Reno Gazette-Journal/Women

[50's PONY]

Wolf Pack women topple WAC-leading Mustangs

Jim Krajewski
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
1/8/2005 11:28 pm

Liz Margerum/Liz Margerum
Nevada’s Meghan McGuire looks to take a shot as SMU’s Shonte Roberts defends during their WAC game Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack won, 63-62.



They’ve had other wins, but Saturday’s was probably the biggest in recent memory for the Nevada women’s basketball team.

The 166 fans who ventured out into the snow to Lawlor Events Center saw the Wolf Pack take a giant step in its rebuilding process as it defeated SMU, 63-62.

Nevada improved to 1-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, 5-9 overall. SMU was off to its best-ever start and was in first place in the WAC, but fell to 3-1, 12-2.

Nevada coach Kim Gervasoni said it was the biggest win in her two seasons at Nevada.

“This is a big step for us,” Gervasoni said. “That’s a great, great team. They’re very well coached. I think if SMU is one of the best teams we’ve played, it’s probably our biggest win.”

Nevada’s seniors led the way. Tish Anderson led all scorers with 18 points, 12 in the second half, including three 3-pointers. April Bankston had a big night in the paint, adding 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds, and Amber Young had 10 points and dished out six of Nevada’s 16 assists. Janielle Dodds and Katie Gross each had 12 points for the Mustangs.

“It’s exciting to get a win like this,” Young said. “It’s a big boost to our confidence. They are the best team in the conference.

“They’d score and we’d respond, get a stop. We did have turnovers, but we came down and got the stops we needed. We were diving on all the loose balls tonight. If we didn’t get it, we tied it up.”

SMU was hot early, hitting 65 percent from the field for the first 15 minutes, before cooling off to 48 percent at the half when it held a 35-29 lead. But it got cold in the second half, shooting 39 percent. Meanwhile Nevada went from hitting 41 percent in the first half to 44 percent.

SMU hit three quick 3-pointers in a row to open a 10-point lead in the first half. Nevada maintained its composure, shrugged off turnovers and played tenacious defense. After the 3-point barrage, Gervasoni switched from a zone defense to man-to-man, and the Mustangs hit just one more 3-pointer.

“When we made a mistake, we missed a shot that we should have made or we turned the ball over, we came down and got stops,” Gervasoni said. “We won this game with our defense.”

With 7:29 to play, freshman Andrea Sitton hit from inside off a nice pass from Young to give Nevada its first tie at 52-52. SMU briefly regained the lead, but then, with 6:42 remaining, Anderson hit a driving layup from the left side and was fouled, converting the three-point play. Nevada never trailed again.

“We work every day in practice on attacking the basket,” Anderson said. “If she cuts me off one way, I’m going to attack and spin, and all I’ve got to do is finish.”

The situation got a little dicey as SMU tied it at 57-57 on a three-point play by Dodds. Nevada then had a turnover, but Meghan McGuire blocked a shot at the SMU baseline, her second block of the night, and Anderson was fouled at the other end, hitting both free throws.

With SMU trailing, 63-62 with 40 seconds left, the Mustangs’ Sarah Davis made a pass that went out of bounds under the SMU basket. Nevada called a timeout with 20 seconds left, but turned it back over with 11 seconds to go. A diving Young managed to tie up the ball, but the possession arrow went SMU’s way with 6.8 seconds left. SMU got a shot off after the clock expired and Pack players leapt around the court.

“They’re a hard-working team, but we showed we’re an even harder working team,” Anderson said. “We showed we can play two halves.”

Gervasoni said a quote prepared by her late husband and assistant coach Mike Gervasoni was going through her head late in the game.

“Before every game, Mike had a list of quotes he was going to share with the team. I took this one and put it on board tonight,” she said. “It was about controlling your own destiny. I told them that you can choose to play hard and your destiny’s going to be that you’re in the game. I thought at the end it was appropriate. I said, ‘There’s six seconds left, we control our own destiny.’ By playing defense, we got the stop. It showed the girls that if they choose to come out and play hard, good things will happen.”



Copyright © 2005 The Reno Gazette-Journal

[ALEX LIFESON]

Very disappointing loss. It's almost like this program can't handle even a little bit of success.