One team was on a three-game losing streak with a true freshman starting at point guard.
The other was on a three-game winning streak, the most recent victory coming against the No. 7 ranked team in the nation.
Guess which team dominated.
UCSB’s Emilie Johnson didn’t play like a freshman, and the Gauchos didn’t seem bothered one bit by the fact that Nevada had just beaten mighty Louisville as they crushed the Wolfpack 59-37 at the Thunderdome on Thursday night.
The Gauchos shot 68 percent from the field in the first half while Nevada filled the hoop at an abysmal 17-percent clip, and UCSB went into the break with a 38-12 advantage. The Pack scored almost three times that many points against Louisville in the first half.
“We talked all week about finding a fire and and a heart that really defines this Gaucho basketball program,” said first-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “That’s what I told them I wanted, and I think they delivered ten-fold.”
Johnson tallied 12 points with three assists and a steal on the night, but her poise and swagger while running the offense spoke much louder than her statistics. Reigning Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year Deliena Criner pressured the youngster all night, but it didn’t seem to bother Johnson one bit.
“Surprisingly I haven’t been nervous before any of the games,” she said. “I think just playing along with Lauren (Pederson) and then playing the whole summer against Sha’Rae (Gibbons) and Lauren in pick-up and individual workouts made me so much better. I learned so much from two veteran point guards.”
Pederson scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first half and made 3-of-4 from long range. She and Johnson each went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe, having yet to miss a free-throw on the season. It’s especially impressive for Pederson, who has now taken 20 free throws.
“Lauren’s pretty logical,” said Gottlieb. “I think she’d tell you ‘no one’s guarding me, so…’ ”
“I shouldn’t miss it,” interjected Pederson with a smile.
And it wasn’t just the backcourt that shined on Wednesday. Sixth-year senior center Jenna Green racked up three of her five blocks in the first two minutes of the second half. In order to deal with the Gaucho size advantage created by Green and Kat Suderman — both 6-foot-4 — Nevada double-teamed in the post and forced the ball to be dished back outside.
That was just fine with the Gauchos who made six treys on 11 attempts in the game.
The three straight losses prior to Thursday didn’t seem to discourage the Gauchos at all, especially since they came against quality opponents in Fresno State, Arizona and USC.
“We’re never going to settle to say ‘well, we played a Pac-10 team close,'” said Gottlieb. “Our expectation levels will never change, and to their credit they’ve really bought into that…I saw the score yesterday, and USC blew out Michigan by 30, so it made me feel like ‘okay, we were right there.'”
The Gauchos host an 8-1 Gonzaga team on Sunday which is hovering around the Top 25.
“When we stick to a game-plan and the players buy into it, I think we can beat anybody,” said Gottlieb.
