March 9, 2010
Box Score Notes
LAS VEGAS - For the second time in four days, UNLV rallied from a double-digit second half deficit only to see Wyoming recover with a game-ending run to win the game, as the sixth-seeded Cowgirls held on for a 60-55 victory over seventh-seeded UNLV in the final game of the opening round of the 2010 Conoco Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night from the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lady Rebels ended their season at 13-18, while Wyoming improved to 19-10 and advanced to Wednesday's quarterfinal round.
In the regular season finale for both teams on March 6 in Laramie, UNLV trailed 61-48 before taking a late four point lead. Wyoming would close out the game by scoring 10 of the game's final 14 points for a 78-73 victory. It was almost a similar situation on Tuesday, with the Cowgirls going up 44-34 with 11:24 left in the game on a three-pointer from Kristen Scheffler. Over the next three minutes, the only point either team could manage was a free throw from Markiell Styles. After missing their first 12 three-point attempts of the game, Erica Helms finally broke through with a trey at the 8:02 mark, and that shot seemed to wake up the UNLV offense.
Kelli Thompson followed Helms' shot with a jumper, and after Wyoming knocked in a trey, Thompson drained a three-pointer, Jamie Smith scored on a short jumper and Styles converted a layup, completing a 13-3 run for the Lady Rebels that tied the score at 47-47 with 4:21 to play. The score would be tied twice more, the final time on a pair of Thompson free throws with 2:12 to play. Wyoming would go up three on a trey from Jade Kennedy, and after a pair of UNLV free throws cut the lead to one, Kennedy knocked down a jumper form the baseline with 1:06 left for a 56-53 edge.
UNLV missed a shot on the other end, while Kennedy made one of two at the line for a four-point edge with 27 seconds left. UNLV would miss three shots on the next possession, and Aubrey Vandiver made thee of four at the line in the final eight seconds to give the Cowgirls the win.
The Lady Rebels were cold to start the game, missing their first eight shots. Wyoming would take a 14-7 edge with 12:15 to play in the half, and led by at least four points for the next five minutes. The first half edge grew to as high as nine for the Cowgirls, before UNLV scored four straight in the final 1:01 of the first half to close within 26-21. However, Vandiver scored on a layup at the halftime buzzer to put Wyoming up 28-21 at halftime.
Two three-pointers from Vandiver to begin the second half gave Wyoming its largest lead of the game, 34-23. A 6-0 run brought the Lady Rebels back into the contest, and they closed within 37-34 on Thompson's layup at the 14:26 mark. A pair of baskets from Vandiver and Scheffler's trey would push the Cowgirls back ahead by 10,44-34.
Smith finished the game with a new tournament record for rebounds in a game with 18, while scoring six points. Thompson paced the Lady Rebels with 15 points, while Styles posted her second career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. UNLV's leading scorer on the season, Helms, was held to seven points on 2-of-14 shooting. As a team, UNLV shot 29.9% (20-of-67) from the floor, made just 2-of-15 from three-point range for 13.3%, and was 13-of-16 at the free throw line for 81.3%. The Lady Rebels set a new tournament record for rebounds in a game with 53, while Wyoming finished with just 34.
Vandiver scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Cowgirls. Hilary Carlson added 13 points, and Kennedy posted 10. Wyoming shot 36.2% (21-of-58) for the game, was 8-of-23 for 34.8% from three-point range, and made 10-of-21 (47.6%) at the free throw line.
