As much success as Fresno State has had with its full-court press, coach Raegen Pebley knows opponents are ready for it when they play the Bulldogs.

Especially at the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas, where the No. 2-seeded Bulldog women's basketball team (21-8, 13-3) opens against No. 7 Boise State (11-18, 4-12) at 6 p.m. today.

"There's got to be strategy behind the effort, knowing when to apply it and when to back it off," Pebley said. "It always gets more difficult the more you play another team."

And that could be a challenge this week for Fresno State, after having played each Mountain West team twice already.

The press has helped Fresno State rank third in the nation with an average of 13 steals per game, as well as lead the conference with 20 forced turnovers per contest. In addition, it has played a large role in setting up the Bulldogs on offense.

But teams have game-planned to try to break the press, too. Last month, the Bulldogs completed a regular-season sweep of Boise State with an 83-65 road victory. In that victory, compared to Fresno State's 70-57 first-round win, the Bulldogs had four fewer steals and scored three fewer points off turnovers, while the Broncos boosted their shooting percentage by 3.5% and scored eight more points.

Overall, the Bulldogs' press had mixed reviews in the second round compared to the first-round results. Against Wyoming (23-6, 12-4), the tournament's No. 3 seed, Fresno State forced 24 turnovers, including 16 steals, to win 61-47 after losing the first meeting 78-71 when the Bulldogs didn't press as much.

In Fresno State's second meeting against top-seeded San Diego State (24-5, 15-1), the press was practically irrelevant with the Bulldogs shooting just 32.3% from the field as San Diego State cruised to a 74-49 win. But in Fresno State's 80-72 win against the Aztecs during the first game of Mountain West play, the Bulldogs' press helped generate 12 turnovers, including nine steals, and led to 12 points off turnovers.

Fresno State's pressure defense -- which includes a variation of an extended man defense, a 2-2-1 press, and a 1-2-1-1 press -- isn't always designed to create a turnover. Sometimes, it's applied to speed up the tempo or get the ball out of the hands of a team's primary ball-handler.

But there's no denying that the Bulldogs play their best when operating at a fast pace and attacking the basket in transition.

Fresno State closed the regular season with blowout wins by 25 and 26 points, while scoring 80 and 90 points and forcing 28 and 18 turnovers, respectively.

With an RPI rated 91st in the nation, Fresno State likely will have to win the tournament and receive the Mountain West's automatic bid to advance to the NCAA Tournament for a sixth straight season.

"I feel like our team has done what it's needed to do to build momentum into the tournament," Pebley said. "Now, we've just got to remain focused and apply what's worked in the regular season to the tournament."