Women’s basketball: Ward ignites second half rally

By: Juan López

Monday, November 23, 2009 - 11:30 PM

WILLLLwebsports_wbasketball_block2_20091123_durkin

Nevada forward Kayla Williams, right, tied for the team lead with 10 rebounds and blocked a shot in her team's 50-38 win over Weber State Monday night at Lawlor Events Center. Photo by Casey Durkin/The Nevada Sagebrush

Early in the second half of the Nevada women’s basketball team’s game against Weber State, the Wolf Pack’s once-double-digit lead was cut down to just four points.

And then Johnna Ward took over.

In the next five minutes of the game, the junior Nevada guard went 4-for-4 from the field to help extend her team’s lead back to double digits.

“They hit some shots and cut (the lead down) and rather than thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?’, we had an upperclassmen step up and do well,” Nevada head coach Jane Albright said after the game.

Behind Ward’s game-high 13 points and four steals (all of which came in the second half), the Wolf Pack (3-1) cruised to a 50-38 lead Monday night at Lawlor Events Center.

Aside from Ward’s play, the victory was highlighted by scrappy play by Nevada. The team forced the Wildcats into 24 turnovers, held them to just 26.4 percent shooting from the field while pulling down 19 offensive rebounds.

On its own defensive glass, Nevada’s forwards dominated. Shavon Moore (10 rebounds), Kayla Williams (10 rebounds) and Marianne Lombardi (nine rebounds) were a main reason as to why the Wolf Pack owned a 47-36 rebounding advantage after the game.

“There was one trip where we had like three (offensive rebounds) in a row,” said Moore, who chipped in with two blocks and two steals. “We were just crashing in. If I’m on the bench and I see that we’re not rebounding, I’ll get upset and start yelling about it.”

With the win, Nevada started the season 3-1 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

The Wolf Pack will next play in the Nugget Classic where it will battle Columbia at 2 p.m. Friday. Iowa and West Virginia will play at 4 p.m. Friday to decide the other finalist. The third place game is set for 5 p.m. Saturday while the championship game is slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.

Juan López can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.