Jan. 14, 2012
Box Score
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV nearly pulled off two successful rallies in the final 23 seconds of both the second half and overtime, but San Diego State held on for a 66-62 victory over the Lady Rebels in Mountain West conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon in the Cox Pavilion. In a contest between the top teams in the MW, UNLV saw its three-game win streak snapped, falling to 13-5, 1-1 in league play, while the Aztecs won their eighth straight to improve to 12-4, 2-0 in the conference.
SDSU looked to have the game wrapped up in regulation, leading 54-50 with 30 seconds to go and at the line for a one-and-one. Chairese Culberson missed the free throw, and Mia Bell hit two free throws for UNLV to close the edge to 54-52 with 23 seconds on the clock. Courtney Clements was fouled, and she missed the front end for SDSU, giving UNLV one last chance, and Bell again delivered, sinking a layup with five seconds left to tie the game at 54-54. Lenita Sanford blocked SDSU's final shot, sending UNLV to its first overtime game of the year.
The Lady Rebels led just once in overtime on a pair of Sanford free throws. A three-pointer from Kiyana Stamps put SDSU ahead by one, and they would not relinquish that advantage. Two SDSU free throws pushed the edge to three, though UNLV cut the lead back to one twice, the last at 61-60 with 1:54 to play. SDSU would run off almost a minute on its next possession thanks to an offensive board, and Kalena Tutt's free throw pushed the lead to 62-60. After a missed trey for UNLV, a layup from Tutt made it a 64-60 edge with 21 seconds to play. Sandrine Nzeukou rebounded a missed jumper and scored with 12 seconds to go, and on the inbounds pass for SDSU, the ball was knocked out of bounds and was initally awarded to UNLV. However, the call was changed, and the Lady Rebs were forced to foul, putting Chelsea Hopkins on the line where she made both for a four-point lead with 10 seconds left. Two final shots by UNLV were off the mark.
The first 39 minutes of the game were as tight and hard fought as the final six, including a first-half that saw 11 lead changes and eight ties. UNLV scored the first four points of the game, and with the score tied at 14-14, ran off six straight, four from Sanford, to grab its largest lead of the game at 20-14 with 8:14 to play. Eight straight from the Aztecs, including the last four from Stamps, put SDSU back ahead by a 22-20 score. The game would be tied three more times over the last four minutes of the half, and Kelli Thompson looked to have given UNLV a halftime lead thanks to a jumper with 31 seconds left, but Clements drained a trey in the final seconds of the half to give SDSU a 29-28 edge.
The second half saw UNLV refuse to allow the Aztecs to pull away. SDSU opened up a 41-34 lead before a 6-0 run by the Lady Rebels cut the lead to 41-40 on a Nzeukou jumper at the 10:59 mark. The score was one-point again at 45-44, while UNLV tied the game at the 3:17 mark on a Nzeukou layup. SDSU answered by scoring on consecutive possessions to go up 54-50, setting the scene for the final minute of the second half.
Bell paced UNLV with 16 points, while Sanford added 14, Thompson 12, and Nzeukou 10. Sanford also posted 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. As a team, UNLV shot 36.9% (24-of-65) from the floor, was 13-of-18 for 72.2% at the line, but made just 1-of-10 from three-point range. UNLV did hold a 48-42 edge on the boards, leading to a 24-14 advantage on second chance points.
Clements scored a game-high 20 points to lead SDSU. Stamps added 14 and Hopkins finished with 11. The Aztecs shot 40% (28-of-70) from the floor, was 3-of-11 from three-point range (27.3%), and 7-of-12 at the line for 58.3%.
The Lady Rebels will next play their next two on the road, beginning with a Wednesday, Jan. 18 contest at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, starting at 4:30 pm (PST).
