Dec. 15, 2002
Box Score
HONOLULU - A battle of former conference foes rekindled an old rivalry as the UNLV women's basketball team fell to host Hawai'i, 71-66, in the championship game of the seventh annual University of Hawai'i Invitational Sunday night at the Stan Sherriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (5-2) broke out to an 8-0 game-opening run and held the Lady Rebels without a basket for six and a half minutes of play. Freshman Sheena Moore (Lansing, Mich.) ended the scoring drought with a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Lady Rebels on the board. Moore, who notched 11 points, would give UNLV its first lead of the game at 14:02 of the second half on her second three-point shot of the night.
Foul trouble plagued the Lady Rebels throughout the game. In the first half alone, UNLV committed nine of its 23 fouls of the game with sophomore Sherry McCracklin (Hazel Crest, Ill.) racking up three in just the first four minutes of play. McCracklin fouled out with seven points and seven rebounds. Senior All-America candidate Constance Jinks (Chicago, Ill.) turned in a team-high 15 points, before fouling out of the game with 3:55 left in regulation.
With eight-tenths of a second remaining in the game, UNLV cut the Rainbow Wahine's lead to three on a three-pointer made by senior Julia Gray (Riverside, Calif.). It, however, would not be enough for a comeback. Gray contributed a season-high 14 points and three steals in the team's second-place tournament finish.
Traditional rivals when both teams were members of the Big West Conference and Western Athletic Conference, Hawai'i picks up only its 13th all-time win over UNLV in 44 meetings. Prior to tonight's matchup, both teams last met during the 1998-99 season in the first round of the WAC Tournament, where the Lady Rebels prevailed, 73-67, their first win against the Wahine after a string of seven straight losses from 1995-98.
Jinks was named to the all-tournament team along with Tamika Dudley (Long Island), Jenny Pfeiffer (Kentucky) and Jade Abele (Hawai'i). Tournament Co-MVP honors were shared by UH's Christen Roper and Natasja Allen. Abele and Allen both registered game-highs of 17 points for Hawai'i.
UNLV (5-2) returns home this week to host non-conference matches versus Iona on Friday, Dec. 20 at 7:35 p.m. and No. 24-ranked Arizona on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. All games to be played at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.
