Dec. 29, 2009
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - UNLV built a 21-point second half lead and then had to sweat the final five minutes before escaping with a 60-58 victory over Northern Arizona in women's collegiate basketball action on Tuesday night from the Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels improved to 7-6 on the season with the victory, while NAU, who missed two shots in the final three seconds that could have tied the game, dropped to 2-11.
Jamie Smith, who posted her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds, scored the first four points of the second half while Kelli Thompson added a pair of free throws to give UNLV a 46-25 edge with 17:28 left to go in the game. That would be the final points for the Lady Rebs for the next five minutes, while NAU reeled off nine unanswered, part of a 15-2 run for the visitors that would bring them within eight, 48-40 with 10:11 to go on a layup from Tyler Stephens-Jenkins.
The lead remained between seven-10 points for the next five minutes for UNLV, and a short jumper from Sandrine Nzeukou put them up 58-48 with 4:34 to go in the game. The Lady Rebs couldn't put the game away though, with three turnovers and two missed shots over the next three minutes. NAU's Amy Patton scored five straight that brought the Lumberjacks to within five, and then the teams traded layups, leaving the score at 60-55 with 43 seconds to play.
Missed foul shots began to come into play for UNLV, as Erica Helms missed the front end of a one-and-one, which was followed by a trey from Patton to make the score 60-58 with 35.8 seconds to play. Mia Bell was then fouled for UNLV, and she was off the mark on both attempts at the line, giving the ball back to NAU with 26 seconds left. Lauren Hoisington missed a pair of shots in the paint in the final three seconds, allowing the Lady Rebs to claim the two-point victory.
NAU actually held the lead for the majority of the opening eight minutes, as UNLV would miss six of its first seven shots from the floor. With the Lumberjacks up 13-8, back-to-back treys from Thompson and Helms started a 13-0 spurt for the Lady Rebs over a 3:04 span. Two free throws from India Chaney capped the run, making the score 21-13 with 9:25 on the clock. NAU cut the lead down to four, but a Thompson trey pushed the lead back to seven, and UNLV scored 10 of the last 12 points of the half to go into halftime up 40-25.
Joining Smith in double-figures for UNLV was Helms with a game-high 14 and Thompson with 13 and a career-high nine rebounds. As a team, UNLV shot 40.8% (20-of-49), and made 7-of-18 (38.9%) from three-point range, but was just 13-of-22 at the free throw line for 59.1%, including 6-of-14 (42.9%) in the second half. The Lady Rebs were also forced into 24 turnovers, leading to 24 NAU points.
Hoisington led NAU with 14 points, while Patton added 12 and Stephens-Jenkins posted a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Lumberjacks were held to 29.3% (22-of-75) shooting for the night, was 5-of-27 (18.5%) from three-point range, but did hold a 48-44 edge on the boards.
UNLV returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 2, with a road contest in Logan, Utah against the Aggies of Utah State at 1 pm (PST).
