Feb. 21, 2009
Box Score
PROVO, Utah - UNLV (10-16, 3-10 MWC) rallied from an 18-point deficit to take a one-point lead with 12 seconds to play, but Cassie King's putback off an offensive rebound with 1.7 seconds left gave BYU (17-7, 7-5 MWC) a 53-52 victory in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
Down by double-digits almost the entire game after BYU posted a 22-0 run in the first half, UNLV made a fierce rally in the final eight minutes. The Lady Rebels outscored BYU 21-6 and took their first lead since the opening minutes on Shannon Oberg's three-pointer with 12 seconds left. The Cougars then inbounded the ball to Jazmine Foreman, who drove the length of the floor and missed a layup, but King was able to grab the ball and converted the putback for a 53-32 lead. Erica Helms took UNLV's last shot five feet from behind midcourt that would hit the rim before bouncing off at the buzzer.
UNLV scored the first six points of the game off a pair of three-pointers from Jamie Smith and Dominique Harris. The Lady Rebels then went ice cold from the floor, missing its next 12 shots over a 10-minute stretch. BYU would score 22 unanswered points during the the stretch, and took a 22-6 lead with 6:13 to play in the half off Dani Peterson's layup. Brittany Halberg snapped the scoring drought with a three-point play with 5:51 on the clock, and UNLV would eventually close to within 11 points, 27-18 at haltime.
The lead remained between eight-14 points for the first 13 minutes of the second half. UNLV began its game-ending rally with just under eight minutes to play on a three-pointer from Helms, part of a 10-0 run. Three times UNLV cut the lead to two, the last on a jumper from Harris with 1:21 to play, and then both teams each had two possessions without scoring. Still leading by two, BYU stole the ball and was fouled with 23 seconds left. King would miss the front end of a one-and-one and Harris grabbed the rebound. Helms brought the ball down and found Oberg alone behind the three-pointer line. She drained it for a 52-51 lead, setting the scene for the Cougars' game-winner.
After being held scoreless in the first half, Shamela Hampton scored 13 points in the second to lead the Lady Rebels, while Harris just missed her second career double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Helms was next on the team with nine points. UNLV shot 36.2% (17-of-47) for the game, including 52.4% (11-of-21) in the second half. The Lady Rebels also made 5-of-12 (41.7%) from three-point range, and made 13-of-19 at the line (68.4%). UNLV was outrebounded by six, 39-33, and turned the ball over 21 times, which led to 24 points for the Cougars.
BYU was paced by Mindy Nielson with 13 points, and Coriann Wood added 10 points. The Cougars shot 37.5% (21-of-56) for the afternoon, was 4-of-17 (23.5%) from downtown, and made 7-of-10 at the line (70.0%).
UNLV will return to Las Vegas for its next game, as it hosts Utah on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 pm in the Cox Pavilion.
