RENO - After the University of Nevada women's basketball teams impressive win over the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Friday night in the first round of the Nevada Bell Classic, there was nothing but smiles among the players and coaches. Down 37-34 at half-time, the Wolf Pack came back in the second half, outscoring the Blazers 22-8 over the last few minutes of the game en route to a 79-63 win.
On Saturday night in the championship game, a similar situation arose. But the outcome was very different, leaving an upbeat Wolf Pack team a bit shocked. Colorado State, who led only 28-24 at half-time, exploded in the second half, scoring 42 points while shooting 62 percent on its 3-pointers as they beat Nevada 70-48 at the Lawlor Events Center.
"They did a great job shooting the ball," said Jessica Larsen, who finished with seven points. "Our defense wasn't as intense as it was the night before. It just seemed like everybody wasn't on tonight."
Nevada shot only 29 percent from the field, including a dismal 4-of-22 from behind arc. Kate Smith once again led the Wolf Pack in scoring, putting up 13 points, 11 of them coming in the second half. Freshman Ashlee Orndorff, who had 14 points against UAB, struggled to score nine points, with eight of her points coming at the free throw line.
"I feel we are a much better shooting team than what we showed tonight," Gee said. "I don't think that's indicative of how our season will be. We have the shooters but there was just a lid on the basket tonight."
That was certainly not the case for the Rams. After shooting 0-for-8 in the first half on 3-pointers, four different players made 3's in the second, including Elizabeth English and Heather Haanen, who each hit a pair 3-pointers. Three different Rams scored in double figures, including Haanen and English, who finished with 16 points.
Haanen was named the tournament's most valuable player after scoring 15 points against the Wolf Pack. Haanen had 12 points in the Rams 71-60 win over the University of Idaho on Friday night to help CSU advance to the championship game.
In the second half, the Rams jumped to a 38-26 just three minutes into the half. CSU led by as many as 23 points on two occasions in the second, before Kate Whiteside's layup as time expired finished the scoring at 70-48.
"We just came out flat tonight," Smith said. "We had a hard time getting into a flow offensively, and we just fell apart at the end. It makes it really hard to get back into the game, though, when they were shooting the lights out."
Nevada has now lost in its own tournament final two consecutive years, dropping a 59-56 decision to Villanova University last season. Orndorff and Smith were both named to the all-tournament team, along with UAB's Deanna Jackson, who posted her second double-double of the tournament in the Blazers 90-70 win over Idaho in the consolation game. Jackson, the preseason Conference USA player of the year, averaged 26 points and 12 rebounds in the tournament. The Vandals Darci Pemberton also was nominated.
Next up for Nevada is the Iowa Hawkeye Classic next weekend. In the first round, the Wolf Pack will play American University on Saturday. If they win, they'll play either the winner of Iowa/Western Illinois in the championship game on Sunday.