RENO, Nev. – Returning home to Lawlor Events Center the Nevada women's basketball team held off a Wyoming comeback bid to claim a 60-52 win Friday evening.
The Wolf Pack evened its overall record with the victory at 6-6 on the year and is now 2-5 in Mountain West play. Nevada, which led wire-to-wire, came out in Friday's game with a ton of energy and took it to Wyoming (6-6, 4-5 MW) early on in the contest. The Pack had a remarkable first quarter on offense, shooting 75 percent from the field, including two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the game. On the opposite end of the floor the Pack defense held strong, holding the Cowgirls to just 33 percent in the opening 10 minutes and built up a double-digit lead to close the quarter.
Nevada remained consistent in the second quarter and was able to keep Wyoming at bay for much of that period, maintaining its double digit lead into halftime with a 32-20 advantage. The Cowgirls did not go away quietly though and began to significantly chip into the deficit at the halfway point of the third quarter. Although Wyoming never held the lead, the Cowgirls were able to make it just a six-point affair heading into the final quarter.
As the fourth quarter got underway, the Pack looked poised to begin building up another double digit lead until a triple by Wyoming's Quinn Weidemann halted the Pack's momentum and brought the lead back down to six. Scoring however was at a premium in the fourth as both teams struggled to get their shots to fall, which boded well for the Wolf Pack, which was able to maintain its lead. A Wyoming bucket with 1:33 to play brought the Cowgirls within three points but two swift baskets for Nevada quickly popped the advantage up to seven with under a minute to play. The Wolf Pack knocked down nearly all of its free throws down the stretch to ultimately seal the victory.
Nevada was led in scoring by junior
Megan Ormiston who finished with 14 points and shot 50 percent from the field. Senior
Nia Alexander also finished in double figures with 11 points. During the game junior
Da'Ja Hamilton collected the 500
th point of her collegiate career.
Nevada will conclude its series with Wyoming on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 12:30 p.m.
