Jan. 16, 2010
Box Score
SALT LAKE CITY - UNLV freshman Mia Bell drained a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to break a tie-game with 29 seconds to lift the Lady Rebels a 54-49 upset victory at Utah in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon from the Huntsman Center. The win for the Lady Rebels, their first in league play this year, snapped Utah's 19-game home win streak, and gave UNLV (8-10, 1-3 MWC) its first win on the Utes' home court since 2004.
Utah (10-6, 1-2 MWC) held a three-point halftime lead before UNLV scored eight of the first 11 points of the second half, including back-to-back treys from Kelli Thompson to put UNLV up 30-28 less then three minutes in. Kalee Whipple, who would score a game-high 23 points, tied the game a minute later for the Utes, and the home team would go ahead on Whipple's trey at the 13:58 mark, 33-30. Utah would hold a lead of up to five points for the next nine minutes, before UNLV tied the game at 41-41 on a jumper from Jamie Smith.
It looked like the Utes would then take control after hitting back-to-back treys, from Janita Badon and Whipple, for a 47-41 lead at the 3:36 mark. However, they would be held to just two points the rest of the way. After an Erica Helms jumper made the deficit four points, she drew a foul and went to the line with 2:49 on the clock. After making the first free throw her second was off the mark, but Smith grabbed the rebound and converted a three-point play to tie the game again at 47-47. Helms added a layup to put UNLV up two before Utah answered back with two free throws to tie the score again at 49-49 with 58 seconds left to play.
The shot clock was running down for UNLV on the following possession when Helms penetrated into the lane before passing back out to Bell at the top of the key. Bell, a Las Vegas native, drained the three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to put UNLV up 52-49 with 29 seconds left in the game. Utah set up a shot for Whipple on the other end, but her three-pointer that would have tied the game was long, and Kelli Thompson was fouled after coming up with the rebound for the Lady Rebels. Thompson sealed the game by making both free throws, putting UNLV up 54-49 with 14 seconds on the clock.
Utah opened up the game with a 6-0 lead before UNLV started to hit shots from downtown. Three-pointers from Smith, Bell and Helms gave the Lady Rebs a 11-10 lead with 12:14 to play. The lead switched back over to Utah, and with the Utes leading 17-14, Whipple outscored UNLV 9-2 over a 1:30 span. The Ute senior forward hit two treys around a tip=in, and her three-pointer at 5:26 gave Utah its largest lead of the game at 25-16.
UNLV would not allow another point the rest of the half though to climb back into the game. Thompson connected on a pair of free throws at the five-minute mark, and that was the only points until the final 50 seconds of the first stanza. Latoya Hunt came up with a steal and fed a streaking Helms with a pass. Helms was fouled on her layup attempt but made both free throws. Then Hunt came up with another steal on the next Utah possession. UNLV turned the ball right back over, and it looked like the Utes had a fast break attempt, but Smith would block Badon's layup, and Helms drove down the paint for a layup at the halftime buzzer to make the score 25-22.
Helms led UNLV with 19 points and four assists, while Thompson added 12 and Smith posted nine points and 10 rebounds. UNLV won despite shooting 32.1% (17-of-57) from the floor, its first win all year when having a lower field goal percentage then its opponent. The Lady Rebels made 13-of-16 (76.5%) at the free throw line, and were 7-of-21 from three-point range for 33.3%. UNLV also forced 19 Utah turnovers while coming up with 13 steals. That lead to a 21-9 advantage for UNLV on points off turnovers.
One of the keys in the win for UNLV was its defense on Utah's star freshman center Taryn Wicijowski, as she was held to just five points in the game. Whipple posted 23 points and 10 rebounds, while the next highest scorer was Halie Sawyer with eight points. Utah shot 37.3% (19-of-51) for the game, made 4-of-11 at the charity stripe for 36.4%, and was 7-of-22 from downtown for 31.8%. Utah did own a 43-29 edge on the boards.
UNLV return to action next week with a two-game homestand, beginning with a contest against Colorado State on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7 pm in the Cox Pavilion.
