RENO - University of Nevada women's basketball coach Ada Gee wasn't exactly sure how her team would match up against the University of Alabama-Birmingham in the first round of the Nevada Bell Classic.
After all, the Blazers reached the round of 16 in last year's NCAA tournament and still had junior Deanna Jackson, the preseason Conference USA player of the year. Last season, the Wolf Pack finished a modest 19-10 and 8-6 in the Big West Conference. So Gee had obvious reasons for concern.
Even though it took nearly the entire game, her doubts soon faded away. Kate Smith scored 25 points, six of them during Nevada's 22-8 game-ending run, as Nevada beat UAB 79-63 Friday night at the Lawlor Events Center.
The Wolf Pack (1-0) will play Colorado State (1-0) in the championship game tonight at 7. The Rams beat beat Idaho 71-60 in the first game.
"I had a lot of people ask me why we were opening with UAB," Gee said. "They're an outstanding team but I felt that our team was ready for this kind of challenge and it could only help us.
And tonight, I think our depth was a huge factor because they seemed a little bit tired."
Nevada used nine different players, including freshman Ashlee Orndorff, who scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
"I was really nervous," said the Hawthorne, Nev., native about playing in her first Division I game. "But with the great start that our starters had, the pressure lessened for me."
Leading 11-9 in the first half, Orndorff came off the bench and scored six points that helped Nevada jump out to a 20-14 lead, its biggest of the half.
"I think because we are so deep, that we don't lose anything when we make our substitutions," said Orndorff, who also led the team with two blocked shots. "This win starts our season off right and gives us a lot of confidence."
In the first half, the Blazers committed 15 turnovers but still led 37-34 at the break, mostly because Nevada was unable to convert on the turnovers.
"In the first half and in the first game, the players are going to be a little bit nervous," Gee said. "We didn't do a good job at converting the turnovers in the first half but in the second, we settled down and started to make better decisions with the basketball."
In the second half, Nevada went up 49-48 with 13:03 remaining in the game and never lost its lead. The altitude adjustment for UAB coupled with the Wolf Pack's up-tempo style just tired out the Blazers.
"That's our No. 1 goal, to push the tempo," said Angie Heer, who finished with nine points, all on three-pointers in the second half. "I also think the altitude was hard for UAB to adjust to. We just outran them."
Jackson, who's led UAB in scoring the past two seasons, led all players with 29 points and 18 rebounds. She had a double-double at half-time (17 points, 10 rebounds).
"Jackson is the type of player that you really can't shut down, you slow her down," Gee said. "She's an All-American candidate and people saw why tonight.
"UAB is an excellent team and it will only help our RPI rating by beating a team that made it to the Sweet 16 a year ago. We have an excellent team but at the same time, this is our first game of the season. We don't have any time to relish or enjoy this victory. We've got to get ready for Colorado State."
UAB (0-1) will face Idaho (0-1) in the consolation game tonight at 5. Both games are played at the Lawlor Events Center.
Colorado State 71, Idaho 60
Five different Ram players scored in double figures on Friday night as Colorado State beat Idaho in the first game of the Nevada Bell Classic.
The Vandals' Darci Pemberton led all scorers with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Angie Gorton scored 13 points while Heather Haanen and Ashley Augspurger each had 12 to lead the Rams.
