March 4, 2000

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Carrie Bacon won the battle between the conference's top two leading scorers, outscoring Linda Fr?hlich, 34-29, but it wasn't enough to win the war as the UNLV women's basketball team concluded its 1999-2000 regular season with a 96-81 victory over Wyoming Saturday at the UW Multi Purpose Gym.

The win was the fifth straight for the Lady Rebels (16-11, 8-6 MWC), who finish the year in fifth place in the Mountain West Conference standings. They are just ahead of Wyoming (10-17, 4-10 MWC), who will be the No. 6 seed in next week's conference tournament.

Bacon had 21 of her 34 by halftime, but the Lady Rebels used a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 44-41 to close the half. Fr?hlich then went to work, pouring in 18 points in the second half to lead UNLV.

After battling back to knot the game at 50, UNLV kept the attack going, using a second 9-2 run to pull away with a lead it would never relinquish.

The 96 points scored by UNLV was the most this season, eclipsing their previous season best in a 89-59 win at Air Force.

Fr?hlich was one of five Rebels in double figures. Sophomore guard Erin Johansson kept the Cowgirl defense honest on 6-of-11 3-point shooting, scoring 18. Kinesha Davis added 15, Carlesa Dixon scored 12 and Constance Jinks had 14.

The Lady Rebels return to Las Vegas and get just three days of rest before beginning play in the McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Tournament. They enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face the loser of Saturday evening's MWC finale between New Mexico and BYU in Provo, Utah.