Dec. 10, 2011
Box Score | Video Of Game-Winning Shot
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - Junior guard and Las Vegas native Mia Belldrove the length of the court in the final four seconds and shot a short baseline jumper that hit the rim before rolling back in at the buzzer to give UNLV a 46-44 victory at UC Santa Barbara women's college basketball action on Saturday afternoon at The Thunderdome. The Lady Rebels improved to 8-2 on the year, 2-1 on the road, while the Gauchos dropped to 3-5 for the season.
UNLV escaped with the win after a poor shooting start to the afternoon, missing seven of its first eight shots to fall behind 12-3 in the first seven minutes. A three-pointer from UCSB's Emilie Johnson gave the Gauchos their largest lead of the game at 17-6 with 11:28 to play. The Lady Rebels then clamped down on defense, holding UCSB scoreless for the next 9:02 of the contest. UNLV would score nine unanswered during that drought, cutting the edge to 17-15 with 2:59 to play on a jumper from Alana Cesarz. Nicole Nesbit broke the scoreless streak with a jumper at 2:47 to put UCSB back up four, but UNLV scored six of the final seven points to take a 21-20 lead into halftime.
The second half was a tight contest the entire way, with the Lady Rebels leading for the first eight minutes, but never by more than four points. Melissa Zorning gave UCSB its first lead of the second stanza on a three-pointer with 11:12 to play, but UNLV answered back with a Lenita Sanford layup to tie the game at 30-30. The game was tied once more, and the lead switched hands three times over the next six minutes of the game. UCSB's last lead was 37-36 on a Kelsey Adrian trey, which was answered by a Sandrine Nzeukou layup to put the Lady Rebs back ahead, while Jamie Smithadded a three-pointer for a 41-37 edge.
UNLV extended the lead to five points with 2:11 to play, before the Gauchos ran off three straight, closing within 44-42 with 1:30 to play. UNLV came up with two steals in the final minute, but could not turn them into points, keeping the Gauchos' hopes alive, which were answered with five seconds left when Nesbit drained a short jumper to knot the score at 44-44. Bell then took the inbounds pass, raced to the right side of the court in front of the UNLV bench, and hit her game-winner from 12 feet out for the buzzer-beating victory.
Sanford led UNLV with a game-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds for her third double-double. She also tied her career-high with four steals. Markiell Styles posted her first double-double of the year with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, while Smith finished with eight points and nine rebounds. UNLV's backcourt of Kelli Thompsonand Bell were held to just seven total points in the game. The Lady Rebels shot 35.2% (19-of-54) for the game, was 3-of-14 for 21.4% from three-point range, and a season-low 5-of-12 from the free throw line for 41.7%. UNLV held a 45-27 edge on the boards, which led to a 12-4 advantage on second chance points.
UCSB was paced by Zornig with 13 points, while Nesbit added 11. The Gauchos shot 31.3% (15-of-48) for the game, were also 3-of-14 from three-point range for 21.4%, and made 11-of-14 from the free throw line for 78.6%.
UNLV will now break for exams before returning to action in the BTI Invitational, hosted by UNLV on Dec. 18-20 in Las Vegas. The Lady Rebs will meet Northwestern on the first day at 5 pm in the Cox Pavilion.
