March 6, 2006
RENO, Nev. - Nevada (12-16, 8-8 WAC T4th) lost both games on the road to close the regular-season in a tie for fourth in the WAC and earned the No. 5 seed. They will play San Jose State Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Lawlor in a quarter-final game of the WAC Tournament. Wednesday, March 8, 6 p.m., vs. San Jose State, Lawlor Events Center, Reno, Nev.
Nevada Update: Nevada (12-16, 8-8 WAC T4th) has won nine of their last 13 games and finished with the second-best record they've ever had in six years as a WAC member. If Nevada wins the quarter-final game, they would play the winner of game five Friday at 2:30 p.m. (Louisiana Tech vs. Utah State/Idaho).
WAC Honors Fitzgerald, Criner: Freshman Brandi Fitzgerald (Moreno Valley, Calif.) was named the Newcomer of the Year and was joined by freshman teammate Dellena Criner (Oakland, Calif.) on the WAC All-Freshman Team. Fitzgerald led the team in scoring and steals and was second in rebounding and minutes played. Criner led the team in assists and three-point percentage and was fourth in steals and sixth in scoring.
About the Opponents: San Jose State (13-14, 8-8 T4th) won their last two games and tied for fourth and picked up the No. 4 seed by winning both games against Nevada, the other fourth-place team. The Spartans had two first-team all-conference honorees in forwards Lamisha Augustine and Amber Jackson. Augustine (17.4 ppg, 3rd in the WAC) and Jackson (17.4 ppg, 4th in the WAC) are among the WAC statistical leaders, with Jackson leading the league in rebounding (9.7) and Augustine ranking third (8.6). League champion Louisiana Tech (23-4, 15-1) will likely be the Pack's next opponent if they get by San Jose State. The Lady Techsters will play the winner of the play-in game between the No. 8 seed Idaho Vandals and the ninth-seeded Utah State Aggies at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winners of games four and five will play game seven at 2:30 p.m. Friday. Louisiana Tech had four all-conference honorees, including first-team selection Tasha Williams. First-year coach Chris Long earned Coach of the Year honors, as well. Shan and Ty Moore and Aarica Ray-Boyd were named second team all-conference for the Lady Techsters.
The Series: Nevada is 8-19 against San Jose State. The Spartans won the meeting in Reno earlier this year, 64-56, as well as last week's 53-48 contest in San Jose. Head Coach Kim Gervasoni is 0-6 against San Jose State and Head Coach Janice Richard.
The Coaches: Kim Gervasoni is 23-64 in three years at Nevada and over-all as a Division I head coach. Janice Richard is 252-142 in 13 years over-all and 93-111 in seven years at San Jose State.
School Records for Steals Broken: Nevada set a one-game and a season mark for steals with 22 steals at Utah State (2-25-06), with the previous mark 21 vs. Texas-Arlington in 1991. They also surpassed the previous one-season best (278, set in 1987-88) in that game. Nevada has 306 steals and counting in 2005-06. Last Year At the WAC Tournament: Nevada upset Hawai`i in the play-in game, then lost to eventual WAC Tournament champion Rice, 64-54, at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
Best Mark Under Gervasoni: Nevada has surpassed the most wins (previous best was 8) in the Gervasoni era and surpassed the best WAC mark (4) in her tenure here. The eight WAC wins is the most since the Pack's first year, 2000-01, when they were 9-7 and 16-13 over-all.
Criner Shines in Win at Utah State: Dellena Criner helped Nevada erase a 10-point deficit and go on to win by 16 with a career-high 18 points, six rebounds and four steals in a 67-51 win in Logan, Utah, February 25.
Nevada Wolf Pack Probable Starters: G 1 Brandi Fitzgerald, Fr., 5'10, 10.8 ppg G 10 Traci Graham, Jr., 5'7, 8.4 ppg G 22 Dellena Criner, Fr., 5'7, 6.3 ppg F 25 Cherlanda Franklin, So., 5'11, 5.1 ppg F 23 Jessica Preslar, Jr., 6'0, 7.9 ppg
Off The Bench: F 32 Meghan McGuire, So., 6'0, 8.9 ppg G 30 Kate Saltmarsh, Sr., 5'10, 3.6 ppg G 11 Nicole Hayman, Fr., 5'9, 1.9 ppg
Pronunciation Guide Nevada Nuh-VAD-uh Wolf Pack Two words Dellena Criner Duh-LEE-nah Coty Feest COAT-ee Cherlanda Franklin Sher-LAHN-duh Evelina Janisyte Yahn-ah-SHE-tay Salaia Salave`a Suh-LIE-uh Saal-uh-VAY-uh Kim Gervasoni Jur-vah-SOH-nee
Fine Freshman Fitzgerald: Freshman guard Brandi Fitzgerald, who leads the team in scoring, had her first double-double for Nevada with 17 points and a career-best 11 rebounds vs. San Jose State. She topped that in scoring with 23 points against Boise State and now has 15 double-figure scoring performances and one double-digit rebounding effort.
