Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UNLVRebels.com) -

UNLV was within four points after the end of the third quarter, but then both Lady Rebel point guards fouled out in the start of the final quarter and New Mexico took advantage to claim a 67-53 win in Mountain West women's basketball action on Wednesday night from WisePies Arena. The loss dropped UNLV to 8-7 overall, 1-3 in league play while the Lobos improved to 9-6, 2-2 in the conference.

UNLV was playing its third game without starting center Aley Rohde, out with a foot injury, and New Mexico took advantage by going inside early. Post players Whitney Johnson and Khadijah Shumpert combined for 10-20 shooting and 29 points, and the Lobos held a 28-20 edge on points in the paint, including 24-14 through the first three quarters. The Lady Rebels managed to keep the game close for the majority of the night but early foul trouble caught up to the nine-player rotation. Four of five starters finished the first half with two fouls each, and at the end of the third two had three fouls and two more foul fouls each, forcing the Lady Rebels to go to their inexperienced underclassmen off the bench for significant amounts of minutes.

"I thought we started slow and then we picked it up as the game went on," said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. "In the third quarter we made a run and played stronger defensively. They started going inside into the paint so we missed Aley a lot tonight. We also didn't move the ball enough in the fourth quarter, foul trouble handcuffed us tonight as well. I was happy though with how we continued to fight and played together as a team in the third quarter, we just have to make sure we do that the entire game."

Amie Callaway provided the highlights for UNLV after claiming her second double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five steals. Dakota Gonzalez led the team in scoring with 16 points, while Nikki Wheatley added 11. UNLV shot 34.5% (20-of-58) for the game, was 4-of-12 from three-point range, and only made 50% (9-of-18) at the line..

New Mexico increased its five-point halftime lead to nine three times in the third quarter, the last at 42-32 on a layup with 2:12 to play. Sparked by a three-point play from Wheatley, the Lady Rebels went on a 9-2 run over the next 90 seconds. Dakota Gonzalez drained a pair of shots during that run, with her second closing UNLV within 45-43 at the 52 second mark. New Mexico then got a layup from Johnson, and UNLV missed two chances in the final five seconds, leaving them down 47-43 going into the final quarter.

UNM opened the fourth on a 6-0 run to go ahead 53-43. Brooke Johnson, UNLV's leading scorer who missed most of the third quarter after picking up her fourth foul, was whistled for her fifth at the 6:27 mark. Wheatley fouled out at the 5:33 mark with UNLV down 57-45 with 5:53 to play. The Lady Rebels would come no closer then 10 the rest of the way.

Though New Mexico led the entire first half, UNLV kept it close. After the Lobos opened up a 4-0 lead, Dakota Gonzalez went one of two at the line, rebounded her own miss and then scored to bring UNLV within 4-3. It was again a one-point game at 6-5 off a Callaway layup, and again at 12-11 following two Nikki Wheatley free throws. New Mexico then closed out the first quarter with five straight points. UNLV thought it had a halfcourt shot at the buzzer from Wheatley that would have made the score 17-14, but after a long look at the replays the shot was ruled to have come after the clock hit zero.

The second quarter saw each team score in bursts. After UNM opened up a 20-13 edge, back-to-back treys from Callaway made it a one-point game again at 20-19. The Lobos then slowly pushed their edge to 27-21 with 5:59 on the clock. It would turn into a defensive struggle for the rest of the half, with just five total points scored, the last by Dakota Gonzalez that made the score 29-24 going into the break.

UNLV would finish with a 44-32 edge on the boards, leading to a 14-8 edge on second chance points. The Lady Rebels did turn the ball over 19 times, resulting in a 22-15 advantage on points off turnovers for the home team. UNM would shoot 41.5% (22-of-53) for the game, was 5-of-15 from three-point range for 33.3%, and 18-of-23 for 78.3% at the line.

The Lady Rebels will play a second straight road game on Saturday, when it travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., to take on Air Force at 5 pm (PT).