Connecticut’s Gabby Williams drives the baseline against Nevada in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Reno, Nev. Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. Williams grew up in the Reno-Sparks area and was a standout player at Reed High School. (AP Photo/Tom R. Smedes)
Hailing from Sparks, Nevada, UConn senior Gabby Williams traveled with the Huskies to the nearby town of Reno for a homecoming game against Nevada University. Williams put on a show for her friends and family as the No. 1 Huskies came away with a convincing 88-57 victory.
Nevada had a program-record for attendance with 7,815 fans coming out to watch Williams and the Huskies. Williams gave the fans their money’s worth with an impressive stat line of 18 points on 8-13 (62 percent) shooting, six rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Williams improved her season field goal percentage to a team-high 59.3 percent. She also leads UConn with 19 steals and 42 defensive rebounds on the season.
Fellow UConn senior Kia Nurse gave Williams a run for the crown on the night, scoring a game-high 27 points. Nurse went 8-8 from the 3-point line, finishing just six points short of her career-high. Nurse will have a homecoming game of her own when UConn heads to Ontario next month.
Redshirt junior Azurá Stevens also had a big night with 17 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. It was the second straight double-double for Stevens, who recorded 25 points and 16 rebounds against Michigan State on Saturday.
Nevada (3-3) stayed close to the Huskies early on, trailing just 7-5 after three minutes. But UConn never trailed in the game and went on an 18-0 run over the next three minutes to jump out to a big lead before taking a 53-26 advantage into halftime.
The Wolf Pack played well in the second half, tying the Huskies 18-18 in the third quarter behind 80 percent (4-5) 3-point shooting. In the fourth quarter, Nevada went on a 9-0 run to bring its deficit to 21 points before UConn pulled away again.
Both teams were on fire from behind the 3-point line, as UConn shot 10-18 (55.6 percent) and Nevada wasn’t far behind at 8-15 (53.3 percent). The Huskies had a huge advantage overall, shooting 63.2 percent from the field while holding the Wolf Pack to 36.7 percent.
UConn (6-0) will head home after a three-game road trip to the west coast. The Huskies beat UCLA, Michigan State and Nevada with an average margin of victory of 27.7 points.
Next up for the Huskies will be a home game against rival Notre Dame. UConn will welcome the No. 3 Irish to the XL Center for a marquee matchup at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Josh Buser is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at joshua.buser@uconn.edu.
