Andrea Wilkinson /Nevada Sagebrush Sophomore Iman Lathan (23) moves on a set screen from senior Mimi Mungedi (55) during the Wolf Pack’s game against Utah State on Feb. 11 at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack was able to defeat the Aggies and break its eight-game losing streak.
by Nicole Skow
For a brief second it looked like the curse of the countdown poster would continue to plague Nevada. The Wolf Pack took a 10-point lead going into the final five minutes of the game. Around the three-minute mark the cheerleaders headed up to the poster, preparing to flip the number over.
Almost as soon as they made it up to the top, Utah State started to mount its comeback. The Pack slowed down, missing more jumpers than it made. Utah State’s guard Julianne Anchling made a wide-open three to cut the deficit to three points with 1 minute and 30 seconds to play.
The Aggies would close the gap to one before having to foul with 15 seconds left. Nevada point guard Kelsey Kaelin and Emily Burns sunk six free throws to clinch the game and end its losing skid.
“[The win is] amazing,” said Nevada center Teige Zeller. “It’s what we wanted for a while. We’ve just been focusing on improving, improving, improving. We knew in the last game it was right there and so this was definitely the night and we just hope to continue improving and continue getting wins.”
While the turnovers were down from its 18 average over the last three weeks, the Pack still couldn’t get the ball in the basket, but neither could Utah State. The Aggies lost the game in free throws, shooting just 50 percent — a shocking figure considering Utah State was shooting a MW-high 74 percent before the game.
It was no surprise that starting center Mimi Mungedi had another double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds). However, it was Zeller who made quite an impact on the court. She only had four points and two blocks but grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, five of those on the offensive end.
“(Zeller) did awesome,” Kaelin said. “I even told her that when she started rebounding. She got so many offensive and defensive rebounds that literally helps us so much to get us a possession for offense. I told her in the game to ‘keep it up-We need you.’ If she keeps playing like this, we’re unstoppable, honestly.”
Zeller has been on the up-and-up since the beginning of the season. She started off quiet, grabbing rebounds here and there. In the recent weeks, she has provided a much-needed spark off the bench, allowing Mungedi to get some rest. With Mungedi and fellow senior Aja Johnson graduating this year, Zeller has some big shoes to fill, but associate head coach Camille Williams has faith in her freshman center.
“I’m very confident in our returners, but (Teige) has a lot to contribute,” Williams said. “Even though we have our returning post players, Teige makes a difference in the game. You can see it. As soon as she went in (she’s) like a magnetic to the ball whether it’s a rebound, whether it’s a post-up, whether it’s a high post. I think what we will see from her is to see her taking those steps forward because yes, next year it’ll be her game, I mean a lot of their games. She’ll have to step up.”
Despite capturing the win, Nevada couldn’t sustain it against New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 14. The red-hot Lobos took the Pack to town, forcing Nevada to commit 23 turnovers. The worst disparity came in the form of free-throw shooting. New Mexico only missed four while Nevada missed 11 shots.
In order to get out of this rut, execution will be key for the Wolf Pack. Going forward, Williams believes that teamwork and hustle are going to help the Pack get off the slippery slope.
“Positive energy has been a tremendous influence,” Williams said. “[Head coach] Jane [Albright] wants us to stay positive, to stay with the kids and keep working with them because we can’t ask for more than what they’re giving us. Last game, this game, as you can see the hustle is everywhere on the court. Sometimes there are lapses here and there on the court, fatigue here and there, but when you do it collectively, one might lack but the other pulls them up.”
Nevada travels to Wyoming tomorrow. The Cowgirls are on a hot streak after blowing out Air Force in Colorado and defeating San Diego State and San Jose State all on the road.
The Pack will come home on Saturday to take on the Broncos. Boise State defeated Fresno State in overtime at home and will take on UNLV on Wednesday.
Nevada head coach Jane Albright remains six games shy of 500 wins, with the same amount of games remaining on the schedule. She currently has the 32nd most wins among active coaches.
Nicole Skow can be reached at euribe@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.
