Feb. 23, 2010
Box Score
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU broke open a close game with a 27-6 run over the end of the first half and beginning of the second and held off every UNLV run to claim a 79-64 victory over the Lady Rebels in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Tuesday night from Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The loss dropped the UNLV to 12-16, 5-9 in league play while TCU took over sole possession of first place in the MWC at 10-3 (20-6 overall).
UNLV kept it close in the first half, thanks to an strong defensive performance that came up with 10 steals and 12 TCU turnovers in the opening stanza. Freshman Mia Bell scored the team's first eight points off a pair of treys and a layup, while classmate Kelli Thompson added a layup to put the Lady Rebs up 10-7 at the 14:02 mark. A Jamie Smith three-pointer gave UNLV its largest lead of the half, 15-11 at the 12:19 mark. With the Lady Rebs holding a three-point edge, an 8-1 TCU spurt put the home team back ahead 22-18 thanks to an Emily Carter jumper with 9:04 on the clock.
The Lady Rebels took back the lead one more time when Erica Helms drained a three-pointer and Kelli Thompson's one-handed floater in the lane made the score 27-26 with 5:28 to play in the first half. TCU countered with a pair of Delisa Gross free throws, which started a run of nine unanswered for the Lady Frogs. Markiell Styles converted a layup with 2:19 to play to bring UNLV within six, but the Frogs scored eight of the final 10 points of the half, including a three-pointer from Emily Carter to make the halftime score 43-31.
TCU opened the second half with 10 straight points to extend its lead to 22, 53-31 with 15:59 on the clock. The lead grew to as high as 24 before Bell and Helms knocked down back-to-back shots from behind the arc to bring UNLV within 57-39 at the 12:47 mark. TCU answered back with a layup however, and kept its lead between 18-22 for the next eight minutes. The Frogs were up 72-50 with under five minutes to play when the Lady Rebs made one last rally. A pair of Sandrine Nzeukou free throws started a run of seven unanswered points for UNLV. Two free throws from Styles made the score 72-57 with 3:26 to go, but the best UNLV could do for the last three minutes was to match the Frogs point for point to result in the 15-point loss.
Bell paced UNLV with 13 points while Helms added 12. Smith posted nine points and eight rebounds, Nzeukou recorded eight points and seven boards and Styles finished with seven points and seven rebounds. The Lady Rebs shot 35.9% (23-of-64) for the game, including 30.3% (10-of-33) in the second half. UNLV would make nine-of-26 from three-point range for 34.6%, a big improvement after making a combined four over the previous three contests. Both teams grabbed 37 rebounds, and UNLV turned the ball over 24 times to 22 for the Frogs.
Carter scored a game-high 25 points for TCU, while Starr Crawford added 16 points and Helena Sverrisdottir posted 13 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. The Frogs shot 53.3% (32-of-60) for the game, were 7-of-21 (33.3%) from three-point land, and made 8-of-11 at the free throw line for 72.7%.
UNLV will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 27, when it hosts Air Force at 3 pm in the Cox Pavilion on Senior Day.
