Jan. 11, 2012
Box Score
LARAMIE, Wyo. (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV held off a late rally by Wyoming to escape with a 54-51 victory in the conference season opener for both teams in Mountain West women's basketball action on Wednesday night at Arena Auditorium. With the win, the third straight for the Lady Rebels, they improve to 13-4 on the year, while the Cowgirls dropped to 4-10.
Wyoming led for almost the entire opening nine minutes of the game, going up 12-9 on a layup by Kayla Woodward at the 11:03 mark. UNLV then forced the Cowgirls to miss their next five shots while turning the ball over three times. That helped to fuel a 10-0 run by the Lady Rebels, giving them a lead they would hold the rest of the game. Four different players scored during the run, with Mia Bell scoring the last four. Her layup with 6:41 to play made it a 19-12 edge. UNLV would increase its lead to as high as eight twice in the half, and went into halftime up 30-23 on a length of the court layup by Bell at the halftime buzzer.
The Lady Rebels would eventually take a 10-point lead in the second half, 41-31, and were up 47-39 on a three-pointer from Bell with 9:17 to play. UNLV then went cold on offense, missing its next eight shots from the floor. A 7-0 run by Wyoming brought the Cowgirls within 48-47, before UNLV scored four straight second chance points to go ahead 51-46 at the 5:14. UNLV again would hit a scoring drought, going almost four minutes without a point, and the Cowgirls scored four unanswered during that stretch to make it a 51-50 game at the 1:42 mark on a pair of free throws from Woodward. Lenita Sanford then knocked down a long jumper right inside the three-point line to put UNLV up 53-50. After forcing a Wyoming miss, both teams went 1-of-2 at the free throw line on their next possessions. Wyoming had three chances to tie the game in the final 24 seconds, but Sanford came up with a steal on the first possession, while the Cowgirls missed three-point shots on their next two to seal the win for the Lady Rebels.
UNLV was paced by Bell's 12 points. Sanford added 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, while Markiell Styles came off the bench with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. As a team, UNLV shot 39.3% (22-of-56), but just 29.6% in the second half, was 2-of-10 on three-pointers (20%) and 8-of-13 in the second half for 61.5%. The Lady Rebels also only had a 39-38 edge on the boards.
Woodward, a freshman, scored a career-high 21 points for Wyoming. She was joined in double-figures by Chaundra Sewell, who posted 10 points before fouling in only 16 minutes of action. Wyoming finished the game 19-of-54 for 35.2%, was 4-of-19 for 21.1% from behind the arc, and 9-of-13 at the free throw line for 69.2%.
The Lady Rebels return to action on Saturday, Jan. 14, with their conference home opener against San Diego State at 3 pm in the Cox Pavilion. There is a 2-for-1 ticket promotion for the contest, while kids 12 and under are always free at UNLV women's basketball games.
