Dec. 30, 2010
Box Score
HONOLULU, Hawaii (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV closed out the game with a 21-5 run and claimed the Pepsi Rainbow Wahine Invitational title with a 63-48 win over the host Hawaii squad on Thursday night in women's college basketball action at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Lady Rebels improved to 7-7 with the win, while the Rainbow Wahine dropped to 6-7.
After trailing 28-27 at halftime, UNLV scored nine of the first 13 points of the second half, going up 36-32 on a three-pointer from Jamie Smith. The lead grew to five on a short jumper from Ta'Nitra Byrd for a 40-35 edge with under 12 minutes to go. Hawaii would put together an 8-2 run to grab its first lead of the second half, 43-42 on a free throw from Breanna Arbuckle with 8:58 to go in the game. That would be the final point for Hawaii for the next four minutes.
Back-to-back treys for UNLV from Kelli Thompson and Erica Helms opened up a 48-43 Lady Rebel edge. Keisha Kanekoa hit a short jumper to cut the lead to three, but Hawaii could manage just one free throw until the final 30 seconds, while the Lady Rebels extended the lead to as high as 17 on a trey from Smith in the final minute.
The first half was tight the entire 20 minutes, with three ties and seven lead changes. Hawaii led by six early, 8-2, before UNLV came back with seven straight for a 9-8 edge. The Lady Rebels would go up by five twice in the first half, the last at 21-16 with 3:37 to go. UNLV was holding onto a one-point lead in the final seconds before Kanekoa nailed a jumper at the halftime buzzer to give Hawaii a one-point halftime lead.
Smith paced UNLV with 15 points, while Byrd added 12 and seven rebounds off the bench. Thompson, who was named to the all-tournament team, posted seven. UNLV shot 44.2% (23-of-52) from the floor, including 53.8% in the second half, was 7-of-22 from three-point land for 31.8%, and 10-of-13 at the free throw line for 76.9%. The Lady Rebels held a 33-32 rebounding advantage, and turned the ball over just 13 times while coming up with nine steals.
Kanekoa was Hawaii's top scorer with 12 points, while Arbuckle and Megan Tinnin both added 10. UH was held to 32% (16-of-50) shooting for the night, was 2-of-13 from three-point range for 15.4%, and made 14-of-20 at the charity stripe for 70%.
UNLV has now concluded its non-conference portion of the schedule, and will open Mountain West Conference play on Wednesday, January 5 at 6 pm (PST) against BYU in Provo, Utah, in a game televised live by BYU-TV.
