Feb. 19, 2004
Box Score
LARAMIE, Wyo. - UNLV shot a season-high 56.3 percent and held off a late Wyoming rally to claim a 66-55 victory on Thursday night in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from Arena Auditorium. The Lady Rebels improved to 18-4 on the year and 7-2 in the conference, keeping them in a tie for second place with New Mexico, upset winners over first place Utah tonight in Albuquerque. Wyoming fell to 8-15 for the season and 4-6 in league play.
Despite Ashley Elliott's game-high 31 points for the Cowgirls, the Lady Rebels did not allow anyone else to score more then six points. UNLV countered Elliott's scoring burst with their "Big Three", as RanDee Henry (21 points), Sheena Moore (11), and Sherry McCracklin (13) posted 49 of the Lady Rebels' 66 points.
A 6-1 run to open the second half gave UNLV its largest lead of the game at 38-23. Three-point shooting kept Wyoming close, and the Cowgirls' third trey of the half brought them to within five, 42-37 with 9:02 left in the game. UNLV answered back with a 9-2 run, and InFini Robinson's layup at 5:27 left giving them a 51-39 edge, and Cowgirls could come no closer then seven the rest of the game.
UNLV opened the game with the first six points, and led 10-2 before Wyoming rallied to tie the game at 12-12. The Lady Rebels answered back with an 16-2 spurt over an eight minute span, opening up a 28-14 advantage with 3:32 left in the first half. A 6-0 run got the Cowgirls back in the game, and they trailed by nine, 31-22, entering halftime.
The Lady Rebels finished the game hitting 27-of-48 from the floor, and held a 35-29 edge on the boards. All but two of UNLV's points came from the starting lineup, as Nikki Hitchens finished with eight points while InFini Robinson chipped in seven. UNLV did turn the ball over 20 times, and recorded a season-low two turnovers.
Elliott finished 11-of-27 from the field and 3-of-11 from downtown for her 31 points. The next highest scorer for Wyoming was Brenda Pickup with six points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Cowgirls were held to 35.6% (21-of-59) shooting, including just 5-of-24 from three-point range.
