Wolf Pack takes first loss at home
Women’s basketball falls short in close game against SDSU
The Nevada women’s basketball game on Sunday came down to the last two minutes, but the Wolf Pack couldn’t complete its comeback in a 67-61 loss San Diego State at Lawlor Events Center.
The defeat dropped Nevada to 1-1. Sunday was San Diego State’s season opener.
The Wolf Pack held a two-point lead going into halftime, which lasted for the first eight and a half minutes of the second half.
After that it was all Aztecs. Nevada came close to tying the game several times, but each time their shots didn’t fall.
Nevada’s last real chance to take the game came with just 1:22 left in the game after junior guard Brandi Fitzgerald drained a pair of free throws to cut the Aztec’s lead to two at 61-59.
But Marianne Lombard was called for a foul while grabbing a rebound on the next possession and Aztecs forward Allison Duffy sank both her free throws to give the Aztecs a 63-59 lead and seal the Wolf Pack’s fate.
“Our guards just did a terrible job,” said Nevada coach Kim Gervasoni. “We just turned the ball over way too much, we stayed on the sideline way too much … We just didn’t handle their aggressiveness with their defense very well.”
Nevada ended the game with a total of 37 turnovers, leading to 30 Aztec points. The Wolf Pack ended up with 20 points off turnovers.
The Nevada squad also fell short in free throws. It went 19-29 in free throws, hitting just 65.5 percent of its shots from the stripe.
“It could have been a different game,” Gervasoni said. “It gives them hope when you miss those free throws. But to me, that’s not what lost the game…I just think we just folded with the pressure.”
Some on the Nevada squad chalked up the defeat to not finishing the hard work of the early minutes of the game.
“We just need to play hard the whole time, come out with heart, everyone needs to play hard the whole time,” said Nevada junior forward Cherlanda Franklin. “We need to be the more aggressive team.”
But Gervasoni has a different opinion. She said it was the Aztecs’ aggression that lead to the defeat.
“San Diego State deserved to win that game,” Gervasoni said. “They just out played us. They were the more physical team, more aggressive team. They were tougher. They had more heart. They wanted it more and it showed.”
Gervasoni put the responsibility of improving for the next game on the shoulders of her players. She said much of the reason Nevada lost Sunday’s game was because of mental toughness.
“I can’t coach [that] really. If you’re not tough, you’re not tough,” Gervasoni said. “If you’re not ready, you’re not ready.”
After the two teams went back and forth for the first six minutes, the Aztecs controlled much of the first half, leading by as many as five at 26-21 with just under eight minutes remaining.
But Nevada guard Dellena Criner scored five points to spark a 13-3 run that allowed the Wolf Pack to grab a 34-29 lead. The Wolf Pack led 36-34 at halftime.
Nevada was unable to hold on to its lead, however.
After the Wolf Pack extended its lead to 43-36 with five quick points to open the second half, the Aztecs ran off a 14-2 run to take a 50-45 lead with 8:15 remaining in the game.
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on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 2:05 am and is filed under Men's Basketball, Sports.
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