Fresno State women have only four wins, but big chance at start of Mountain West play

The Fresno State women, the preseason pick to win the Mountain West basketball championship, have just four wins as they head into conference play.

The Bulldogs’ scoring is down from a year ago. Their assists per game, down. Their turnover margin, down. Their steals per game, down. Their prospects, however, are trending up. While Fresno State was working through its non-conference schedule with six new players around the twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder, it played five teams ranked in the Top 100 in the NCAA NET ratings including three on the road and one on a neutral floor.

Some of those games backed up on the Bulldogs’ schedule, the second of home-and-home series that could not be played last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the level of competition in the preseason could be a boost to the Bulldogs (4-7), who open the Mountain West with UNLV on Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center.

“We had to put off a handful of those games – we had put off BYU, we had put off Utah Valley, we had put off Portland,” coach Jaime White said. “We should have played those games with the team we had last year.

“That was a little bit unfortunate, but it might turn out to be fortunate. We’re tougher for it. We’ve worked hard together. It has been extremely challenging, but I think our team has stayed really strong together and been committed to getting better and, hey, we’re in it to win it, so whatever it takes.”

The Bulldogs, who have played seven games away from home including six true road games, were within striking distance of No. 24 Brigham Young before they were taken down during a rough third quarter.

They lost at No. 81 San Diego by four, 68-64. They had a lead going into the fourth quarter at No. 88 Cal and lost by one, 73-72. Those five Top 100 teams are a combined 43-11 at this point, and the Bulldogs had to deal with a season-ending injury to guard Keely Brown while White worked through rotation options – seven players have started at least three games and only the Cavinder twins and guard Yanina Todorova have started every game.

The highest-ranked Mountain West team in the NET ratings is Wyoming at No. 83, which has had a similarly rough schedule, going 4-5 with the losses to teams with a combined record of 47-12 (.797).

Is Bulldogs’ preseason schedule a strength?

The Bulldogs will get a test out of the gate, and test that theory. UNLV (8-3) is one of four teams in the conference with eight or more wins, though the Rebels have not played an opponent ranked in the Top 100 in the NET ratings and all seven of their wins have come against teams that are ranked in the 200s or the 300s.

“I do think we’ve played a little bit of a tougher preseason than them, which probably gives our kids confidence,” White said. “As a coach, you want to know that, you don’t want to rest on that.”

There is a bit of history on the Bulldogs’ side. The last time Fresno State won only four preseason games, in 2015, it went 15-3 in Mountain West play, the second-best conference record under White.

The Bulldogs that season lost by one to Colorado State in the championship game of the Mountain West Tournament and won a game in the Women’s NIT, finishing 22-12.

They also have two all-conference players in Haley and Hanna Cavinder, two of the toughest players to defend in the Mountain West.

Haley Cavinder was the player of the year in the Mountain West last season, averaging 20.6 points in conference games, the sixth-highest in history. She scored 20 or more 11 times, including seven of the final nine regular-season games, and is off to another fast start, leading the conference in scoring and rebounding.

Hanna Cavinder led the Mountain West in field goal percentage, hitting 46.4% of her shots in averaging 17.0 points per game. In 71 games, she has scored 10 or more points 64 times.

Both have scored 1,000 career points – Haley Cavinder is No. 16 on the Bulldogs’ all-time scoring list with 1,264 points, eight away from the top 15, while Hanna Cavinder is 22nd with 1,133 points, 39 away from the top 20.

“I couldn’t tell you how good we are, because of the schedule we’ve played, but we’ve had some good moments,” White said. “In those losses, we have had great moments. We’ve had leads. We’ve had some things going. When you play the BYUs of the world, we played them as well or better than most of the teams they’ve played.

“As a coach you have to feel confident in that, and then hoping that lays over into conference play.”