Jan. 5, 2011
Box Score
PROVO, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) - BYU shot 50 percent in the second half to claim a 75-64 win over UNLV in the Mountain West Conference season opener for both teams on Wednesday night at the Marriott Center in college women's basketball action. The Lady Rebels dropped to 7-8 overall, while BYU improved to 9-5.
UNLV held a one-point halftime lead at 40-39, but BYU opened the second half on a 7-0 run and never trailed again. Jazmine Foreman's three-pointer at the 17:10 mark gave the Cougars a 46-40 edge. UNLV stayed close for the next eight minutes, with Mia Bell draining a trey from the top of the key to make the score 46-44. BYU pushed the lead back to seven, but another 4-0 run by the Lady Rebels brought them within three on a free throw from Jamie Smith at the 12:14 mark for a 51-48 game.
That was the final point for UNLV for the next three and a half minutes. That scoring drought would prove to be costly, as BYU scored six straight, including four points from Foreman to put the Cougars up 57-48 with 9:21 to play. The Lady Rebels stayed close, but could not cut the lead under six points. Following a Thompson layup to bring the edge down to 67-61, BYU scored eight of the game's final 11 points for the 11-point win.
BYU opened the game hot from outside, knocking down six of its first eight attempts from three-point range one the way to a 25-17 edge. UNLV then countered with an 11-1 run of its own. Erica Helms and Bell both hit three-pointers during the run, while two Tia Morrison free throws put the Lady Rebels up 28-26 with 7:13 to play. The lead changed hands four more times over the rest of the opening half. Following three free throws that put the Cougars up 39-37 with 13 seconds to go in the half, Thompson connected on her third three-pointer of the night to give UNLV the one-point halftime lead.
Thompson finished with a career-high tying 25 points to pace the Lady Rebels, and made her first 10 free throws at the line before missing her last two. Markiell Styles and Helms were next for UNLV with seven points each. UNLV was held to 32.7% shooting (16-of-49), including just 25% in the second half. The Lady Rebels made 7-of-16 from three-point land for 43.8%, and was 25-of-34 at the line for 73.5%. UNLV was outrebounded by a 38-37 margin, and turned the ball over 16 times to 11 for the Cougars.
Foreman led the Cougars with 19 points, while Coriann Fraughton posted a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Mindy Bonham added 12. The Cougars shot 43.1% (25-of-58) for the night, was 8-of-26 from three-point range for 30.8%, and 17-of-23 at the free throw line for 73.9%.
UNLV concludes its five-game stretch away from home with a Saturday contest at TCU. The game tips off at 10 am (PST) in Fort Worth, Texas.
