Dec. 19, 2004

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - Iowa State made all four of its shots from the floor and 7-of-10 attempts from the line in overtime to top UNLV 86-78 in the championship game of the Duel In The Desert Scarlet division on Sunday night from the Cox Pavilion. UNLV had a chance to win in regulation when Nikki Hitchens was fouled with 0.8 seconds left and the Lady Rebels down by one, but she missed the first attempt before hitting the second to tie the game at 69-69.

The Lady Rebels held a 42-32 lead early in the second half, but a 13-1 Iowa State run, capped by a three-point play from Brittany Wilkins, gave the Cyclones a 45-53 advantage. The lead then switched back and forth over the next five minutes. Following a Kisha Lee jumper to make the score 60-59 in favor of ISU, the Cyclones scored seven of the next eight points for a 67-60 edge with 3:49 to play. Sheena Moore hit a trey to cut into the lead, and Lee hit a free throw, grabbed her second missed attempt and laid it in to cut the lead to one. Shana Coleman then hit a jumper with 51 seconds left for a 68-67 UNLV lead, but Lyndsey Medders hit a jumper in the lane at 31 seconds to give ISU the lead back. Moore took an 18-footer on UNLV's last possession that was off the mark, but Hitchens came up with the rebound and was fouled on her shot attempt with .8 seconds to go.

Iowa State then began overtime hitting four straight shots, including a pair of treys from Megan Ronhovde, on the way to a 81-71 lead with 1:51 left to play. UNLV meanwhile was just 4-of-11 from the field in overtime, including 1-of-5 from three-point range.

UNLV broke open a tight game in the first half with a 12-0 run, capped by back-to-back treys from Moore and Latosha Pace. Following Moore's trey, UNLV's RanDee Henry was knocked down going for a rebounded and suffered a cut on her forehead. She left the game with 12 minutes left in the first half, but returned in the second half after receiving four stitches. Iowa State took advantage of her absence to run off a 13-4 spurt, coming within 25-24, though the Lady Rebels countered with a 10-0 run of their own, and ended the half with a 37-29 lead.

Coleman led UNLV with a career-high 21 points, while Moore added 20. Lee finished with a career-high 13, while Pace added 10. UNLV shot just 33.3% for the game, and broke its own school record for three-pointers in a game, set last year against Iowa State, by hitting 9-of-34.

Anne O'Neil was named the tournament MVP after leading Iowa State with 29 points and nine rebounds, and was 14-of-16 at the line. Also in double figures was Mary Fox and Lyndsey Medders with 12, and Brittany Wilkins with 10. As a team, Iowa State shot 53.1%, was 8-18 from three-point range, and 26-31 at the line.

Named to the all-tournament team was Moore, Coleman, Fox, Eastern Kentucky's Candis Cook, and Northern Arizona's Nicky Eason. Northern Arizona (7-3) won the consolation game of the Scarlet bracket 85-64 over Western Kentucky after shooting 57.1% for the game.

In the Gray division, Arkansas State (5-4) raced out to a 18-0 lead, and led 45-18 at halftime on the way to a 75-43 victory over Western Michigan (1-7). The championship game also went into overtime, as Virginia Tech (7-2) rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to upset No. 12 Texas Tech (6-2) 71-70 in overtime. Cisti Greenwalt of Texas Tech was named the MVP of the Gray division, while the all-tournament team consisted of Carrie Moore from Western Michigan, Adrianne Davie from Arkansas State, Alesha Robertson and Chesley Dabbs of Texas Tech, and Carrie Mason of Virginia Tech.