March 19, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State shot 61% in the second half and held UNLV to just two field goals for the first 12 minutes of the second half to claim a 77-57 victory in the first round of the Postseason WNIT on Sunday afternoon from the Save Mart Center. With the UNLV loss, the home team has won every single game in this year's WNIT Tournament through 23 games, and it also improved the Lady Bulldogs to 14-1 in their home arena this season. UNLV finishes the season at 18-12, while FSU moved to 24-7 overall, and will face Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas, on Wednesday in the second round.
FSU held a 32-26 halftime lead, and led 37-30 after Sherry McCracklin converted a layup for the Lady Rebels with 17:25 to go on the clock. That was the closest UNLV would be the rest of the game, as six missed shots and nine turnovers over the next nine minutes allowed FSU to reel off a 22-5 run. The Lady Bulldogs made 9-of-15 from the floor during the run, and took their largest lead of the game at 25 points, 62-37 on an Andrea Roberson trey with 7:10 on the clock.
UNLV did make one final rally, as guards Brittney Thomas and Sheena Moore scored 10 unanswered points, thanks to a pair of free throws and a trey from each. Following an Amy Parrish layup, Moore added another three to bring the Lady Rebels within 14, 64-50 with 4:28 to play. Fresno State would not bend, with Chantella Perera scoring four straight of her own to seal the game for the Lady Bullogs.
UNLV scored five of the game's first six points, and the game was tight for most of the first half, and was tied for the final time at 16-16 with 7:37 to go in the opening stanza. Probably the key play of the first half came after UNLV came up with a defensive rebound down by two with 4:29 on the clock, as Parrish stole the rebound away and found Perera alone from behind the arc for a three-pointer and a five-point FSU lead, 24-19. FSU would finish the half with a six-point lead after shooting 46% from the floor, including 4-of-8 from three-point range.
Moore led UNLV and was the only player in double figures with 10 points, but was held to just 2-of-12 shooting, including 1-of-8 from behind the arc. McCracklin added nine points and seven rebounds, while Sequoia Holmes and Thomas both finished with eight each. The Lady Rebels shot 35.8% (19-of-53) from the floor, were 6-of-19 from three-point range (31.6%), and were outrebounded 33-31.
Perera and Tierre Wilson both scored 19 points to pace the Lady Bulldogs. Parrish and Faith Probst added 12 points, while Mirenda Swearengin finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. FSU shot 53.6% (30-of-56) for the game, was 7-of-13 from three-point land for 53.8%, and forced 18 turnovers while coming up with 12 steals.
