Feb. 19, 2005

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - Junior guard Sheena Moore scored a game-high 20 points and UNLV held off a late Wyoming rally to win its 10th straight home game, 70-66 over the Cowgirls in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from the Cox Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, their third straight in conference play, the Lady Rebels improved to 14-10 overall, and are now in a tie for fourth in the MWC at 5-5, while Wyoming fell to 14-10, and 5-6 in the conference.

Wyoming held a 34-31 halftime lead, but UNLV opened the second half on an 8-0 run. An offensive rebound and putback from RanDee Henry capped the run for a 39-34 edge with 16:13 to play. With Wyoming trailing 43-40 after a Michelle Taylor jumper, UNLV ran off an 11-2 spurt for a 12-point edge, 54-42 with 9:50 on the clock. A 7-0 Cowgirl run brought them back into the game, cutting the score to 57-52 with five minutes to go.

A Brittney Thomas trey gave UNLV a 65-58 lead at the 1:23 mark, but Ashley Elliott scored six straight points on a three-pointer, a steal, and a three-point play to bring Wyoming within one, 65-64 with 32 seconds to play. Kameca Simmons was then fouled, and after making her first free throw, UNLV rebounded her missed second attempt, and Moore was sent to the line where she drained both. Taylor hit a layup at the other end to make it a 68-66 game with eight seconds left. The Lady Rebels then sealed the game as Moore's inbound baseball pass down the court found Sequoia Holmes all alone, and she converted the layup for the four-point victory.

The story of the first half was three-point shooting, as both teams hit four of their first five attempts from downtown. Wyoming's fourth trey of the half gave the Cowgirls a 14-7 lead six minutes into the game. UNLV stayed close, and took a 29-28 lead on a Kisha Lee free throw, before back-to-back three-pointers from Hanna Zavecz and Erin Hicks gave Wyoming the lead back at 34-29. A jumper from Shana Coleman to end the half brought UNLV within three, 34-31.

Moore led all scorers as she was 4-of-6 from behind the arc on the way to finishing with 20 points and five assists. Joining her in double figures for UNLV was Henry with 13 points and seven rebounds, Holmes with 12 points, and Thomas with 11 and a career-high tying five assists. UNLV shot 46% for the game, and was 7-of-15 (46.7%) from behind the arc. The Lady Rebels also hit 77.3% (17-of-22) at the line. They held a 34-27 edge on the boards, and scored 23 points off 18 Wyoming turnovers, while the Cowgirls converted UNLV's 19 turnovers into just 10 points.

Taylor paced the Cowgirls with 16 points, while Zavecz and Elliott both finished with 13. Hicks also finished in double figures with 12 points. Wyoming hit 7-of-11 (63.6%) from behind the arc in the first half, but were just 2-of-9 (22.2%) in the second half.

UNLV next undertakes its last road trip of the regular season as the Lady Rebels take on Air Force on Thursday at 6 pm (PST), and New Mexico on CSTV on Saturday at 1 pm (PST).