March 10, 2009
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LAS VEGAS - On a night in which she became both the conference rebound leader and the top freshman rebounder in the nation, UNLV forward Jamie Smith posted a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the seventh-seeded Lady Rebels (13-17) to a 66-58 win over sixth-seed BYU (18-11) on Wednesday night in the final game of the 2009 Mountain West Conference Tournament from the Thomas & Mack Center. The win was the first for UNLV in the tournament in three years, and sends the team to a quarterfinal matchup against third-seed TCU on Wednesday at 7 pm.
UNLV, who also became the first-ever seventh seed to win a game in the tournament, never trailed on the night, and opened up a quick 8-2 edge. Holding a two-point lead, 19-17, UNLV would score nine unanswered for a 28-17 lead with 5:41 left in the first half. The lead then grew to 12, before the Cougars scored the last seven points of the first half and the opening basket of the second to close within three, 31-28.
The Lady Rebels struck back with a 10-2 spurt, with Shamela Hampton's jumper making the edge 41-30 with 15:54 to play. A three-pointer from Erica Helms gave UNLV its largest lead of the game, 51-35 at the 10 minute mark. BYU rallied, using a 20-7 run over a 6:26 span to close within three off a pair of Shawnee Slade free throws. Smith hit her third trey of the game to push the edge back up to six with 2:22 to play. Three free throws from the Cougars again closed the lead to three, this time with a minute left. Smith then came up with another big play as she grabbed a key offensive rebound off a missed UNLV free throw, was fouled, and made both free throws, the first of five free throws in the final minute to seal the victory for the Lady Rebels.
Smith's double-double was the 12th of the season, tying her for the lead in the conference along with teammate Hampton, and also tied the UNLV freshman record set by Linda Frohlich back in 1998-99. Hampton tied for game-high honors in scoring with Smith with 18, and was 10-of-12 at the free throw line while adding seven rebounds. Helms posted 14 points, while India Chaney scored 10. UNLV shot 34% (18-of-53), was 8-of-22 from three-point range for 36.4%, and made 22-of-27 at the line for 81.5%. UNLV held a 40-31 edge on the boards, while led to a 14-9 edge on second chance points.
Smith's 15 rebounds was the most-ever by a freshman in a MWC Tournament game, and ties for third-best all-time in the tournament. She is now averaging 9.4 rebounds per game, which moves her to first in the MWC and jumped her to first place in the nation among freshman as well.
BYU was paced by Slade's 15 points, she was the only Cougar in double figures. BYU shot 37% (20-of-54), and was 6-of-22 from downtown for 27.3%.
