March 12, 2003

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - With four tenths of a second left in overtime, BYU's Erin Thorn nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to advance the fifth-seeded Cougars past fourth-seeded UNLV, 66-64, in the first round of the 2003 EAS Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Championship held Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Thorn, defending MWC tournament MVP, scored a game-high 34 points for the Cougars, while teammate Danielle Cheesman added 20. UNLV and BYU went head-to-head the entire contest, resulting in overtime for only the second time in the series between both schools since the 1978-79 season.

For UNLV, sophomore Sherry McCracklin (Hazel Crest, Ill.) earned her eighth career double-double with a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. Two crucial free throws made by McCracklin with 17.4 seconds left in regulation evened the score at 54-54 and sent the game into OT.

Senior All-America candidate Constance Jinks (Chicago, Ill.) ended the night with 10 points to put her third all-time in scoring with 1,801 career points. Senior Julia Gray (Riverside, Calif.) showed why she was named MWC Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week recording six boards, eight assists and five of the team's eight steals.

Both teams shot 42 percent from the floor and committed nearly the same amount of turnovers (18-19). From the charity stripe, BYU shot 69 percent (18-26), while UNLV shot 63 percent (15-24). There were 12 ties of the game and the Lady Rebels led by as many as six points in the first half of play.

BYU remains undefeated in MWC tournament play versus UNLV (3-0) and advances to Friday's semifinals. Top-seeded Utah (23-5, 12-2) also advanced to semifinal action with an 83-46 victory over eighth-seeded Air Force (7-21, 1-13).

The Lady Rebels (17-11, 8-6) will now have to wait until Sunday, March 16 to learn their fate for postseason selection (NCAA or WNIT).