March 5, 2005
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - UNLV nearly rallied back from a 19-point second half deficit, closing to within three with three minutes left, but Utah held on for a 61-55 victory, spoiling the Lady Rebels' Senior Day in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from the Cox Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, UNLV falls to 15-13, and 6-8 in MWC play, its first-ever losing record in the six-year history of the league. Utah moved to 23-6 overall, and 12-2 in league play, giving them a share of the MWC regular season title for the second straight season along with New Mexico.
UNLV will be the fifth seed in next week's 2005 MWC Tournament, held in the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo., from March 9-12. The Lady Rebels will take on fourth-seeded Wyoming at 2:30 pm (MST) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, and the game will be televised by CSTV.
The Utes were on fire to begin the game, hitting seven of their first eight shots to open a 16-6 advantage just five minutes into the first half. Utah led by as much as 13, 23-10 with 9:09 to play, before UNLV started to hit its shots. A Brittney Thomas trey cut the lead to single digits, 33-26, but two UNLV turnovers helped Utah score the last five points of the half. Utah finished the first half shooting 59.3%, helped by Kim Smith who scored 15 points in the opening stanza while hitting 6-of-8 from the floor.
Utah kept the run going in the second half, scoring the first seven points to complete a 12-0 run since the last minute of the first half. Jessica Perry's layup gave the Utes a 19-point lead, 45-26, with 17:29 to play. That would be the last Ute basket for the next five minutes, and UNLV scored eight straight to make the score 45-34. The lead remained in double digits for the next six minutes, with a Smith layup pushing the edge back up to 56-42.
Again the Lady Rebels rallied, this time with a 14-2 run over a four-minute span. Sequoia Holmes' layup capped the run, bringing UNLV to within three points, 58-55. UNLV had two chances to cut the lead to one, but Sheena Moore was called for a charge, and Nejlah Clark grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession but her putback attempt was off with 1:03 to play. Utah found Perry again for a layup to push the edge back to 60-55 with 37 seconds to go, and Shona Thorburn added a free throw with 10 seconds to account for the final six-point margin.
Holmes led the Lady Rebels with 13 points, six rebound, four steals, and one block. Moore added 11 points, while RanDee Henry chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Kameca Simmons came off the bench to score eight points and grab a team-high 10 rebounds. UNLV shot 38.6% for the game, and were outrebounded for just the fourth time in conference play, 36-31. However, they turned the ball over a season-low eight times
Smith finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting to pace the Utes. Perry also scored in double figures with 12, while Deanna Hanchett added eight. Thorburn, who scored 18 second half points against UNLV in the first meeting this year, was held to just five on 2-of-7 shooting. The Utes finished 26-of-51 from the floor for 51%, and 12 turnovers after finishing with 19 in the first meeting.
