Jan. 18, 2011
Box Score
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV nearly came back from an eight-point deficit in the final two minutes, but Colorado State made four free throws in the final 19 seconds to hold on for a 68-63 victory over the Lady Rebels in Mountain West Conference women's basketball action on Tuesday night at Moby Arena. The loss dropped UNLV to 8-11, 1-4 in the MWC, while CSU improved to 9-8, 2-2 in the league.
The Rams led by 11 at halftime, and extended the lead to 14, 52-38, on a jumper by Meixandra Porter with 15:22 to play in the second half. The lead stood at 11 points when UNLV went on a 9-0 run. Mia Bell scored four straight to start the run, and her free throw at 6:18 brought UNLV within 55-53. The Rams responded with six straight, and looked like they had the game clinched when Kim Mestdagh made a free throw at the 2:24 mark for a 61-53 lead.
The Lady Rebels then turned up the pressure, as after a layup by Tia Morrison, UNLV forced three turnovers in a 10-second span. The Lady Rebels would score off all three, with Jamie Smith's two free throws tying the game at 61-61 at the 1:31 mark. Mestdagh drained a three at the other end, and Erica Helms countered with a layup to make the score 64-63 entering the final 47 seconds. With 20 seconds on the clock and three on the shot clock, UNLV forced a jump ball, and possession went to the Rams. Chantel Kennedy was fouled on a shot attempt on the inbounds play, and was ruled to have been injured on the play, allowing Hayley Thompson to attempt the free throws in her place. She made both for a 66-63 CSU lead. UNLV missed on a three-pointer that could have tied the game on the other end, and Sam Martin made two more free throws with four seconds to go to end the game.
UNLV led just once in the first half, 7-5 on a pair of Smith free throws at the 16:24 mark. A 5-0 run from CSU switched the lead back to the host team, and it was a one-possession game for the next six minutes. After a Sandrine Nzeukou layup tied the game at 17-17, the Rams reeled off six unanswered points, off a pair of shots from three-point range, to go up 23-17 with just over eight minutes to play in the opening stanza.
UNLV closed to within 25-23, and 30-27 on an India Chaney jumper with 3:01 left on the clock. The Rams then used an 11-3 run to end the half for a 41-30 halftime edge. UNLV's only points in that stretch came from a three-point play by Nzeukou, while Porter hit her second trey of the half at the buzzer for a 41-30 halftime lead.
Nzeukou and Helms paced UNLV with 13 points each, while Kelli Thompson added 10. Bell finished with nine points and seven assists, and Smith would record nine rebounds and a career-high tying eight steals. UNLV shot 40.4% (21-of-52) for the game, but was just 2-of-16 from three-point range for 12.5%. The Lady Rebels did connect on 19-fo-20 at the free throw line for 95%, second-best performance in school history and tied for fifth-best ever in a MWC game.
Mestdagh scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Rams, and was 6-of-11 from behind the arc. Martin posted 16 points, while Porter added 10 off the bench. CSU shot 42.6% (23-of-54) for the game, was 9-of-21 from downtown for 42.9%, and 13-of-16 at the free throw line for 81.3%. The Rams held a 34-29 edge on the boards, only the fourth time this season UNLV has been outrebounded in a game.
UNLV will return to action on Saturday, for a 1 pm (PST) contest at New Mexico in Albuquerque.
