Jan. 31, 2009
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - Senior center Shamela Hampton posted her 10th double-double of the year with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as she led UNLV to a 78-64 victory over Air Force in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon from the Cox Pavilion. After trailing by one at halftime, UNLV used a 20-5 run over a five-minute span early in the second half to break open the game and earn its second conference victory of the year, improving to 9-11 overall, 2-5 in league play. The Falcons meanwhile dropped to 4-16, 0-7 in the conference.
With her 17 points, which was a team-high, Hampton became the 18th Lady Rebel to reach the 1,000 career point mark as she now has 1,001 points in her four years in Las Vegas. Jamie Smith also posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, marking the third time this year the two teammates have finished with double-doubles in the same game. The Lady Rebels would finish with a huge edge on the boards, 45-29, and made 20-of-27 at the line, while Air Force made just 12 trips to the charity stripe.
The game was close for the first 10 minutes, before Raimee Beck hit a three-pointer and a layup for the Falcons, starting a 7-0 run that gave Air Force a 22-13 lead with 6:49 to play in the half. With the Falcons up 24-15, UNLV scored 10 unanswered points, with Allison Holiday starting and ending the spurt with a pair of three-pointers, the second of which put UNLV ahead 25-24 with 3:24 left on the clock. Liz Dunsworth converted a layup with 32 seconds left to give the Falcons a 29-28 lead going into halftime.
Air Force extended its lead to four, 34-30, off a Kim Kreke layup with at the 18:21 mark of the second half. UNLV turned in another 10-0 run, featuring six points from India Chaney, and grabbed a 40-34 edge with 15:15 to play. Beck stopped the run with a trey, but UNLV the scored 10 of the next 12 points of the game for a 50-39 lead at 13:06, and Air Force would come no closer then eight the rest of the way.
Joining Hampton and Smith in double figures was Chaney with 12 and Dominique Harris with 10. Brittany Halberg meanwhile posted eight points and five assists. UNLV shot 43.3% (26-of-60) for the game, including 57.1% in the second half.
Beck paced the Falcons with 19 points, while Brooke Cultra posted 15 points and Kreke 13. Air Force shot 42.4% (25-of-59) for the game and was 5-of-18 (27.8%) at the line.
UNLV ends the first half of the conference schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 4, when it takes on San Diego State in San Diego, Calif., in a 7 pm contest.