Nov. 28, 2009
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - Boise State rode the play of Jessica Van Hoogen and her game-high 26 points to hand UNLV a 74-66 loss in the first game of the Lady Rebel Round-Up on Saturday afternoon in the Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels (2-3) will now play in Sunday's consolation game at 1 pm against either Bradley or Washington State, while BSU (6-0) will play in the championship game at 3:30 pm.
UNLV was done in by its shooting from the floor, held to just 33.9% (19-of-56, while the Broncos also owned a big advantage in points off turnovers, 20-5. It was a low scoring game to begin with, as BSU missed nine of its first 10 shots while UNLV built a 5-2 lead four minutes into the game. It was a 7-6 advantage for the Lady Rebels when Van Hoogen got hot from outside, hitting a trey and a short jumper to start a 12-2 spurt for the visitors, with her free throw at 5:47 capping the run for an 18-9 lead.
Five straight points from Amanda Anderson ignited a 10-2 run for UNLV, and Kalie Scanlon's three-pointer at the 2:56 mark made it 20-19. BSU would respond though by scoring 10 of the last 12 points of the half, and Janie Bos' layup at the buzzer gave the Broncos' a 30-21 hafltime lead.
A 6-0 burst from the Broncos to begin the second half pushed their edge to 16, 37-21 with 16:20 to play in the game. The lead remained in double-digits for BSU until the final five minutes, when Mia Bell's layup started a 10-2 run for UNLV. Kelli Thompson, who had entered the game as the team's leading scorer, then scored her first points of the afternoon on a trey, and a free throw from Erica Helms ended the run, making the score 63-57 with 2:21 to play. A layup from Van Hoogen and two free throws from Bos pushed the Bronco edge back to six. After another trey from Anderson had UNLV trailing 68-62 with 51 seconds left, four unanswered points from Van Hoogen sealed the game for BSU.
Helms led UNLV with 18 points after making a career-high 11-of-16 at the free throw line. Markiell Styles was next with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, while Bell added nine points and Jamie Smith seven points and nine rebounds. UNLV made 5-of-15 from three-point range, and was 23-of-34 at the line for 65.7%. UNLV held a 45-37 rebounding edge, but turned the ball over 21 times.
Van Hoogen was 10-of-20 from the floor on the way to her 26 points, while Tasha Hris added 13 and Bos 11. BSU shot 43.3% (26-of-60) for the night, was 4-of-18 from behind the arc for 22.2%, and made 18-of-26 at the line for 69.2%.
