Jan. 10, 2009
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - UNLV cut a 17-point second-half deficit down to three in the final 13 seconds, but Helena Sverrisdottir made two free throws with eight seconds left to help TCU escape with a 66-61 win in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon from the Cox Pavilion.
TCU (10-5, 2-0 MWC) held a 37-23 halftime advantage, and extended its lead to 17 when Emily Carter opened the second half with a three-pointer. UNLV (7-8, 0-2 MWC) then got hot from long range, as three different Lady Rebels all hit one trey, part of a 9-2 run to cut the edge to 42-32 with 15:14 left in the game. The Lady Frogs would push the lead back to 13 several times, and led by 12, 59-47, off another Carter trey with 6:01 to play. UNLV then made another rally, scoring seven straight with four points from Shamela Hampton and a three-pointer from Jamie Smith that made the score 59-54 with 3:39 to play.
Down five with under three minutes to play, UNLV missed a chance to cut the lead to two when Brittany Halberg's three-pointer was just off the mark, and then TK LaFleur made a trey on the other end to push the lead to 64-56 with 2:17 to play. That would be TCU's final points until the last eight seconds. Hampton scored five straight for UNLV, including a layup with 13 seconds left to make the score 64-61. Sverrisdottir was then fouled on TCU's inbound play, and she made both attempts at the line to seal the win for TCU.
Three-point shooting helped the Lady Frogs jump out to an 18-point lead in the first half, as they made 7-of-15 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. Holding a 9-8 lead, TCU scored seven straight to grab an 18-10 lead with 13:26 to play. With the score 25-15 in favor of the visitors, TCU used a 12-4 run, fueled by four three-pointers, to claim a 37-19 lead with 2:48 left in the half, thanks to a three-pointers from LaFleur.
Two Lady Rebels finished in double-figures, with Hampton posting 20 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Jamie Smith added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Halberg was the next highest scorer for UNLV with nine points. The Lady Rebels shot 33.9% (19-of-56) from the floor, was 8-of-29 (27.6%) from three-point range, and made 15-of-19 at the line (78.9%). UNLV won the rebounding battle 44-38, but turned the ball over 16 times to 10 for TCU.
LaFleur hit five three-pointers and finished with 20 points to pace the Lady Frogs, while Carter added 16 points and Eboni Mangum 10. TCU shot 38.1% (24-of-63) from the floor, was 11-of-23 (47.8%) from behind the arc, and 7-of-12 (58.3%) at the line.
UNLV returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14, as it hosts Colorado State at 7 pm in the Cox Pavilion.
