Nov. 23, 2007
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - In a game that featured several momentum shifts, Richmond held the final one, and behind a career-high 25 points from Johanna McKnight, topped UNLV in its own Thanksgiving tournament, 68-59 on the first day of action in the Lady Rebel Shootout from the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday afternoon. Richmond now advances to Saturday's championship game at 1 pm against Montana, 57-42 winners over Oregon State in the day's first game, while UNLV will play OSU in the consolation game at 3:30 pm.
The Lady Rebels, whose 1-3 start is their worst since an 0-10 record to begin the 1997-98 season, fell behind early as Richmond opened up a 16-5 edge less then seven minutes into the game, and would lead by as much as 14 points, 21-7, off a layup from McKnight with 10:35 to play.
The lead was 29-19 in favor of the Spiders (3-3) when UNLV suddenly exploded offensively. The Lady Rebels scored 21 unanswered points over the final 3:36 of the first half and two minutes of the second half for a 40-29 advantage. In fact, UNLV made its first four shots from the floor in the second half, to give them a 54.8% (17-of-31) field goal shooting percentage to that point. Down 11, Richmond did not give up, and answered UNLV's 21-0 run with a 21-2 spurt of its own, to stake out to a 50-42 edge with 8:44 to play. The Lady Rebels missed 11 straight shots during that spurt, and would finish the game making just 6-of-23 over the final 18 minutes.
UNLV would close to within four, 52-48 with 6:49 left on the clock, before McKnight put the game away by scoring five straight points, along with a free throw from Danielle Bell to push the lead back to 10, and hit another trey in the final two minutes to make the lead 11 once more.
Sequoia Holmes led UNLV with 21 points and added five rebounds. Brittany Halberg and Shamela Hampton also finished in double figures, with 13 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, UNLV shot 41.1% (23-of-56), and were a season-low 14.3% (2-of-14) from three-point range. The Lady Rebels did hold a 37-31 edge rebounding, but couldn't overcome 23 turnovers, which were turned into 23 Richmond points.
McKnight would finish the day hitting 9-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, for 25 points and five assists. Katie Holzer and Brittani Shells joined McKinight in double-figure scoring for Richmond, as Holzer finished with 13 points while Shells added 11. The Spiders shot 49% (25-of-51) for the game, and held a 14-5 edge on second chance points, 10-4 on fast break points as well.
