by RENO, Nev. – A strong offensive showing from the Nevada women’s basketball team proved to not be enough, as the Wolf Pack fell to Long Beach State in overtime, 97-93, on Friday night. Despite turning the ball over 32 times, the 93 points Nevada (0-1) scored were aided by five Pack players scoring in double figures.
Tonight marked the most points that Nevada has scored in a game since its Nov. 30, 2013 contest versus Wake Forest, when the Pack scored 95 points. The scoring tonight was led by junior guard T Moe, who made her first regular season appearance in two years. She finished the night with 18 points, 13 of which came from the free throw line.
It was a back-and-forth battle from start to finish, as the game saw 11 ties and 14 lead changes once the final horn sounded. Nevada saw its first lead of the game near the midway point of the first quarter, when junior guard Hallie Bergman knocked down one of her game-high three three-pointers.
The Pack made its presence on the glass early on, as the team led the 49ers (1-0) in rebounds 17-6 at the end of the first period. With the home team trailing to open up the second quarter, sophomore guard Riana Everidge became the focal point of the offense, scoring 12 of her 15 points in the opening half, to bring her team within two points.
After a three-pointer from sophomore guard MorningRose Tobey (Assiniboine Sioux), Nevada reclaimed a 31-29 lead to cap off an 8-0 run and force Long Beach State to call a timeout. The two teams traded blows from that point forward, however the 49ers went to the locker room with the 44-41 lead.
Coming out of the halftime break, Nevada was firing on all cylinders, scoring on three of its first four baskets, which helped the Pack take the lead once again at the 7:33 mark. Nevada carried that momentum throughout the third quarter and extended its lead to 68-63, after an and-one, three-point play from sophomore forward Terae Briggs (Crow Tribe)with 3.4 seconds left in the period.
As the game came down to its final seconds, the fourth quarter saw a lot of firsts for Wolf Pack players. By pulling down her 10th rebound of the night, sophomore forward AJ Cephas recorded her first career double-double to go along with her 12 points. With 3:45 remaining and down by just point, Tobey sank two free throws, giving her a career-high 12 points.
With Nevada trailing in the final seconds of the game, head coach Jane Albright put the ball in the hands of her veteran leader Moe, and the point guard knocked down two clutch free throws with 17.5 seconds left to force overtime. However, Long Beach State opened the extra period scoring seven unanswered points and the Pack was unable to recover from the deficit.
Nevada will continue its homestand on Sunday, Nov. 13 when the team goes up against Portland at 2 p.m. PT inside Lawlor Events Center.
