Game 12: Fresno State (6-5) vs. Utah Valley (2-7)
Dec. 17, 2022 • 1 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center
TV/ONLINE: CW59 / Mountain West Network (PxP: Ralph Wood / Analyst: Jack Fertig & Amy Finch)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (PxP: Matt Norville)
LIVE: BulldogsLive.com
LAST MEETING: Fresno State 71, Utah Valley 62 (Nov. 11, 2021 • Orem, Utah)
SERIES HISTORY: Fresno State leads 2-1
TICKETS: Bulldog Ticket Office / GoBulldogs.com
BREAKDOWN
Returning home last week, Fresno State went 2-0 after dropping three straight away. The Bulldogs did it by limiting a pair of opponents to 17 (Northern Arizona) and 23 (UC Irvine) points below their season averages.
The 'Dogs have held nine straight opponents below their season averages with six of those being more than 10 points below their average.
Following Saturday's contest, the Bulldogs will play one more nonconference game--at No. 10/14 UCLA on Dec. 20. Eight of the Bulldogs' 13 nonconference games this season will be played in Fresno.
Fresno State has held opponents to 51.7 points per game, ranking 10th in the NCAA.
Jaime White led team's own three of the program's Top 5 marks for scoring defense. The 51.7 points per game allowed this season is 8.3 ppg below the program's current record.
The Bulldogs have kept six of its 11 opponents below 50 points. It is the most in a season for Fresno State since 2016-17.
After scoring her 1,000th career point against Penn State, Amiee Book has been on fire since, scoring 73 points which includes a career-high 31 points at Portland State. The senior has knocked down 17 3-pointers in the last four games.
Like Book, Amaya West began heating up recently as well, scoring 15 and 18 points last week before dropping a career-high 23 against Northern Arizona followed by 19 against UC Irvine. The last three have been the highest scoring games of West's career.
Steady throughout the young season, Yanina Todorova is averaging a team-high 12.5 points per game, eighth-best in the Mountain West.
HOLDING UNDER 50
In the last three seasons, Fresno State has held just three opponents under 50 points. The Bulldogs have doubled that total in the first 11 games this season. It is the first time the 'Dogs have held at least six under the 50-point mark since 2015-16 (7). The difference--that team did it in 34 games.
During Jaime White's first three seasons at Fresno State, the Bulldogs held 19 opponents below 50 points, four in 2016-17, seven in 2015-16 and eight in 2014-15.
From Nov. 15-22, the 'Dogs held three straight opponents under 50 points, a feat that hadn't occurred since White's first season.
The 49 points allowed to Fresno Pacific were the lowest for a Bulldog opponent in a season opener since 2004 (Pepperdine - 38).
For just the second time in the last decade, Fresno State held a Division I opponent to 40 points or less. The last time was on Jan. 11, 2017 against Air Force (40 points).
MOVING UP THE BULLDOG DEFENSIVE SCORING CHARTS
By holding six opponents below 50 points, it ranks tied for the ninth-most in program history. While it may seem impressive having done that in just 11 games, even more impressive that it has been done during an age of offense.
Since 2010, it is tied for the fourth-most in a season. Since 1980, is tied for the sixth-most.
Of the 13 seasons that have seen at least five opponents held below 50 points, five of them came in the 1970s.
IN A DIFFERENT DEFENSIVE CLASS
Through 11 games, Fresno State is holding teams to 51.7 points per game. While more than a third of the season has been played the Bulldogs are holding teams to more than seven points less per game than the program record of 59.0 ppg.
The Top 5 scoring defenses in program history have allowed between 59.0-60.1 points.
Three of those were coached by Jaime White (2015-16: 59.5ppg; 2016-17: 59.9 ppg; 2014-15: 60.1 ppg).
START FAST
The first quarter this season has been telling for the Bulldogs. In all six Fresno State wins, the 'Dogs have led after the first quarter. Four of those have seen the Bulldogs with a double-digit lead after 10 minutes.
Fresno State is 6-1 when leading after the first quarter. The lone loss, the 'Dogs led by just one.
GETTING PAST THE MILESTONE
When Amiee Book got past the 1,000 point mark, the rim has appeared to expand for the shooter. Scoring 73 points in the last four games, the fifth-year senior is shooting more than 50 percent from the field. A near 40 percent 3-point shooter in a career, Book began the season at 21 percent but that has risen more than 14 percent in the last four games after shooting 17-of-33 (51.5%) from deep.
Book started this run with a career-high 31 points at Portland State, going 8-of-14 from 3. The eight 3-pointers were the second-most in program history.
TURNING THE CORNER
For four years, Fresno State had been familiar with Amaya West during her days playing for Nevada. Now with the Bulldogs, West's role has changed, looking to be more of a scorer in her final collegiate season. Struggling to find her shot through the first seven games, shooting 18-of-63 (28.6%), those appear to be a part of the past as West has begun to settle in, scoring 15, 18, a career-high 23 and 19 in the last four games.
More aggressive in getting to her spots, West has combined to shoot 27-of-49 (55.1%) in in the last four, with the bulk of her offense coming in the second half when the 'Dogs needed it most.
SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY
Utah Valley is 2-7 on the season with wins over Park University and Northwest Nazarene in its last contest, a 76-72 win over the Nighthawks at home on Dec. 10.
UVU went 16-15 last season with a 10-8 mark in WAC play to finish fourth in the conference. The Wolverines fell in the WAC Tournament semifinals to top-seed and eventual champion Stephen F. Austin.
Utah Valley was picked eighth in the WAC preseason coaches poll and ninth in the WAC preseason poll with junior forward Shay Fano selected to the WAC preseason second team.
Sophomore forward Jaeden Brown leads the Wolverines averaging 11.9 points per game and ranks second in the WAC in blocks per game (2.33) and is fourth in free throw percentage (79.3 percent).
Defensively, the Wolverines are fourth in the WAC in steals per game (10.3) and are sixth in the WAC in scoring defense allowing an average of 69.3 points per game.