Jan. 26, 2010
Box Score
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - For the second straight year, UNLV rallied from a big second-half deficit to pull out a one-point win at Air Force as freshman Amanda Anderson hit the game-winning shot with 3.4 seconds left to give the Lady Rebels a 77-76 victory in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night at Clune Arena. With their sixth road win of the season, the Lady Rebels improved to 9-12 overall, 2-5 in the MWC, while Air Force dropped to 3-16, 0-6 in league play.
In the last meeting between the teams, UNLV trailed 56-34 with under 10 minutes on March 4, 2009 left before rallying for a 64-63 last-second win, with the 22-point comeback ranking as the fifth largest in NCAA history. Wednesday's comeback wasn't as large but was almost as impressive, with the Lady Rebels trailing by nine points, 72-63 with under two minutes left in the game. Erica Helms started the UNLV rally with a pair of free throws, and after a Air Force turnover, she nailed a trey to cut the edge to 72-68 with 1:25 to play.
Air Force's Kathleen Schjodt answered back with a layup on the other end, and had a chance to extend the lead past six when Desiree Wilson went to the free throw line with 46 seconds left for a one-and-one. She would miss the first free throw, and Kelli Thompson nailed a deep three-pointer for UNLV to make it a 74-71 contest. UNLV came up with a steal on Air Force's next possession, and Thompson made two free throws to bring UNLV within 74-73 with 18 seconds left. Thompson then stole the Air Force inbounds pass and was fouled. She made both free throws for a one-point UNLV edge with 16 seconds left. Air Force threw a pass to midcourt to Raimee Beck, who took it in for a layup to put the Falcons back ahead 76-75 with 14 seconds left. Out of timeouts, UNLV quickly inbounded the ball and Erica Helms shot a running jumper on the right side that hit the rim. Air Force came up with the rebound but Latoya Hunt stole the ball back for UNLV. She lost control of the ball but Anderson grabbed it and drained a turnaround five-foot jumper in the paint, giving UNLV a 77-76 lead with 3.4 seconds on the clock. Air Force's desperation shot was way shot, giving UNLV the come-from-behind victory.
UNLV held an early 7-6 lead before the Falcons went on a 15-3 run over a four-minute span. Schjodt's back-to-back jumpers capped the run to put Air Force up 21-10 with 11:11 left in the first half. Allison Holiday helped keep UNLV close, as she came off the bench with three three-pointers, her third making it a 23-17 game with 9:31 on the clock. The Lady Rebs would cut the lead down to three twice during the rest of the opening stanza, the last on a pair of Helms free throws with two minutes left to bring UNLV within 35-32. Kelsey Berger would score three straight for the Falcons though to put Air Force up 38-32 at halftime.
The Lady Rebs scored the first five points of the second half, off a pair of Thompson free throws and a Mia Bell trey to cut the lead to 38-37 with 18 minutes on the clock. The Falcons answered back with an 11-0 run, featuring three-pointers from three different players, to open up a 49-37 edge with 15:13 to play. The lead remained in double-digits until an 8-0 run brought the Lady Rebs back within four, 56-52 with 10:22 on the clock. Air Force would slowly push its edge back to 10 though, and led by at least seven t;he rest of the way until the final two minutes of the game. 1 Thompson finished with a team-high 24 points, which included a 9-of-9 performance from the line. Helms and Holiday both finished with 12 points, while Anderson added a season-high 11. UNLV shot 35.3% (24-of-68) for the game, was 10-of-32 for 31.3% from three-point range, and made 19-of-22 at the free throw line for a season-high 86.4%. UNLV held a 39-34 edge on the boards and came up with 12 steals while forcing 18 turnovers.
Beck led Air Force with a game-high 26 points and she added eight rebounds. Schjodt and Berger both added 17 for the Falcons, while Alicia Leipprandt chipped in 11. Air Force lost despite shooting 53.7% (29-of-54) from the floor and 58.8% (10-of-17) from three-point range. The Falcons were hurt by UNLV's advantage in both points off turnovers (22-13) and second-chance points (18-8).
UNLV will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 8 pm when it hosts Wyoming in the Cox Pavilion in a game televised by The Mtn.
