Feb. 18, 2009

Box Score

LAS VEGAS -- UNLV was held to a season-low 17 points in the second half and shot under 30% from the floor for the second straight game as Wyoming claimed a 50-44 victory on Wednesday night in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action from the Cox Pavilion. The loss dropped UNLV to 10-15 on the year, 3-9 in league play, while the Cowgirls won for the second straight year in Las Vegas to improve to 13-11, 5-6 in the MWC.

Wyoming led for almost the entire first half, holding UNLV to just six points over the first eight minutes while opening up a 16-6 lead. The lead was at seven points, 23-16, before UNLV used its quickness to spark an 11-0 run over the final five minutes of the half. Erica Helms started the run with a layup and a three-pointer, and following a free throw from India Chaney, Helms' trey at the 1:40 mark gave UNLV the lead at 25-23. Shamela Hampton would add a layup with just over a minute to play, and the Lady Rebels would take a 27-23 lead into the break.

After finding its touch on offense to end the first stanza, the Lady Rebels opened the second 20 minutes missing six straight shots. The key stretch of the game came after Chaney banked in a jumper to put UNLV up 31-26. Megan McGuffey's layup on the other end started a 13-1 run for the Cowgirls, and the Lady Rebels never recovered. Kristen Scheffler's layup at 9:51 ended the run, giving Wyoming a 39-32 lead. Three times UNLV cut the deficit to five points, the last on a layup from Hampton with 5:49 to play. The Lady Rebel would make just one more field goal over the final five minutes while missing 11 shots, and also missed four of seven at the free throw line as the Cowgirls finished with the six-point victory.

Hampton led UNLV with her 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds, but was 5-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-7 at the line. Helms scored a team-high 14 points, while Dominique Harris added eight points, but did not score in the final 29 minutes. The Lady Rebels finished shooting 29.8% (17-of-57) from the floor, 5-of-21 for 23.8% on three-pointers, and made a season-low 38.5% of its shots at the line (5-of-13). UNLV was outrebounded by three, 42-39, and turned the ball over 17 times.

Hillary Carlson paced the Cowgirls with 18 points and eight rebounds, and was followed by McGuffey with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Wyoming shot 37.3% (19-of-51) from the field, 3-of-17 from three-point range (17.6%), and posted eight blocks.

UNLV will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21, when it takes on BYU in a nationally televised game on CBS College at 1 pm (PST) in Provo, Utah.