Jan. 20, 2010
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - UNLV suffered a heartbreaking loss on Wednesday night in the Cox Pavilion, as the Lady Rebels held a six-point lead in the final minutes of overtime before Colorado State posted a 9-2 run in the last 86 seconds to steal a 66-65 victory in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night in the Cox Pavilion.
CSU's Kim Mestdagh scored the game's last six points, a three-point play with 43 seconds left, and then the game-winning trey with nine seconds on the clock. Mia Bell's three-point attempt at the buzzer for UNLV would hit the front rim and fall short. UNLV dropped to 8-11, 1-4 in league play with its fourth straight loss to the Rams, while CSU improved to 10-7, 2-2 in the MWC.
CSU led by as much as 12 twice in the second half, the last at 11:13 on a layup by Zoi Simmons for a 48-36 lead. UNLV then held the Rams to just two points over the next five minutes, and a 16-2 run by the Lady Rebs gave them a 52-50 lead with 6:20 to play on a Kelli Thompson three-pointer. UNLV would lead by three twice in the final five minutes, but Mestdagh's free throw with 43 seconds left in the second half tied the game and sent it into overtime after both teams missed potential game-winning shots.
In the extra period, Erica Helms scored a layup seven seconds in, and UNLV added four more points to lead 63-57 with 3:24 on the clock. Bonnie Barbee's trey at 1:26 cut the UNLV edge to three, before Sandrine Nzeukou answered with a jumper for a 65-50 Lady Reb edge. Mestdagh then took over, converting her three-point play with 43 seconds left to bring CSU within two. After Bell's layup on the other end rolled in and out of the basket, CSU called timeout to set up Mestdagh's game-winning three-pointer.
The Rams made six three-pointers in the first half, including three during a 12-2 run late in the opening stanza that would put the visitors up 30-23 with 1:35 to play. The Lady Rebels would score the final four points of the half, and the first six of the second half to go up 33-30 at the 17:11 mark. Then it was time for the Rams to make another run, this time a 16-1 spurt over a five minute span, and would hold a 46-34 edge on a Mestdagh trey at the 12:07 mark.
Jamie Smith led UNLV with 17 points and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season, and she also added a career-high four blocks. Thompson added 14 points while Bell finished with 11 points, five assists and five steals. Nzeukou poured in eight points and grabbed eight rebounds. UNLV shot 35.1% (20-of-57) for the game, made 4-of-19 from three-point range for 21.1%, and was 21-of-25 at the free throw line for 84%. UNLV came up with eight steals and a season-high eight blocks, but was outrebounded by a 45-40 margin.
Mestdagh scored a game-high 23 for CSU, and made five treys on 17 attempts. Simmons added 12 and Chatilli Van Grinsven 10. CSU shot 34.3% (23-of-67) from the floor, but did make 10 treys out of 31 attempts for 32.3%, and was 10-of-16 at the free throw line for 62.5%.
UNLV returns to action on Saturday, when it hosts No. 23 TCU in the Cox Pavilion in a 3 pm contest.
