Women’s Wolf Pack Basketball Wins 5th Straight, Remains Undefeated in Conference Play

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The University of Nevada women’s basketball team won its fifth straight game and remained undefeated in WAC play with a 66-52 win at San Jose State Sunday afternoon. Three players, Dellena Criner 12 points and Shavon Moore 11 points and Brandi Jones 10 points, scored in double figures for Nevada.

With the win Nevada improved to 11-7 overall and 5-0 in WAC play while San Jose State fell to 2-17 overall and 1-5 in WAC play. With the win, Nevada improved to 5-0 in WAC play, matching the best conference start in program history. Nevada opened its 1997-98 Big West Conference season 5-0.

The Pack had an early four-point lead, 6-2, on a field goal from Dellena Criner at the 15:35 mark before San Jose State went on an 11-2 run to go ahead 13-8 with 8:31 left in the first half.

Megan Cherry’s three point shot tied the game at 13-13. The Pack scored on back-to-back possessions on two field goals by Shavon Moore as Nevada went ahead 17-13 with 6:32 left.

Cherlanda Franklin’s basket with 1:36 gave Nevada a 26-23 lead but the Spartans hit a shot with nine seconds remaining as the Pack went into halftime with a one-point lead, 26-25.

Cherry led the team with five points at the half while Jones, Franklin and Moore each had four. Jones had a team-high five rebounds at the break. As a team, the Pack shot 37.5 percent (10-of-28) from the floor in the first while San Jose State shot 42.3 percent (11of-26).

The Pack opened the second half with a 7-0 run and had a 33-25 lead on a basket by Cherry with 17:39 left in the game. Nevada extended its lead to 11 points on Kayla Williams’ layup with 12:06 remaining in the game.

San Jose State cut Nevada’s lead to six, 50-44, with 8:38 remaining in the game before Franklin’s free throw extended Nevada’s lead to 10, 55-45 at the 6:57 mark.

Cherry finished with a career-high nine points while Amanda Johnson recorded a career-high five. Jones grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. As a team, the Pack shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) form the floor.

First-year head coach Jane Albright is now two wins away from becoming the all-time winningest first-year head coach in program history. Two more wins would give Albright 13 wins. Julie Hickey is currently the winningest first-year head coach with 12 wins (12-15 overall) set during the 1982-83 season.

Nevada open a four-game home stand on Friday hosting Boise State at noon at Lawlor Events Center.

[Notes courtesy of Nevada Athletics. Paul Klein]

The Wolf Pack on the Track 1/24/09

BOISE, Idaho - Junior thrower Constance McAlman placed third in both the shot put and weight throw Saturday at the Blue and Orange invitational in Boise, Idaho.

McAlman threw a 13.16m in the shot put and a 17.06m in the weight throw. Aurelia Houston and Amanda Moreno recorded the Pack’s highest finish of the day. Houston finished second in the triple jump with a jump of 11.24m while Moreno finished second in the 3000m run with a time of 10:20.07.

Several other Pack track and field athletes posted top-10 finished at the meet. Tiffany Tandy took sixth in the mile run (5:15.36) while the Pack finished third and fourth in the 60m hurdles with Analisa Serrano taking third (8.88), Gina Deckard finishing fourth (9.05) and Aubrie Neil finishing eighth (9.65). Freshman April Pate finished 10th in the 400m run with a time of 1:01.77.

Polly Smith finished fourth in the 800m run with a time of 2:15.84 while Christy Works finished 10th (2:20.30). The Pack had three distance runners place in the top-six in the 3000m run. Amanda Moreno took second overall (10:20.07) while Amanda Gramly took fourth (10:35.80) and Janet Martinez finished sixth (10:44.34).

The Pack’s 4×400m relay team of Tiffany Sells, Analisa Serrano, Polly Smith and Regal Minyard finished fourth out of 11 teams with a time of 3:59.66.

Amanda Gentry finished third overall in the high jump (1.58m) while Alicia Echaverria took fourth in the pole vault (3.60m). Serrano finished fourth in the long jump (5.33m).

Nevada will compete in the United Heritage Invitational February 6-7 in Boise, Idaho.

[Information courtesy of Wolf Pack Athletics. Paul Klein]

Game Notes from Nevada vs. Hawaii 1.22.09

Hawai’i at Nevada
January 22, 2009
 
Game Notes:
-          With the 74-63 win over Hawai’i on Thursday night at Lawlor Events Center, Nevada improved its record to 12-7 overall on the season and 5-1 in WAC play. The team has won a season-long five consecutive games (all in league play) and won for the 23rd time in 25 WAC regular-season home games.
-          Nevada also won for the 45th time in its last 53 contests at Lawlor Events Center and has turned in an 81-13 home record since the start of the 2003-04 season.
-     With the victory, fifth-year head coach Mark Fox notched his 114th career win, tying Sonny Allen for third on Nevada’s all-time wins list. Fox is now 114-37 in his five seasons at Nevada, while Allen turned in a 114-89 record in seven seasons as Nevada’s head coach from 1980-87.
-     Freshman Luke Babbitt and junior Brandon Fields tied for the team lead with 19 points apiece. It marked the 10th time in 19 games that Babbitt has led the team in scoring and the fourth time this year for Fields.
-     Sophomore Malik turned in 12 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. It was his third game this season with 10 or more rebounds.
-     Cooke also added a team-high four steals in the game.
-     Nevada outrebounded its eight consecutive opponent, turning in a 35-28 advantage on the boards. The Wolf Pack is now 9-3 on the year when outrebounding its opponent.
-     Fields tied his season high with four assists, while junior Armon Johnson also turned in four assists for the Wolf Pack.
-     Freshman Dario Hunt blocked a pair of shots in the victory, the 13th time in 19 games this season that he has blocked more than one shot. With 36 blocks on the year (1.89 per game), he needs just eight blocks to tie the freshman record of 44 set by Nick Fazekas in 2003-04.
-          Nevada returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 29, traveling to Logan, Utah, to take on league-leading Utah State. That game will tip off at 6:05 p.m. Pacific Time. It will be televised locally by KAME-TV 21 and Comcast SportsNet California and can be heard on Nevada’s radio flagship, ESPN 630 AM, and its radio affiliates throughout the state with Ryan Radtke calling the action.
 

