Nov. 24, 2007

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - UNLV came just seconds away from completing an improbable comeback, as down by 12 points with 2:12 left, the Lady Rebels went on a 18-6 run to tie the game at 65-65 with five seconds to play, before Oregon State's Mercedes Fox-Griffin scored on a three-point play to escape with the 68-65 victory in the consolation game of the Lady Rebel Shootout on Saturday afternoon from the Thomas & Mack Center.

The winning three-point play from OSU (3-1) came after UNLV senior forward Sequoia Holmes had tied the game with a layup, which almost exactly mirrored the Lady Rebels' loss to Loyola Marymount on Nov. 11. Holmes tied that game on a layup with five seconds left before a length of the court drive by LMU resulted in a game-winning layup at the buzzer in a 61-59 loss on the very same court. This time there was just over two seconds left after Fox-Griffin made her free throw to complete the three-point play, and Holmes got off a shot from halfcourt that hit the rim but didn't go down.

Holmes was the catalyst of the game-ending run for UNLV (1-4), as she scored 11 of her career-high 35 points in the final 2:12 when the Lady Rebels were down 59-47. She began with a layup, and then helped to force a steal that was turned into a three-point play from Brittany Halberg. Two more layups by Holmes cut the edge to 59-56 with 1:09 to play. Fox-Griffin made two free throws on the other end, but Holmes nailed a trey to cut the lead to two points, 62-59 with 52 seconds to play. After trading baskets, OSU went one-of-two at the line, and Allison Holiday knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 64-63. Again OSU was one-of-two at the free throw line, this time with nine seconds left, and Holmes drove the length of the court for her basket that tied the game at 65.

UNLV was in the position of playing comeback due to its first half defense, as it allowed the Beavers to shoot 61.1% from the floor (11-of-18). OSU actually held a 32-14 lead with just 4:11 left in the half, but the Lady Rebels' offense started to make plays, and ended the half on a 12-1 run, with 10 of the points from Holmes. UNLV would go into halftime down 33-26, and scored five straight to open the second half to close within 33-31 on a three-pointer from Halberg. The Lady Rebels cut the OSU edge to one point twice more, the last at 42-41 on a Samantha Stickler layup at 11:33 on the clock. The Beavers countered however with a 13-2 run, opening up a 55-43 lead with 4:43 to play, and took that lead into the final three minutes before UNLV's rally.

Holmes finished 16-of-26 from the floor and added seven rebounds and four assists. No other Lady Rebel finished in double figures, as Dominique Harris and Halberg both finished with eight points each. UNLV lost despite shooting 52.8% (28-of-53) from the floor, and holding a 28-26 edge on the boards. The difference was at the line however, as UNLV was called for a season-high 33 fouls, leading to OSU's 25-of-37 performance at the line. The Lady Rebels attempted just 12 free throws, and made seven.

OSU placed four in double figures, led by Ashley Allen's 19 points, while Tiffany Ducker added 12 points. Fox-Friggin and Talisa Rhea both posted 10 points for the Beavers, who shot 50% (19-of-38) for the game.

Holmes and Allen were both named to the All-Tournament Team. Montana's Mandy Morales was named Tournament MVP, after scoring 33 points to lead the Lady Griz to an 82-79 win over Richmond in the championship game. Also named all-tournament was Sonya Rogers (Montana), Johanna McKnight (Richmond), and Katie Holzer (Richmond).

UNLV will return to action on Friday, when it plays away from Las Vegas for the first time this year in New Orleans in the first day of the Lady Privateer Invitational, taking on 17th-ranked George Washington at 4 pm (PST).