Jan. 20, 2005

Box Score

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Wyoming took advantage of a huge edge in both free throw shooting and fouls in the second half to rally past UNLV 46-43 on Thursday night in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from the Arena Auditorium. With their second straight loss, the Lady Rebels fell to 9-7 and 0-2 in the conference, and it's the first losing streak of the season for UNLV. Wyoming improved to 12-5, surpassing its win total from a year ago, and 2-1 in the MWC.

The Lady Rebels opened the second half with a 26-19 lead and increased their lead to 29-19 on a Sheena Moore trey. After shooting 50 percent in the first half, UNLV shots started to fall short, and Wyoming slowly climbed back into the game with a 7-0 spurt to make the score 29-26 on a three-pointer from Hanna Zavecz with 11:55 to play.

UNLV led 35-31 on Sequoia Holmes' jumper with 5:41 left, but Jodi Bolerjack answered with a jumper off a rebound of a missed free throw to start a 11-0 run for the Cowgirls. Following her jumper, Nikki Hitchens was called for back-to-back fouls going for offensive rebounds, UNLV's ninth and 10th of the half, to just two for the Cowgirls, who did not have a foul called against them in the second half until the final six minutes. Zavecz hi two free throws on the first foul to tie the game and Kristen Lenhardt hit another pair for Wyoming's first lead of the game, 37-35 at the 4:13 mark. Erin Hicks then added a trey with 2:53 on the clock, and Bolerjack hit two more free throws for a 42-35 lead. UNLV did not attempt a free throw the entire game until the final forty seconds, a pair from RanDee Henry that made the score 44-40, but Wyoming made two more free throws in the last 22 seconds to seal the game. Shana Coleman's three-point try at the buzzer banked in to account for the final 46-43 score.

Wyoming finished the game hitting 13-of-19 at the line, to just 2-of-2 for the Lady Rebels. Eighteen fouls were called against UNLV to just seven for Wyoming, and in the second half the fouls were 15 for UNLV to four for the Cowgirls.

The first half was a completely different story, as UNLV hit four of its first five shots. The Lady Rebels finished scoring 18 points from the paint in the first half, and were 12-24 from the floor, with Henry (4-7) scoring eight and Holmes (3-5) scoring six. Up 10-9 with 11:06 to play, UNLV scored four straight and moved the lead up to 24-16, before taking a seven-point lead into the break.

Henry finished with her league-high ninth double-double of the year with 10 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, though was held to just two points in the second half. Moore led the team with 12 points, while Holmes added eight and Hitchens grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. UNLV shot just 6-of-26 in the second half (23.1%), and finished the game hitting 36.0%. They also turned the ball over 22 times, and recorded a season-low five steals. UNLV did hold a 39-28 edge on the boards.

Ashley Elliott, the MWC's leading scorer, scored 13 points to tie Zavecz for leading honors for the Cowgirls. Hicks added nine points and seven rebounds. Wyoming shot just 14-of-45 for the game (31.1%), and 5-of-19 from three-point range (26.3%).

The Lady Rebels conclude their Front Range trip with a Saturday afternoon contest at Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo., at 2 pm (MST).