The University of Nevada softball team has been ranked No. 22

USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll – January 20, 2009

The University of Florida, which set an NCAA record with 70 victories in the 2008 season, has been selected by the NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll Committee as the No. 1 team for the 2009 USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Preseason Poll. The Gators finished tied for third at last year’s Women’s College World Series behind NCAA Division I Champion Arizona State and runner-up Texas A&M. The Sun Devils received half of the available first place votes (15) and are ranked second in the preseason poll.

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Final 2008 records are shown. First-place votes are in parentheses.

The first 2009 regular season poll will be released on Tuesday, February 10.

RANK TEAM ’08 Record TOTALS Last Poll
1 Florida (14) 70-5 728 3
2 Arizona State (15) 66-5 691 1
3 Alabama 58-8 678 4
4 UCLA 51-9 638 5
5 Texas A&M 57-10 553 2
6 Louisiana (1) 52-15 544 6
7 Arizona 41-19 542 7
8 Michigan 52-8 527 9
9 Northwestern 40-16 511 12
10 Oklahoma 47-14 498 10
11 Stanford 49-15 456 11
12 Tennessee 50-16 302 14
13 Houston 54-11 285 13
14 Fresno State 54-13 280 15
15 DePaul 51-18 279 22
16 Missouri 47-17 270 19
17 California 34-32 255 16
18 North Carolina 50-12-1 222 20
19 LSU 44-18 210 18
20 Virginia Tech 49-19 201 8
21 Washington 30-25-1 193 RV
22 Georgia 46-24 169 17
23 Nevada 44-18 157 21
24 Long Beach State 40-17 108 23
25 San Diego State 44-17 99 24

Others Receiving Votes:
UMass 68, Mississippi State 46, Iowa 43, South Florida 42, Hofstra 27, Oklahoma State 19, BYU 17, Hawai’i 15, Notre Dame 12, Nebraska 8, Purdue 8, Central Florida 8, Creighton 6, Auburn 6, Oregon 4, Oregon State 4, Jacksonville State 4, East Carolina 4, Louisiana Tech 3, Texas 2, UT-Chattanooga 2. Six schools received one point apiece.

NEVADA SOFTBALL PICKED SECOND IN WAC, PLACES THREE ON PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM

RENO, Nev. — The University of Nevada softball team was picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference and placed three players on the preseason All-WAC team, the conference announced today.
 
In voting by the league’s eight head coaches, Nevada received one first-place vote and finished with 40 points, one point ahead of third-place Hawai`i. Fresno State was picked to win the title. Catcher Noelle Micka, outfielder Brittany Puzey and second baseman Kym Silagyi were named to the preseason All-WAC squad.
 
“The most important thing is where you finish, not where you start,” first-year Nevada coach Matt Meuchel said. “We have a tough road ahead of us with a challenging non-conference schedule and hopefully that will prepare us for what is clearly going to be a very competitive conference schedule.”
 
Nevada returns 13 letterwinners from last year’s team that won a school-record 44 games and captured the WAC title with a 16-2 league mark. Eight starters return, including Micka, a sophomore who was a second-team All-American in 2008 as a freshman after batting .399 with 43 runs, seven home runs, 41 RBI and four stolen bases. Puzey is coming off her second-straight first-team All-WAC selection and is Nevada’s all-time leader in doubles and RBI. Silagyi is the Wolf Pack’s all-time stolen base leader and batted .310 last year. She is a two-time All-WAC second-team selection.
 
“All three of our preseason All-WAC players are very deserving of that honor,” Meuchel said. “I believe that we have a lot of talent on our roster with seven returning All-WAC players from last year. I think the voting reflects that the WAC is a very deep conference this year in terms of individual and team talent.”
 
Sophomore shortstop Danielle Patrick and junior first baseman Kelsey Starr were first-team All-WAC selections in 2008 but were not named to the 2009 preseason All-WAC team. Nevada also returns junior pitcher Katie Holverson, a second-team All-West Region selection and a second-team All-WAC pick last season. Sophomore utility player/outfielder Britton Murdock also earned second-team All-WAC honors last season.
 
Fresno State pitcher Morgan Melloh was selected as the preseason Pitcher of the Year in the conference while Hawai`i third baseman Claire Warwick was tabbed as the preseason Player of the Year. Melloh won Pitcher of the Year honors in 2008 while Warwick was a second-team All-WAC selection last year.
 
Nevada opens the season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., on Feb. 6. The first home games at Hixson Park are March 6-8 as Nevada hosts the Wolf Pack Classic. Nevada will play 18 games at Hixson Park this season.

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