Nov. 12, 2003

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - Despite a strong effort from its post game, the UNLV women's basketball team dropped their exhibition opener to NWBL 83-75 on Tuesday night from the Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels held a 38-29 edge at halftime, but committed 17 turnovers in the second half, which led to NWBL's comeback.

UNLV came out firing, hitting seven of its first 10 shots on the way to a 22-6 lead after the first eight minutes of the game. But NWBL would hang in the game behind the play of Felicity Willis, who posted 10 first half points, and cut the lead to 38-29 after the first 20 minutes.

The Lady Rebels saw their lead slowly cut down in the second half, as NWBL turned up the defensive pressure, and they took their first lead of the second half on a basket from Willis at 6:12 for a 62-61 advantage. UNLV's Amy Loftus answered back with a basket at the other end to push the Lady Rebels back up by one. The teams then traded baskets, but a three-point play with 5:04 left from Petra Ujhely gave NWBL the lead for good, as it started a 10-0 run over the next 2:38 to seal the game. Two free throws from Willis capped the run for a 74-65 advantage with 2:26 left in the game.

The highlight of the night for the Lady Rebels was their inside game, as junior forward RanDee Henry scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added seven rebounds, while junior forward Sherry McCracklin added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Junior center Amy Loftus contributed eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Sophomore Sheena Moore led the team with 18 points. UNLV shot 44.1% for the game from the field, and was 6-of-14 from behind the arc for 42.9%.

NWBL was paced by Alissa Murphy with 24 points, including 14 in the second half, while Willis added 23. Becky Staubes also finished in double figures with 10. They finished 5-of-10 from downtown for 50%, and forced 32 turnovers while committing 21.

The Lady Rebels will play their second exhibition game of the season on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the Latvian Select at the Thomas & Mack Center.