Jan. 22, 2005

Box Score

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Melissa Dennett's three-point play off an offensive rebound with three seconds left lifted Colorado State to a 69-66 win over UNLV on Saturday afternoon in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from Moby Arena. The Lady Rebels (9-8) have now lost three straight to open the conference season for the first time ever in the MWC, though the last two were by just three points each, and all three have come on the road. CSU improved to 11-6, and 2-2 in league action.

UNLV, who at one point held a 13-point lead in the first half, trailed by seven with 2:41 to play, but scored seven of the next nine points, and Sheena Moore tied the game on her fifth trey of the day with 29.6 seconds left on the clock. Colorado State's Sara Hunter missed a layup with seven seconds left, and Lindsay Thomas's follow was short, but Dennett grabbed the ball and hit a short jumper with three seconds left, and converted the foul shot for the 69-66 victory.

Offensive rebounding was the key to CSU's victory, as the Rams outrebounded UNLV 42-36 and grabbed 22 on the offensive boards. They finished with a 29-11 edge on second chance points, including the game-winning basket.

UNLV opened with a quick 9-0 lead in the first four minutes, and led by as much as 13 on a Moore trey, making the score 25-12 with 8:18 to play. With Henry on the bench for the end of the first half, CSU took advantage by scoring 17 of the next 21 points, tying the score on Kyle O'Dwyer's free throw with 1:29 to play. Following a three-point play from Kameca Simmons, Annika Walseth nailed a trey with three seconds in the half to tie the game at 32-32.

The Lady Rebels again opened the second half hot, hitting their first four shots on the way to building a 46-38 lead on another Moore three-pointer. A 12-3 Ram rally gave CSU its first lead of the game on Vanessa Espinoza's layup, making the score 51-50 with 9:06 to play. The lead changed hands four more times, and was tied at 57-57 on a trey from Shana Coleman at the 4:40 mark. Seven unanswered points gave CSU its largest lead of the game, 64-57, but UNLV responded with six straight of its own, and following a pair of Dennett free throws, Moore buried a trey with 29 seconds to tie the game and set up the final play.

Moore led the Lady Rebels with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and was 5-of-7 from three point range. Nikki Hitchens broke out of a scoring slump with 13 points and six rebounds, while Sequoia Holmes added 10. RanDee Henry, who played in foul trouble for most of the game, was held to just five points on 1-of-7 shooting. UNLV finished hitting 41.5% from the floor, 7-of-16 from three-point range, and was 15-of-22 at the line. They finished with seven steals, but just two in the second half.

Dennett paced CSU with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Thomas and Espinoza both poured in 19. Thomas also added 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The Lady Rebels will now return home to finally play a home conference game, as they host first place New Mexico on Thursday at 7 pm in the Thomas & Mack Center