March 9, 2006
RENO, Nev. - Fifth-seeded Nevada (13-16) will take on top-ranked Louisiana Tech (24-4), in the second WAC semi-final game this Friday, March 10, at 2:30 p.m. in Lawlor Events Center here. Nevada won its 10th game in the last 14 outings with a a convincing 76-61 triumph over fourth-seed San Jose State Wednesday night, the first time a Kim Gervasoni team was able to upend the Spartans in her three years here.
Radio/TV: 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. Dan Gustin, long-time voice of "The Pack" and Kurt Esser, Nevada's Assistant Athletics Director/Marketing & Promotions, will call the action. 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 For those with high-speed internet connections, the game is also available on WACtv via the WAC website, wacsports.com
Tickets: Women's session tickets are $10 and all seating is general admission. Contact the Lawlor Events Center Ticket Office at (775) 784-4659 for ticket questions. Parking is free in the Whalen Parking Garage, the top three floors of the West Stadium Parking Complex and the north University lots.
Nevada Wolf Pack Probable Starters: G 1 Brandi Fitzgerald, Fr., 5'10, 10.8 ppg G 10 Traci Graham, Jr., 5'7, 8.3 ppg G 22 Dellena Criner, Fr., 5'7, 6.7 ppg F 25 Cherlanda Franklin, So., 5'11, 5.3 ppg F 23 Jessica Preslar, Jr., 6'0, 8.3 ppg Off The Bench: F 32 Meghan McGuire, So., 6'0, 8.7 ppg G 30 Kate Saltmarsh, Sr., 5'10, 3.5 ppg F 33 Salaia Salave'a, Sr., 6'0, 2.6 ppg
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 leads the team in scoring and steals and is second in rebounding and minutes played. Criner paces the team in assists and three-point percentage and ranks fourth in steals and sixth in scoring.
About the Opponent: League champion Louisiana Tech (24-4, 15-1) beat Idaho Wednesday night, 80-57, to advance to the semi-finals. The Lady Techsters 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 0-11 against Louisiana Tech and Head Coach Kim Gervasoni is 0-6 against them. She is 0-2 against Head Coach Chris Long. The Lady Techsters won both meetings this year, a 75-34 decision in Ruston, La., and a 72-57 contest in Reno. The two have never met in the WAC Tournament.
The Coaches: Kim Gervasoni is 24-64 in three years at Nevada and over-all as a Division I head coach. Chris Long is 24-4 at Louisiana Tech and over-all in one year as a head coach.
Down The Road: If Nevada wins Friday, they will play in the championship game at noon Saturday on CSTV. The winner of the WAC Tournament earns the NCAA Tournament automatic bid.
Nevada Highlights vs. San Jose State in Quarter-Finals: Nevada held an eight-point halftime advantage and built a 15-point lead to win 76-61. Dellena Criner had 18 points and seven rebounds (a career-high) and Cherlanda Franklin had 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds while Jessica Preslar added 18 markers and Brandi Fitzgerald had 11 markers to lead the Pack. It was Gervasoni's first win in seven tries against the Spartans. Nevada's 30 free throws made tied the WAC Tournament record.
School Records for Steals Broken at Utah State: 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 316 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 surpassed the most wins (previous best was 8) in the Gervasoni era and eclipsed the best WAC mark (4) in her tenure here. The eight WAC wins is the most since the Pack's first year in the league, 2000-01, when they were 9-7 and 16-13 over-all.
Squad Notes: Seven 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...Nevada 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...Nevada's win over San Jose State was the first in six tries for Gervasoni and the first over the Spartans since a 2001 win in Reno...The 30-33 at the free throw line against San Jose State fell just short of season bests - those are 31 for 38 vs. Northwestern State (La.)...Dellena Criner continues to lead the team free throws made (75) and attempted (100)...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 for the 2006-07 campaign.
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.
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.
Fine Freshman Fitzgerald: WAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, freshman guard Brandi Fitzgerald, 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 in Reno earlier this season. She topped that in scoring with 23 points against Boise State and now has 17 double-figure scoring performances and one double-digit rebounding effort.
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 (28.3) and rebounds (4.7) and third in assists (1.4). Criner is tops in assists (1.9) and three-point percentage (.382), 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: Fitzgerald is sixth in steals (2.1) and 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. 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.
Third-Year Head Coach Kim Gervasoni: 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 13-16 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 17 Traci Graham 11 Meghan McGuire 9 Jessica Preslar 9 Dellena Criner 7 Sabrina Keys 4 Cherlanda Franklin 3
Rebounding Brandi Fitzgerald 1
20-Point Games, 2005-06 Brandi Fitzgerald 2 Meghan McGuire 2 Jessica Preslar 1
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
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