Jan. 13, 2005

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - Four players finished in double figures and UNLV used a 22-6 run late in the second half to put away Northern Colorado, 88-68 in women's collegiate basketball action on Thursday night from the Cox Pavilion. With their fifth straight win, the Lady Rebels improved to 9-5 on the year, while the Bears fell to 3-13, and 0-6 against teams from the Mountain West Conference this season. It was the fourth straight game UNLV has scored over 80 points, and the fourth straight the Lady Rebels won by at least a 20 point margin.

Two early three-pointers gave Northern Colorado an 8-5 lead two minutes into the game, but UNLV answered back with a 14-2 spurt, and took a 19-10 edge with 12:27 left in the first half. Turnovers and foul trouble from the Lady Rebels helped keep UNC close, though UNLV held a 45-33 advantage going into halftime.

A 7-0 run early in the second half gave the Lady Rebels a 60-41 lead with 14:24 to play. Foul trouble again hurt UNLV, as leading scorer RanDee Henry went to the bench with her fourth foul at the 13:41 mark. The Bears took advantage by scoring 10 unanswered to climb within single digits, 60-51, on Danielle Hagen's trey. After a Kendra Lambrecht layup cut the lead to seven, 63-56, Kisha Lee's layup ignited the game-clinching run for the Lady Rebels, as they scored 22 points over the next seven minutes. Shana Coleman's two free throws ended the run, giving UNLV its largest lead of the night, 85-62 with 2:49 left in the game.

Hitchens paced the Lady Rebels with a season-high tying 20 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Sequoia Holmes posted 13 points, while Sheena Moore finished with 12 points and nine assists. Henry played just 19 minutes, finishing with seven points and six rebounds. Also in double figures was Brittney Thomas, scoring 11 in her first career start, while Coleman added 11 points and seven steals off the bench. UNLV shot a season-high 56.9% (29-51), and were 7-of-11 from three-point range for 63.6%. The Lady Rebels also finished with 22 assists and 13 steals.

Lambrecht led the Bears with 14 points, while Hagen posted 12. UNC was held to 35.8% from the floor, and turned the ball over 26 times, although winning the battle on the boards 38-34.

UNLV, the preseason favorite in the Mountain West, opens its conference schedule on the road Saturday at San Diego State in the Cox Arena at 4 pm.