Nov. 18, 2005

Box Score

CHICAGO - Chicago native Kisha Lee came off the bench to score a career-high 23 points in front of a hometown crowd and the UNLV women's basketball team opened the second half on a 24-6 run to win its season-opener 81-59 over Alabama State in the first game of the DePaul Invitational on Friday afternoon from the DePaul Athletic Center. The Lady Rebels trailed by as much as six in the first half, but roared back for the 22-point win, and will play in the championship game against either No. 18 DePaul or Harvard at 5:30 pm (PST).

Alabama State led most of the first half thanks to its outside shooting, and UNLV's struggles behind the arc. L'Teisha Hollowy nailed three treys in the opening stanza, while the Lady Rebels were just 1-of-10. UNLV's shooting troubles were highlighted by Sheena Moore's shooting in the first half, as UNLV's top outside threat was 0-of-9 from the floor in the first half. The Lady Rebels rallied however as Lee started to get hot. With Alabama State leading 29-24 with three minutes to play, Faye Muller completed a three-point play for UNLV, and Lee hit a jumper to tie the game at 29-29 with 2:21 on the clock. Holloway made two free throws on the other end for a two-point Hornet lead, but Lee would hit three more jumpers in the first 1:21, and Muller added a layup on a steal to give UNLV a 37-35 edge going into the break.

The opening of the second half was all UNLV, as the Lady Rebels scored 10 unanswered points, from five different players, over the first 2:59 of the game for a 47-35 lead. ASU answered back with four straight to close with eight, but six straight points from UNLV pushed the lead to 53-39, and the Hornets never threatened again. The lead would grow to as large as 25 before UNLV finished with the 81-59 victory.

Lee finished 11-of-14 from the floor for 23 points, and also tied her career-high with eight rebounds. Sequoia Holmes set a new career-high as well, as the sophomore finished with 18 points and six rebounds, and was 9-of-12 at the line. In her first game as a Lady Rebel, Faye Muller posted eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Sherry McCracklin and Kameca Simmons both added eight. UNLV shot 41.7% (25-of-60) from the floor, but were just 22.2% from behind the arc (4-of-18), and hit 27-of-41 at the line for 65.9%. The Lady Rebels held a dominating edge on the boards, 47-34, and forced 25 turnovers while finishing with 11 steals, four from Muller.

Holloway led all scorers with 24 points, including a 9-11 performance at the line. Brittany Burns also finished in double figures with 10. The Hornets top offensive threat, Latille Ross, was limited to just two points for the game.