Feb. 10, 2009
Box Score
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU used a 21-0 run in the first half to take control on the way to a 75-46 win over UNLV in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Tuesday night at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The loss dropped the Lady Rebels to 10-13 on the season, 3-7 in the MWC, while TCU improved to 15-8, 7-3 in league action.
UNLV led once in the game, going up 7-5 on a Shamela Hampton jumper two minutes into the contest. After Jamie Smith made a pair of free throws for UNLV to tie the game at 9-9, the Lady Rebels would not score another point for the next 8:10 of the game. TCU's defense would force eight turnovers and seven missed shots during the run, which was capped by a Emily Carter three-pointer to make the score 30-9 with 8:55 left in the half. UNLV closed to within 14, 32-18 on an Erica Helms trey, but TCU closed out the half scoring 10 of the last 15 points for a 44-25 halftime lead.
The Lady Rebels did a better job of holding down TCU on offense to open the second half, limiting the Lady Frogs to eight points over the first 11 minutes. UNLV cut the edge 14 three times during that stretch, the final time on a Helms three-pointer that made the score 52-38 with 9:22 left on the clock.
TCU then quickly put the game away with a 9-0 burst over the next two minutes for a 61-38 edge, and slowly increased the lead to finish with the 75-46 victory.
Hampton led the Lady Rebels in scoring with 16, while Helms added nine off three treys. Smith added six points and seven rebounds to go along with a career-high four steals, while Brittney Halberg also had six points. UNLV shot 34% (17-of-50) for the game, was 6-of-27 from three-point range (22.2%), and made 6-of-10 at the line for 60%. UNLV held a slight rebounding edge (34-33), but turned the ball over 25 times, which led to TCU's 25-13 edge on points off turnovers.
TK LaFleur paced TCU with 21 points, and was followed by Helena Sverrisdottir with 16 points and 10 assists, while Carter chipped in 15. The Frogs shot 48.4% (30-of-62) for the game and was 10-of-18 for 55.6% from downtown.
UNLV will play its second straight road game on Saturday, when it takes on Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo., at 1 pm (PST).
