RENO, Nev. – Behind career performances from juniors Da'Ja Hamilton and Megan Ormiston, the Nevada women's basketball team held on for a 71-67 victory over Fresno Pacific Friday afternoon.
 
The win moves Nevada to 4-0 on the season with the conclusion of non-conference action looming. Though the women's basketball program at Nevada began in 1899, accurate records were not kept until the early 1980s, making this the first 4-0 start for the Wolf Pack since at least 1981-82. It marked head coach Amanda Levens' 50^th win at Nevada.
 
Hamilton led the Pack in scoring, posting the first 20-point game of her career with 24 points. She was 8-of-18 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and was near perfect from the free throw line hitting 6-of-7. Hamilton added five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Ormiston, who was just cleared to play this season on Wednesday after a waiver by the NCAA, scored a career-high 16 points and was one rebound shy of her first career double-double. Junior LaPraisjah Johnson also posted a solid game, tying her career-high of 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
 
The game was a tight, back-and-forth battle between the Wolf Pack and Sunbirds right from tip-off as neither team led by more than seven points and the game featured 12 lead changes. Fresno Pacific looked poised to take the lead into halftime as the Sunbirds led by five with under four to play in the half, but the Pack defense locked in. Nevada held Fresno Pacific scoreless for the final 2:17 of the first half and closed the half on an 8-2 run, capped off by a layup from Amaya West with seven seconds left, that gave Nevada a one-point halftime lead.
 
Coming out of halftime the game remained close, with the largest lead of the quarter, four points, not coming until there were two minutes to play. The Wolf Pack looked like it was ready to begin to gain a comfortable lead as the fourth quarter got underway, grabbing a six-point lead just 30 seconds in. The Sunbirds did not go away quietly though, tying the game at 57 with 5:51 remaining. On the Pack's next possession, Hamilton knocked down her second triple of the game, giving the lead back to Nevada for the final time in the game. Although the Wolf Pack never trailed the rest of the way, the Sunbirds trailed by just two with 1:23 left until Ormiston sunk a jump shot and forced Fresno Pacific to call a timeout. The Sunbirds answered with two points of their own on their next possession, but Hamilton was clutch from the free throw line down the stretch, hitting 5-of-6 from the line in the final minute to seal the win for Nevada.
 
Nevada will conclude the 2020-21 non-conference season with a road contest at Saint Mary's on Monday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m.