Squad Notes: Five different players have led or shared the lead in scoring and nine different players have led or shared the lead in rebounds so far this season...The Pack has used eight different starting lineups so far and 11 different players have figured in at least one opening unit, though the same lineup was used for 10 straight games until last week...Nevada p;played in eight different states and one U.S. Territory (Virgin Islands) in 2005-06...Games were played on every day but Monday, with Saturday being the most popular day with 15 contests scheduled...The Pack has had 14 single-digit contests so far in 2005-06...The Pack's recent four-game win streak is the longest since the Pack had a five-game string in early 2002-03. It is the longest string of consecutive WAC wins (4) in the six years Nevada has been in the league.
Keys Out: Sabrina Keys went down with a knee injury (torn ACL) against Utah State and is out indefinitely. She will miss the rest of the season but should be able to return next season.
The Pack on the Radio: Fans of University of Nevada women's basketball can now listen to all remaining games on ESPN Radio 630 AM in Northern Nevada, the home of Wolf Pack football, men's basketball and baseball. Sean Brennan will do the play-by-play for Nevada women's basketball, which will also include all post-season games. The WAC Tournament runs March 7-11 at Lawlor Events Center. Nevada will play Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m., against San Jose State. Broadcasts can also be heard outside the Northern Nevada listening area online for a small fee by going to www.nevadawolfpack.com via the link to our audio partner, Yahoo!.com Graham Has Season and Career Highs at Boise State: Junior guard Traci Graham had a season-high 19 points and a career-best nine rebounds to lead Nevada at Boise State.
McGuire Has Career-High Scoring Night In Honolulu: Sophomore forward Meghan McGuire had a career-high 28 points against Hawai`i. Her pervious best was 26 last year at Louisiana Tech. It was the most points since Laura Ingham's 28 vs. San Diego in December 2002.
Stats Leaders: Fitzgerald leads in scoring (10.8), steals (2.1) and is second in minutes (28.4) and rebounds (4.8) and third in assists (1.4). Criner is tops in assists (1.9) and three-point percentage (.364), and Jessica Preslar leads in rebounding (5.2) while the top shooter is Kate Saltmarsh in free throw accuracy (.808) and in field goal percentage (.442).
WAC Statistical Leaders: Brandi Fitzgerald is sixth in steals (2.1) and Traci Graham is eighth (1.9). Fitzgerald is 15th in scoring (10.9), and Criner is 10th in free throw percentage (.725). As a team, the Pack ranks first in steals (11.0), third in turnover margin (+1.19), in scoring defense (61.5), in rebounding defense (38.6), as well as in free throw percentage (.704).
Signees Ink in Early Period: Marianne Lombardi, a 6'0 post from Yakima, Wash., and Marissa Hammond, a 6'3 post from Pendleton, Ore., will join the Wolf Pack next fall as incoming freshmen. Lombardi and Hammond play on the same club team, Sagebrush Hoops Northwest, coached by Mike Hodgins. Lombardi was a second-team All-Big 9 Conference selection at Yakima's Eisenhower High School. She averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds in a guard-oriented offense at Eisenhower. She did score 27 points in the one game the offense centered around her. She was invited to the state all-star game but chose to compete with her club team when that game was played. Eisenhower was 24-3 and won the district title for the first time in several years, advanced to regionals and placed second but did not place at the state tournament in the 4-A (largest) classification. With Sagebrush Hoops Northwest, she averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds. She chose Nevada over Boise State, Santa Clara and Idaho. Hammond, who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Sagebrush Hoops Northwest, is an Honor Roll student and also won the Outstanding French Student and Citizenship Cup Awards at Pendleton High School. A first-team All-Intermountain Conference selection the last two years, she was co-captain and co-MVP last year. She also earned All-Area first team honors as a sophomore and junior and picked up co-MVP All-Area honors as a junior. A three-sport letter winner, she has earned two letters in track & field and one in soccer. She averaged 14.4 points and 8.0 rebounds as a junior to lead Pendleton to a 15-1 league mark, 22-6 over-all, and an appearance in the state tournament's Elite Eight. She chose Nevada over Washington and Colorado State.
