March 4, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - UNLV shot 4-of-5 from the floor and 13-of-14 from the free throw line in overtime to hand Utah a 68-60 upset on Thursday night in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from the Huntsman Center. The Lady Rebels broke Utah's 27-game home win streak, tied for second in the nation, and reached 20 wins for the second time in the last 12 years as they improved to 20-6 overall. UNLV also wrapped up the third seed in the MWC Tournament with a 9-4 conference record, while Utah fell into a tie for first with New Mexico at 11-2 (21-6 overall). The loss for Utah was its first at home in over two years, when the Lady Rebels posted a 79-71 victory on Jan. 31, 2002.
The Lady Rebels never trailed after Kameca Simmons converted an inbounds pass for a layup with one second left before halftime, tying the score at 23-23. With the score tied at 28-28 in the second half, InFini Robinson knocked in a trey to start a 13-4 run over the next eight minutes. Nikki Hitchens' layup with 10:21 left capped the run, giving UNLV a 41-32 edge. Utah would rally, and used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 43-41 with 5:17 on the clock. The Lady Rebels increased the lead back to five, but were held scoreless for the final four minutes of the second half. A jumper from Mandi Little brought Utah within two, 46-43, and Shona Thorburn's trey at 1:27 left tied the game at 46-46. Sheena Moore missed two jumpers for UNLV on the other end, but the Lady Rebels did not allow Thorburn to get a clean look on Utah's last possession, sending UNLV to its first overtime game of the season.
Moore began the overtime with a trey, and following a Ute turnover, Sherry McCracklin rebounded RanDee Henry's missed jumper and converted the layup for a 51-46 lead. Utah missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Moore's layup gave UNLV seven unanswered points to begin the overtime for a 53-46 lead with 2:56 left. Utah cut the lead to 55-49, and then began fouling with 1:36 left, but the Lady Rebels would sink 14 of 15 free throws in the final 1:36 to complete the upset.
The score had been tied at 10-10 in the first half before UNLV used a 9-2 run for a 19-12 edge with 6:28 left before halftime. The Utes rallied and used an 11-2 run to take a 23-21 lead with two minutes left, before seeing Simmons' layup tie the score to end the half.
McCracklin posted her MWC-high 12th double-double of the year with 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Moore finished with a game-high 21 points. Robinson also finished with double figure with 13, including a 6-of-6 performance at the line in overtime. UNLV shot 40.4% (23-57) from the floor, 33.3% (4-of-12) from three-point range, and a season-high 81.8% (18-of-22) at the line.
Utah was paced by Kim Smith's 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mandie Little, Carley Marshall, and Shona Thorburn all finished with 11 points for the Utes, who shot 40.0 (25-62) from the field. Coming into the game ranking second in the nation in three-point shooting, Utah was held to just 25% (6-of-24).
The Lady Rebels stay in Utah to conclude the regular season, as they will meet BYU in Provo, Utah, on Saturday at 4 pm (MST).
