Jan. 26, 2008
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - San Diego State's Jene Morris scored a career-high 35 points to lead the Aztecs to a 75-55 victory over UNLV in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Saturday night from the Cox Pavilion. With its third straight loss, the Lady Rebels dropped to 6-12 overall, 2-3 in league play, while SDSU improved to 11-7, and 2-4 as it recorded its first win at UNLV in Las Vegas for the first time in 10 games.
Turnovers and the play of Jene Morris were the story of the first half, when the Aztecs built a 38-27 halftime edge. Morris came into the night 1-of-15 from three-point range in league play, but made five straight in the opening stanza, and finished the half scoring 20 points off 7-of-13 shooting. San Diego State's defense also was big in the first half, forcing 20 UNLV turnovers, that were turned into 25 Aztec points. The turnovers by UNLV overshadowed its 58.8% shooting from the floor (10-of-17).
Morris then began the second half hitting another trey. Sequoia Holmes knocked down back-to-back jumpers for UNLV to bring the Lady Rebels within 12, 43-31 with 17:55 to play. That was the closest they would come the rest of the way, as Morris answered back for the Aztecs with a jumper and another three-pointer, which ignited a 12-0 burst and gave SDSU a 55-33 edge with 13:20 to play. The lead grew to as high as 27, before they settled for the 20-point victory.
Holmes paced UNLV with 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added five rebounds, while Shamela Hampton posted 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Allison Holiday was the next highest scorer, with six points off the bench. UNLV shot 45.7% (21-of-46) for the night, were 3-of-7 on three-pointers for 42.9%, but knocked in just 10-of-20 at the free throw line. The Lady Rebels held a 35-33 edge on the boards, but finished with 26 turnovers.
Morris finished the game 13-of-21 from the floor, and was 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Her 35-points was the most ever by a UNLV opponent in the Cox Pavilion. Allison Duffy was next for the team with eight points, while Paris Johnson and Quenese Davis both added seven each. The Aztecs shot 48.4% (30-of-62) for the game, were 9-of-14 (64.3%) from three-point range, and 6-of-11 (54.5%) at the free throw line.
UNLV will play its second straight televised game of the season in its next outing, when it hosts TCU on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 7 pm in the Cox Pavilion in a contest in a national TV game on CSTV.
