Feb. 24, 2005
Box Score
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Senior forward RanDee Henry scored a game-high 23 points and UNLV held off a determined Air Force squad to earn a 70-63 victory in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Thursday night from the Clune Arena. The win, the Lady Rebels' first conference road win of the year, improved them to 15-10 overall, and their fourth straight MWC win moved them alone into fourth place at 6-5. The Falcons fell to 7-17, 2-9 in league play.
Though UNLV won the first meeting between the two 76-51 earlier this year in Las Vegas, the Falcons kept the game close the entire contest, and held an early 14-11 lead six minutes into the game. After the Falcons broke the seventh tie of the game on a Letricia Castillo jumper, making the score 26-24, UNLV ran off seven unanswered points and never trailed again. A three-point play from Nikki Hitchens first gave the lead back to the Lady Rebels, and then Sheena Moore came up with a steal and turned it into a layup on back-to-back possessions for a 31-26 edge with six minutes to play in the half. UNLV led by as much as eight before a Pamela Findlay trey brought Air Force within five, 39-34, going into halftime.
With UNLV holding a 45-38 second half lead on a three-point play from Henry, a 6-0 Falcon cut the to advantage to just one, 45-44, on a steal and layup by Alecia Steele. Moore answered back with a trey to push the UNLV edge to 48-44. The Lady Rebels would lead by as much as 10 twice in the second half, the last 61-51 with eight minutes on the clock on an Amy Loftus layup. Air Force then made its last run of the contest, as the Falcons scored nine of the next 11 points, and Castillo's three-pointer made the score 63-60. UNLV held on defense though, holding the Falcons to just two points over the last 4:46 to come out with the victory.
Henry was nine-of-15 from the floor for her 23 points, and added seven rebounds. Moore poured in 14 points, while Hitchens posted her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. UNLV shot 41% for the game, and was just 2-of-13 from downtown. The Lady Rebels also struggled at the line, hitting 18-of-29 for 62.1%. They did win the rebounding battle 42-31, which lead to a 23-11 edge on second chance points. They also finished with nine steals while forcing 17 Falcon turnovers.
Jacki Novak paced Air Force with 14 points, as she was 7-of-9 from the floor, while Findlay came off the bench to hit 5-of-6 for 11 points. They were the only two Falcons in double figures. As a team, Air Force shot 52% for the game, but were just 8-of-16 at the line for 50%. They also finished with 22 points from their bench, to 11 for the Lady Rebels.
The Lady Rebels remain on the road for their next game, as they take on New Mexico in a CSTV game on Saturday at 1 pm (PST) in Albuquerque.
