The Nevada women's basketball team won its fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 outings to improve to 12-14 over-all and 8-6 in the WAC with a 67-51 victory over Utah State Saturday evening.
Freshman guard Dellena Criner matched her career-high in scoring by netting 15 first-half points as she led a 16-1 Nevada run in the final five minutes of the half. Nevada came from 10 points down 10, 24-14 at the 5:28 mark, and then went on a 16-1 run to go up by five, 30-25 before the intermission. Criner would finish with a game-high 18 points and she also added six rebounds and five steals, four of those thefts in the first half.
The Pack continued that run in the second half, outscoring Utah State 26-2 as the Aggies went 12:21 without a field goal. They also forced the Aggies into a season-high 31 turnovers.
Nevada would take a 14-point lead, 42-28, at the 13:13 mark and extend that to 18 points, 63-45, for their biggest advantage. Besides Criner's efforts, Traci Graham had 11 points and Cherlanda Franklin had 10 points and eight rebounds.
The four consecutive wins are the most since Nevada won five straight early in the 2002-03 season. It is the first time in the six years Nevada has been in the WAC that they have won four straight league games. The win also guaranteed the Pack at least a .500 mark in conference play with two regular-season games remaining.
Hawai`i got defensive to win its final home game of the season, 57-49, over San Jose State Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. After dropping its last thee home finales, UH sent this year's senior class out on a winning note by limiting the Spartans to just 25 percent shooting and 49 points, the second lowest output by a UH opponent this year.
The Rainbow Wahine improved to 17-8 overall and 8-6 in the WAC with their fourth straight win and sixth victory in its last seven contests. The win also tied UH with Nevada for third-place in the WAC with two regular-season games remaining.
Hawai`i's amoeba defense flustered San Jose State (11-13, 6-8 WAC) all night, particularly leading scorer Lamisha Augustine. With 16 points, Augustine fell just one point shy of her WAC-leading scoring average, but was virtually ineffective from the floor hitting just 5-of-23 shots.
UH struggled itself on offense, but for the second game in a row got the ball inside where it needed. Junior post player Brittany Grice collected her seventh double-double of the season with a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Tanya Smith also notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The pair combined for 13 of the team's 20 field goals and shot nearly 70 percent from the floor, while the rest of the squad shot just 7-of-36 (19 percent).The Nevada women's basketball team won its fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 outings to improve to 12-14 over-all and 8-6 in the WAC with a 67-51 victory over Utah State here Saturday evening.