Box Score

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) -

UNLV was able to survive early foul trouble from two starters and then blew the game open after scoring 14 of the first 16 points in the final quarter to claim a second straight road victory, 65-51 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night in women's college basketball action from Dugan Wellness Center. The Lady Rebels now stand at 7-2 on the season while TAMU-CC dropped to 3-4.

Aley Rohde picked up two fouls in the first three minutes of the game and would sit on the bench for the rest of the half for UNLV. Starting point guard Nikki Wheatley also picked up her second foul with two minutes left in the opening half. That forced the Lady Rebels to play the entire second quarter with their bench filling in for the pair. The play of those three bench players to keep the game close was the key in the opening half. The other key factor on the night was the play of sophomore guards Brooke Johnson and Dakota Gonzalez, as Johnson scored a career-high 25 points while Gonzalez added 17 points for the second straight game.

"Anytime you win games on the road you feel good," said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. "Our team had a rough start, we got into some early foul trouble but we stayed with it, we had a number of different people step up. Brooke got hot, then Dakota got hot, Nikki does her thing, we have so many options on this basketball team and they are so fun to coach.

"I thought the bench really took advantage of their minutes. They played with alot of confidence tonight, they know what they are doing, they are just getting better and better every game."

The game was a series of runs in the first half. The game was tied at 6-6 before the Islanders reeled off eight straight, with back-to-back three-pointers giving the home team a 14-6 edge. Johnson then scored five straight and Gonzalez added a basket to cut the edge to 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Following a second quarter opening basket from TAMU-CC, Gonzalez drained three straight baskets to spark a 13-0 run over a 4:20 span. A layup from Simone Sheppard, her second of the quarter off the bench, gave UNLV a 26-16 advantage at the five-minute mark. UNLV would score just one more point the rest of the quarter though, and a layup from Kre'Ana Henry in the final minute tied up the game at 27-27 going into halftime.

The Islanders continued their run from the second quarter, scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the third quarter to open up a 39-29 advantage with 7:24 on the clock. That completed a 23-3 run from midway through the second quarter for the Islanders. UNLV quickly responded with layups from Gonzalez and Johnson, while Rohde, back in the game, converted a layup of her own to bring the deficit down to four. After TAMU-CC pushed the edge back to six, back-to-back treys from Johnson and Gonzalez tied the game at 41-41 with 4:19 to play in the third. The Islanders took the lead back, and went up 44-43 after hitting one-of-two at the line with 2:17 to play.

Gonzalez then knocked down her second three-pointer of the quarter for a 46-44 UNLV edge, and the Lady Rebels would not trail again. TAMU-CC did add a free throw in the final minute to cut the lead down to one going into the final quarter.

In the fourth it was all UNLV. Following a Wheatley layup on a drive down the lane, Johnson scored the eight points of the game, all on layups, while Paris Strawther added a free throw for a 9-0 spurt and a 55-46 edge. The Islanders finally got their first points of the quarter on a Maddisen Turner basket at the 3:21 mark, but that was answered by five more points from the Lady Rebels. A three-pointer from Strawther gave UNLV its largest lead of the game at 62-47. TAMU-CC would not get its fourth point of the quarter until the 1:25 mark, and UNLV finished with a 19-6 edge in the final 10 minutes.

In addition to Johnson and Gonzalez, Wheatley also finished in double-figures with 10 points. Strawther led the team in rebounding on the night with seven. As a team, UNLV shot 47.3% (26-of-55) from the floor, including 55.6% (15-of-27) in the second half. The Lady Rebels were also 5-of-14 from three-point range (35.7%) and 8-of-13 at the charity stripe (61.5%). UNLV was outrebounded for just the second time this year, 33-28, but made up for that by forcing 22 turnovers, which led to a 23-8 advantage on points off turnovers.

The Islanders were paced by Brittany Mbamalu with 17 points, as she was 4-of-9 from three-point range. Henry also posted double-figures with 10 points. TAMU-CC shot 38.3% (18-of-47) from the floor, 6-of-16 from three-point range (37.5%), and 9-of-12 at the line (75.0%).

The Lady Rebels will return to Las Vegas for a few days before going back on the road for this weekend's Beach Classic, hosted by Long Beach State. UNLV will first take on UTEP on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 5 pm, and then face the host LBSU 49ers on Sunday in a 2 pm contest to close out the non-conference schedule.