Head Coach Kim Gervasoni, Third Year: As head coach Kim Gervasoni winds up her third year at the helm, the program has begun to turn the corner and become an extremely competitive member of the WAC. With a fourth-place tie (8-8) and a a 12-16 over-all mark, the Pack had their second-best finish in six years as a WAC member in the 2005-06 season. Acknowledging her first year here was difficult as they struggled to a 3-26 mark, last year was the toughest on a personal level. Kim lost her husband and assistant coach, Mike, in a car accident as well as the availability of guard Jocelyn Mancebo, who underwent brain tumor surgery in the summer of 2004. But through adversity comes new opportunities and a chance to look within and see things differently. Gervasoni and her assistants hit the recruiting trails hard last year and have brought in one of the best classes in recent memory. Now with depth and more athleticism, she'll be able to mix things up defensively and play a more up-tempo offensive style. A glimpse of what was to come happened in the opening round of the 2005 WAC Tournament when Nevada upset Hawaii, 65-61. Though they lost the next night to eventual WAC Champion Rice, 64-54, they were in that game until the final couple of minutes and proved they can play with and beat good teams. The Pack finished the year 8-22, a marked improvement from the previous season. Nevada lost nine single-digit games in 2004-05, largely due to a lack of depth That first season in 2003-04 did have some positives. Gervasoni collected only the program's fourth win against Hawai'i and just the seventh against Fresno State. Nevada also had eight games that it pushed to within eight points or less and twice went to overtime. With her first two years here now under her belt, Gervasoni and her team are ready to make a statement this year. She brought in six recruits for her first signing class in 2004-05 that shared four high school state championships between them. She followed that with seven new players for the 2005-06 season, including a junior college standout, a transfer from national power Purdue and four of the better prep players in California to blend with seven returning players, among those being three starters. The 39-year-old Gervasoni was the top assistant at Arizona State for three years, 2000-03, before taking the Nevada job, and was the highly-successful head coach at Solano Community College (Calif.) for eight years prior to her stay in Tempe, Ariz. She has also been an assistant coach at De Anza College (Calif.) and at Logan High School in Union City, Calif. In her three years at Arizona State, she helped take the Sun Devils from the bottom half of the league to back-to-back PAC-10 titles and three straight post-season appearances, including two straight NCAA bids. As a recruiter, she has helped bring in two top-25 classes at Arizona State, including a top-10 group in 2003. Additionally, the team grade point average was above 3.0 each of her three years in Tempe and she was active in promoting the program in the community with the creation and development of the Hoop Devils Kids' Club. In 1995-96, Gervasoni had one of the best seasons of her coaching career at Solano when she led her team to a 32-4 record, the Bay Valley Conference title and an appearance in the semifinal of the state championships. She garnered a number of regional and national awards, including California Coaches Association, California Community College, conference, District 8 Junior College and Budget Rent-A-Car Coach of the Year accolades. What she is most proud of is that in her eight years as head coach over 50 players went on to receive their four year degrees and over 30 players earned basketball scholarships. Including the handful of Coach of the Year Awards from 1995-96, Gervasoni has been honored with five different such awards over her career. She has been part of nine conference championships. While coaching at Milpitas High School, she pursued her master's degree in physical education at Cal State Hayward, which she earned in 1991. She spent one season coaching high school basketball before taking her first collegiate coaching job at her alma mater, De Anza College, in 1992. She spent two seasons at De Anza College as an assistant coach where she helped guide the team to a 49-16 record and met her husband Mike, who had coached at De Anza since 1987. In 1992, she was inducted into the De Anza College Hall of Fame for her playing accomplishments.
2005-06 Games in Double Figures: Scoring Brandi Fitzgerald 16 Traci Graham 11 Meghan McGuire 9 Jessica Preslar 8 Dellena Criner 6 Sabrina Keys 4 Cherlanda Franklin 2
Rebounding Brandi Fitzgerald 1
20-Point Games, 2005-06 Brandi Fitzgerald 2 Meghan McGuire 2 Jessica Preslar 1
2005-06 WAC Final Regular-Season Standings WAC Games All Games W L Pct. W L Pct.
Louisiana Tech 15 1 .938 22 4 .846 Fresno State 14 2 .875 22 6 .786 Hawai`i 9 7 .563 18 9 .667 San Jose State 8 8 .500 13 14 .481 Nevada 8 8 .500 12 16 .429 Boise State 6 10 .375 14 14 .500 New Mexico St. 5 11 .313 8 19 .296 Idaho 5 11 .313 9 18 .333 Utah State 2 14 .125 3 23 .115
WAC Tournament Women's Schedule
Tuesday, March 7 (8) Idaho vs. (9) Utah State, 6 p.m. PT
Wednesday, March 8 (3) Hawaii vs. (6) Boise State, noon PT (2) Fresno St. vs. (7) New Mexico St., 2:30 p.m. PT (4) San Jose State vs. (5) Nevada, 6 p.m. PT (1) Louisiana Tech vs. (8/9) Play-in winner, 8:30 p.m. PT
Thursday, March 11 No women's games
Friday, March 10 Winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, noon PT Winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 2:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, March 1 Championship Game, noon PT (CSTV)
All times local/Nevada games in bold
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