Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -

UNLV broke a four-game losing streak in resounding fashion on Saturday night, opening up a 22-6 lead at the end of the first quarter on the way to a 66-37 victory over Wyoming in Mountain West women's basketball action on Saturday night in front of a new Cox Pavilion record crowd of 1,703. Thanks to their largest win over the Cowgirls in the 42-game series history between the two, the Lady Rebels improved to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Cowgirls dropped to 9-5, 2-1 in the MW.

"We played hard and we played the game right tonight," said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. "We fought hard on defense and moved the ball around on offense. Brooke (Johnson) started the game on fire and Dakota was sharing the ball and the team kept growing off that. We played like we were having fun tonight, we played how basketball should be played."

The 37 total points scored by Wyoming marked the first time UNLV has held an opponent under 40 points since a 44-38 win over Kansas State on Dec. 20, 2011 in Las Vegas. Nikki Wheatley paced the team with her third double-double of the year off a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson added 17 points, as both players finished 7-of-11 from the floor. Dylan Gonzalez also finished in double-figures with 13 points and eight rebounds, while her twin Dakota added nine points.

"Dylan comes in playing out of position but played smart tonight," said Olivier. "She made some shots and defensibly just stepped up and played a great game tonight." Dylan Gonzalez was making her second straight start in place of senior center Aley Rohde, out a second straight game after suffering an ankle injury earlier this week.

UNLV was on fire to start the game, grabbing a 5-0 lead thirty seconds into the game off a Johnson trey, followed by a steal and layup from Johnson, and the Lady Rebels were off and running. UNLV would score 14 of the game's first 16 points, and finished the first quarter with a 16-point edge after shooting 57.1% (8-of-14). The Cowgirls meanwhile were held to just three made field goals (out of 14). The six points scored by the Cowgirls were the fewest allowed by UNLV in the first quarter this season. The Lady Rebels kept it going to start the second quarter, scoring the first eight points to go ahead 30-6 at the 8:09 mark. The edge grew to as high as 27 three times, and UNLV would take a 43-18 lead into halftime.

The Lady Rebels cooled off in the third quarter, scoring just eight points to allow the Cowgirls to cut the margin as low as 15 points, before Johnson drained a trey at the buzzer to give UNLV a 51-33 advantage going into the final quarter. UNLV made no doubt of the outcome as it held Wyoming to just four total points, while scoring 15 of its own for the final 29-point win. That is the second-largest win margin of the season for UNLV, and is the largest in conference play since a 44-point win over Air Force at the end of the 2013-14 season.

UNLV finished the game shooting 39.7% (25-of-63) from the floor, 6-of-20 from three-point range for 30%, and 10-of-13 from the line for 76.9%. The Lady Rebels dominated the boards with a 48-29 advantage, and also posted a 22-9 edge on points off turnovers.

Marquelle Dent paced the Cowgirls with 12 points, while Hailey Ligocki added eight. Wyoming shot 28.3% (15-of-53) for the game, was 0-of-21 from three-point range, and made all seven of its free throw attempts.

UNLV returns to action with two games on the road next week, beginning with a Wednesday, Jan. 13 contest at New Mexico with a 7 pm start in Albuquerque.