Dec. 23, 2011

Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV used a smothering defensive effort to upset Kansas State 44-38 on Tuesday night in the final game of the BTI Invitational in women's college basketball action on Tuesday night in the Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels snapped KSU's five-game win streak to improve to 10-3 on the season, marking just the second time in school history they have reached 10 wins by Christmas, with the other time coming in the 1978-79 season. The Wildcats meanwhile dropped to 8-3, but did leave with the Invitational title after winning a tiebreaker with UNLV and Northwestern (all 2-1 in tournament play) due to total win margin.

"We knew it would be a defensive battle, and I'm proud of our team's overall effort," said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. "What's good about the Rebels right now is that we're all stepping up at different times, it was a total team effort tonight."

The game was tied early at 8-8 on a jumper by Jalana Childs for KSU at the 14:36 mark. UNLV would then hold the Wildcats scoreless for the 10 minutes of the contest. The Lady Rebels were facing a tough defense as well in KSU, but was successful sending the ball inside to their post players, as UNLV's frontcourt scored nine straight points,with Lenita Sanford's jumper at the 5:58 mark giving UNLV a 17-8 edge. KSU broke the drought with a layup by Brittany Chambers, but the Lady Rebels answered with a 6-2 run to take their largest lead of the half, 23-12 on a pair of Kelli Thompsonfree throws with 2:51on the clock. The Wildcats would score the final four points of the half, making it a 23-16 game at halftime. It tied for the lowest points in a half for KSU this season, and came one night after the Wildcats held a 39-14 halftime lead over Northwestern in the second day of the BTI Invitational.

The second half was a series of runs over the first 15 minutes. First, KSU scored five straight to close within 23-21 on a pair of Childs free throws at the 17:20 mark. UNLV answered back with a 9-0 run, ignited by five points from Markiell Styles, and a jumper from Sanford made the score 32-21 with 14:00 on the clock. KSU countered with a 13-0 run of its own over the next 7:54. A layup from Chambers gave KSU its first lead since the opening minutes, 34-32 with 6:06 to play, but on the other end Thompson drained a trey, the first of the day for UNLV, to put the Lady Rebs back ahead 35-34. Over the next few minutes UNLV would miss three of five at the free throw line, but still extended the lead to 37-34.

Chambers converted another layup to make it a one-point game against with two minutes left. That set the scene for a frantic set of plays on the next possession, which saw Thompson track down a loose ball right at the midcourt line to narrowly avoid a half court violation. Thompson then fired off a pass to Mia Bell,who promptly drained a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer for a 40-36 edge with 1:01 to play. Sanford came up with two big blocks for UNLV in the final minute, and the Lady Rebels made four-of-four at the line to seal the six-point win.

Styles finished with a game-high 13 points and added seven rebounds for UNLV. Jamie Smithposted 10 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the year, while Sanford finished with eight points, six rebounds and four blocks. UNLV shot 27.5% (14-of-51) for the game, was 2-of-11 from three-point range (18.2%) and 14-of-20 at the charity stripe for 70%. The Lady Rebs owned a 44-38 edge on the boards, and more importantly finished with a 15-4 edge on second chance points.

Childs was the leading scorer for KSU with 12 points, while Chambers finished with 11. The Wildcats were held to 28.3% for the night (15-of-53), were 1-of-13 from three-point range for 7.7%, and 7-of-10 at the line for 70%.

UNLV now breaks for Christmas before returning to action on Wednesday, Dec. 28 with a road contest in Tucson, Ariz., against Arizona at 6 pm (PST).