Fresno State

Feb. 14, 2013

Wyoming Cowgirls (19-4, 8-2 MW) at Fresno State Bulldogs (16-7, 8-2 MW)

Game #24 • MW Game #11 • Feb. 16, 2013

2 p.m. PT • Save Mart Center (15,596) • Fresno, Calif.

Radio: ESPN2 790 AM with with Christian Lukens • Live Stats: gobulldogs.com

Series Record: Wyoming Leads 9-8 • Last Meeting: 1/16/13 - WY 78, FS 71 in Laramie, Wyo.

Fresno State Game Notes

Opening Tip
The Fresno State women's basketball team looks to avenge its loss at Wyoming back on Jan. 16 this Saturday when it hosts the Cowgirls at 2 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.

Saturday is Fresno State's Breast Cancer Pink Zone and the Bulldogs will be wearing pink jerseys to promote breast cancer awareness. The jerseys will be auctioned off online beginning immediately after Saturday's game at GoBulldogs.com.

Fans that wear pink to the Save Mart Center on Saturday will get in with a $3 ticket. Breast cancer survivors will also be recognized at the game.

The Bulldogs and Cowgirls both enter the game with 8-2 conference records and sit in a tie for second place in the Mountain West standings.

Wyoming has won six-straight and eight out of its last nine games. Much like the Bulldogs did on Wednesday at New Mexico, the Cowgirls sneaked out a one-point victory at Nevada.

Fresno State's one-point win at New Mexico was its closest victory of the season. The Bulldogs are now 3-2 in games decided by five points or less.

The 'Dogs have held five out of their last seven opponents to under 60 points and they continue to lead the Mountain West by forcing the opposition to turn the ball over 19.9 times per game.

Fresno State now has six games left in the regular season and four of those, including the next two, are at home. These will be the first consecutive home games for the Bulldogs since they hosted four-straight games at the Save Mart Center from Nov. 20-Dec. 8.

Ki-Ki Moore and Taylor Thompson combined for 33 points on 14-of-31 shooting in the first meeting with Wyoming back in mid-January.

Alex Sheedy added 11 points and Bree Farley had 10. Fresno State was out-rebounded 37-20 in that game where it lost by seven points despite shooting a season-high 51.8 percent from the field.

Bulldog Headlines
► Fresno State plays four of its six remaining regular season games at home. The Bulldogs are 9-1 at home this year and have won 22 of their last 24 home games.

► Fresno State was 29-of-56 (.518) shooting at Wyoming the first time these teams met. That is the highest single-game shooting percentage for the 'Dogs this year.

► Fresno State held New Mexico to just 16 points in the first half in Wednesday's victory at The Pit. It was the second time in the last four games the Bulldogs have held their opponent to 16 first-half points.

► The Bulldogs are 9-2 in their last 11 games, all coming since the calendar flipped over to 2013.

► Fresno State leads the MW in steals with 297, which is 59 more than any other team has.

Fresno State vs. Wyoming - Scouting Report
Wyoming leads the all-time series with Fresno State 9-8 after winning the first matchup with the Bulldogs in Laramie back on Jan. 16. The 'Dogs own a 4-2 record against the Cowgirls when playing them at home and this will be the first time Wyoming visits Fresno since Feb. 21, 1998 when the Bulldogs pulled off a 74-73 victory. Saturday's game will be the 18th overall in the series.

Wyoming enters Saturday's contest hot, having won six-straight and eight out of its last nine. The Cowgirls are 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference to sit even with the Bulldogs in second place. Wyoming is the league-leader in rebounding margin, assists, assist-to-turnover ratio, scoring and is the best shooting team in the conference. The Cowgirls average 72.7 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 38.1 percent from downtown. Wyoming's 151 3-pointers rank second in the conference behind Fresno State's 161. Senior Chaundra Sewell leads UW, as she is averaging close to a double-double with 15.2 points per game and 9.7 rebounds. She is the conference's top rebounder.

Last Time Against Wyoming
Fresno State shot a season-high 51.8 percent, but Wyoming used 14 offensive rebounds to score 21 second-chance points and beat the Bulldogs 78-71 back on Jan. 16 in UW's Arena Auditorium. Wyoming out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-20 and hit 25-of-27 free throws in the game to hand Fresno State its first Mountain West defeat of the season. The `Dogs were whistled for 22 fouls to only 10 for Wyoming and UW attempted 18 more free throws in the game. In that first meeting, Alex Sheedy (11 points), Bree Farley (10 points), Ki-Ki Moore (18 points) and Taylor Thompson (15 points) combined to score 54 of Fresno State's 71 points. The Bulldogs only had 11 points from their bench, but Wyoming only had eight bench points as Chaundra Sewell (24 points) and Ashley Sickles (21) points led the Cowgirls.

Strong First-Half Defense
Fresno State held New Mexico to just six field goals and only 16 first-half points in Wednesday's victory. It was the second time in the last four games the Bulldog have held their opponent to 16 points in the first half and the third time this year holding the opposition to under 20 points after 20 minutes. In all, Fresno State has held its opponent to under 30 first-half points in 14-of-23 games this year and to under 25 eight times.

Road Warriors
Fresno State improved to 5-1 in road league games with Wednesday's one-point victory at New Mexico. The Bulldogs are the only team in the Mountain West that has played six conference games away from home and the Bulldogs and SDSU, who is 5-0 in league road games, are the only teams with five wins on the road in MW play. With the Bulldogs now in the second half of conference play, Fresno State only has two road games left in its final six games remaining before the conference tournament.

This-N-That
• All five Fresno State starters have 17 or more steals in the 10 conference games this year. No other team in the league has more than two players on their team with 17 or more steals in Mountain West play.
• Traditionally, Fresno State has been a team that has finished strong. Over the past three seasons (not including this year), the Bulldogs have a 24-2 record in regular season games in the months of February and March.
• Fresno State suffered a 25-point defeat to SDSU last Saturday. The last time the Bulldogs lost a game by 20 or more points (Dec. 4, 2011 - 93-59 loss to No. 4 Stanford), Fresno State responded by going on a six-game winning streak. Wyoming's last loss was by 23 points to San Diego State on Jan. 19 and it responded with six-straight wins heading into Saturday's game vs. the Bulldogs.