Jan. 23, 2016 Box Score
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV jumped out to a large first-half lead and survived an amazing fourth-quarter shooting performance from Nevada, Reno guard Stephanie Schmid to win its third straight game, 65-59 over the Wolf Pack on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,609 fans in the Cox Pavilion. The victory improved the Lady Rebels to 11-7 overall, and they are now alone in fourth place in the Mountain West at 4-3. They also moved to 1-0 in the series in the first meeting between the two in the Governor's Series, the all-sports competition between the two sponsored by NV Energy and Barrick Gold. UNR dropped to 3-15, 2-5 after the loss, and are now 0-17 all-time against UNLV in Las Vegas.
Sophomore guard Dakota Gonzalez sank four of her first five shots from the floor to give UNLV an early 11-2 lead, and the Lady Rebels would hold at least a six-point lead for the rest of the game until the final 35 seconds. UNLV ended the first quarter with a 15-8 edge, and then scored the first four points of the second quarter for a 19-8 advantage at the 8:38 mark. The lead was at 21-10 when UNR scored five straight to close within six, 21-15 with 5:42 to play. Four different players then scored for UNLV during a 9-0 run that pushed the edge to 30-15, and the score would be 30-17 going into halftime.
The lead was in double-digits also the entire third quarter, and UNLV ended the final three minutes with a 7-0 spurt for a 49-31 lead. The lead was still comfortable for the home team for the majority of the fourth quarter, and it was a 63-47 edge at the 3:43 mark following a three-point from Dakota Gonzalez. Schmid then sparked a rally by the Wolf Pack. After not scoring in the first half and posting six points in the third quarter, she hit a pair of three-pointers at the start of the fourth, and then answered Gonzalez's shot with her third trey of the quarter. That was followed by two free throws and then she banked in a three-pointer to close UNR within eight. A free throw with 1:09 left and the fifth trey of the game from Schmid brought the Wolf Pack to its closest margin at four, 63-59 with 35 seconds left. For the third straight game Brooke Johnson stepped up to seal the win, as she drained a pair of free throws for UNLV to make it a six-point game, and the Lady Rebels then forced a turnover on the following possession and ran out the clock for the victory.
Dakota Gonzalez finished with 17 points to pace UNLV, while Nikki Wheatley added 12 points and eight rebounds and Johnson posted 11 points and four steals. The Lady Rebels shot 40.3% (27-of-67) for the game, 4-of-12 from three-point range (33.3%), but again struggled at the line by hitting 7-of-14 for 50%. UNLV held a slight 40-39 edge on the boards but did own a 16-7 advantage on second chance points, and 30-18 on points in the paint. The Lady Rebels also forced 24 turnovers and came up with 13 steals.
Schmid finished with 23 points, while Nyasha Lesure added 12. UNR was held to 35.2% (19-of-54) from the floor, 7-of-19 from three-point range for 36.8%, and 14-of-17 at the free throw line for 82.4%.
UNLV will be on the road for two games next week, starting with a Wednesday, Jan. 27 contest at Boise State at 6 pm (PT).
