Feb. 6, 2008
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - Leading by just two with 12 minutes to play, No. 20 Utah ended the game on a 34-7 run to top the host UNLV Lady Rebels 82-53 in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night from the Cox Pavilion. With its sixth straight loss, the Lady Rebels dropped to 6-15 overall, 2-6 in league play, while the Utes remained perfect in the conference at 8-0 (19-3 overall).
After cutting a 13-point Utah lead to three at halftime, the Lady Rebels fell behind by 10 points six minutes into the second half, 48-38. Sequoia Holmes' three-point play on the other end was the first of eight straight points from UNLV, and a layup from Dominique Holmes brought the Lady Rebels to within two, 48-46 with 12:05 to play.
Leilani Mitchell answered back with a trey and a layup to push the Utes back up by seven, 53-46. Following a UNLV miss was a key offensive possession for Utah, as it came up with four straight offensive rebounds. The Utes held the ball for over two minutes of the possession, which finally ended with a Kalee Whipple jumper. Utah would end up scoring 12 unanswered to open up a 60-46 lead with 6:35 to play.
Four straight free throws from UNLV brought them within 10, 60-50 with 6:09 on the clock, but the Utes closed out the game by outscoring the Lady Rebels 22-3 from that stretch.
The first half was back and forth, with the Lady Rebels jumping out to an early 10-7 lead. An 18-2 spurt by the Utes gave them a 25-12 lead, and they still held an eight-point lead in the final minute. A layup from Holmes and a three-pointer at the buzzer from Allison Holiday cut the Utah lead to 33-30.
Holmes was one of three players in double figures with 17 points, while Harris added 14 points and five assists and Shamela Hampton posted 10. UNLV shot 32.7% (18-of-55) for the game, and made just six field goals in the second half (6-of-21, 28.6%). The Lady Rebels were also outrebounded by a 24-9 margin in the second half, and 44-26 for the night.
The Utes were paced by Mitchell's career-high tying 26 points, and she added 10 assists for a double-double. Whipple posted 21 points, while Morgan Warburton totaled 19. Utah shot 51.9% (27-of-52) for the game, were 7-of-19 (36.8%) from three-point range, and made 21-of-25 at the line for 84.0%.
UNLV will begin the second half of the MWC season on Saturday, when it faces Colorado State in Fort Collins in a 1 pm (PST) matchup.
