RENO, Nev. - The University of Nevada women's basketball team will make its third Women's National Invitational appearance in program history Thursday, March 17 traveling to face St. Mary's in Moraga, Calif. The two teams will tip-off at 7 p.m. PDT.
Nevada went to the WNIT last season and also the 2006-07 season traveling to Wyoming both times. Last year the Pack was defeated 74-53 while losing 84-56. The Wolf Pack will face St. Mary's for the 15th time in the series going 7-8 against the Gaels. Nevada is just 2-6 against St. Mary's in Moraga, last facing the Gaels on the road last season, on Nov. 20, 2009 losing 65-52.
This year, Nevada finished the season with a school-record for wins at 21-10 (9-7 WAC). The Pack was eliminated from the 2011 WAC Tournament in the semifinal by the regular-season champion Louisiana Tech after having been the only team to beat the Lady Techsters during the regular season. Nevada is shooting 42.1 percent from the field, 32.7 from beyond the arc and 70.5 from the free throw line.
The Pack is led by senior captain Tahnee Robinson, who is currently the eighth-best scorer in the nation at 22.2 points per game. She was named first-team All-WAC and to the WAC All-Tournament team after averaging 29 points over two games, setting a career-high with 35 in the quarterfinal win over Idaho. With those 35 points she broke the 1,000-point career mark now sitting at 1,031.
St. Mary's (19-12; 10-4 WCC) finished in second place in the West Coast Conference and fell to top-seeded Gonzaga in the title game of the WCC Tournament. The Gaels have three players averaging in double-figures with Jasmine Smith leading the team with 18.3 ppg while Louella Tomlinson has 14.0 ppg and Kate Gaze has 11.1 ppg.
