldog Headlines ► Fresno State heads to UNLV looking to extend its winning streak to five, its longest of the season. The 'Dogs reached its fourth straight win for the second time versus Air Force.
► The Bulldogs average margin of victory in its last four games is 13.7 ppg.
► Fresno State has forced 13.1 steals per game this season, 6th most in the NCAA. The 'Dogs 262 steals are 55 more than the next team in the Mountain West.
► Ki-Ki Moore has scored 15 or more points in nine straight games.
► The Bulldogs are tied with San Diego State atop the Mountain West standings.
►Fresno State has the nation's third-longest active home winning streak at 20 games. The Bulldogs' last home loss was on Dec. 4, 2011 to No. 4 Stanford.
Fresno State vs. UNLV - Scouting Report UNLV enters Wednesday's game having won its last two games to move above .500 in the Mountain West standings. The Lady Rebels defeated Nevada 66-61 and Boise State 75-61 over the past week. UNLV is 4-3 in MW play and 8-13 overall.
Fresno State's high powered offense who is averaging more than 70 points per game in conference play while also shooting a MW best 47.3 percent from the field, squares off against an UNLV squad that is second in field goal defense keeping opponents shooting at a 38.2 percent clip in league play. UNLV has also held its opponents to 60.5 points per game at the Cox Pavilion in four home conference games.
The Lady Rebels top scorer, who is also the Mountain West's top scorer, is Kelli Thompson. Thompson averages 18.2 points per game this season. She shoots the ball from the field at a rate of 33.6 percent and has made 43 3-pointers this season on 169 attempts (.254). She's made 102-of-140 free throws over the season and last time out versus Boise State Thompson made it to the line a conference-high 18 times.
Alana Cesarz, who ranked in the top six of four Mountain West categories, including points and rebounds, suffered a season-ending injury on Jan. 23 at Wyoming.
'Dogs Stay Hot Fresno State, who has won seven out of its last eight games, has remained hot over this stretch shooting the ball. The Bulldogs are shooting 47.5 percent as a team over the last eight games and 43.2 percent from 3-point range. The Bulldogs have hit 64 3-pointers in the last eight games and connected on 77.9 of their free-throws on 88-of-133 attempts.
Farley, `Dogs Can't Miss While the team has been dialed in offensively, Bree Farley has been Fresno State's hottest shooter this month. Over the last seven games she is shooting 53.8 percent from the field to help her average 10.4 points per game in that time. She is shooting 50.0 percent from three. On Jan. 27 at Colorado State, Farley set a new career-high with five made 3-pointers on seven attempts. Her touch from downtown helped her score 15 points in the win, which was her third double-digit scoring performance in the last four games.
Bree Farley leads the Mountain West in field goal efficiency over the past seven games with her 53.8 percent shooting from the field. Her teammates have followed her lead as four of the Bulldogs starting five rank in the top ten in Mountain West field goal efficiency. Ki-Ki Moore is fourth (50.5), Thompson is tied at fifth (50.0) and Alex Sheedy is eighth (47.5).
On the Defensive Over the last four games Fresno State has held each of its opponents to under 60 points and they have done so by pressuring its opponent to turn the ball over. Fresno State has held 11 teams to 60 or fewer points this season, forced 19.9 turnovers per game and posted 13.1 steals per game. Forcing turnovers has been the name to Fresno State's game all season.
The 'Dogs tied its season-high with 30 forced turnovers against Air Force last Wednesday, matching its mark last set against UT Arlington on Dec. 2. The Bulldogs are first in the Mountain West in turnovers forced with 20.0 per game this season and their 262 steals are 55 more than any other team in the conference has. Fresno State ranks 6th nationally with 13.1 steals per game and junior guard Ki-Ki Moore ranks 22nd in the country with 3.1 steals per game.
Thompson, Ki-Ki Moore and Rosie Moult are the top three in the Mountain West in steals per game and between the three they have combined for 161 steals. Those three have more steals than five Mountain West teams have - New Mexico (159), Air Force (150), Colorado State (148), Boise State (147) and Wyoming (102).
Moore of the Same Ki-Ki Moore continues to pour in the points as she as scored 15 or more in nine consecutive games while also shooting at an efficient clip. In five of the last eight games Moore has shot 50 percent or better from the field.
In the 'Dogs victory over Air Force Moore scored 19 points in the first half on 9-of-12 shooting and went 1-of-1 from the 3-point arc. She went on to finish with 19 as she looked to distribute the ball more and get teammates involved in the second half. In the 'Dogs victory over Boise State on Jan. 23, Moore was 8-for-12 from the field for 20 points. It was her fifth game this season scoring 20 or more points in a game and she added seven rebounds, a season-high seven steals and five assists. Then in last Sunday's win over Colorado State, Moore helped the Bulldogs pull out to an 18-point halftime lead by scoring 16 points in the first half. She finished the CSU game with 18 points and she had six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Moore has been very consistent this season and has scored in double figures in 19-of-20 games. She has scored 15 or more points in nine-straight games and been the Bulldogs' leading scorer 12 times, which includes six of Fresno State's six Mountain West games. Moore ranks in the top 10 in the Mountain West in scoring (16.9 ppg - 3rd), rebounding (6.3 rpg - 10th), assists (3.6 apg - 9th) and steals (3.1 spg - 1st). Over the last eight games, she has averaged 18.6 points and 6.0 rebounds. Moore is shooting 51.8 percent in that time and has a team-high 24 steals.
Every Month Should Be January Fresno State is 36-5 in January games going back to 2009 and the 'Dogs were 7-1 in the month of January in 2013. The Bulldogs won 7-of-8 games in January last year and 7-of-8 in 2011. In 2010, the `Dogs won all nine of its games in January and in 2009 Fresno State went 6-2.
