Dec. 20, 2016 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
UNLV-New Mexico State PDF Box Score
For the second straight day UNLV was tied in the final minute, but this time the Lady Rebels stepped up and made the winning plays to claim a 52-47 victory over New Mexico State in the consolation bracket of the Play4Kay Shootout from T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, UNLV improved to 9-2 on the year, and became the 55th school in NCAA history to reach 750 all-time victories.
The team's reward for the victory over the Aggies is a second matchup with a ranked team in three days, as UNLV will face No. 21/25 South Florida on Wednesday afternoon in the fifth place game at 3 p.m. USF was a 63-54 winner over Santa Clara in the day's first game. This will mark the first time UNLV has played two ranked teams in a three-day stretch in 10 years as the Lady Rebels opened the tournament with a last-minute 62-59 loss to No. 25/15 Oregon State. In the 2006 Mountain West Conference Tournament in Denver, UNLV defeated No. 21 New Mexico 57-45 on March 8 before falling to No. 19 Utah 61-45 loss on March 10. Wednesday's contest will have a live video stream available on the bd Global YouTube channel, with links also provided on UNLVRebels.com.
To reach Wednesday's contest with the USF Bulls, UNLV had to rally past the Aggies after trailing by seven twice in the third quarter, and by one with just under three minutes to play. That's when Brooke Johnson made her biggest plays of the day on consecutive Lady Rebel possessions, starting with a three-pointer from the right to put UNLV ahead 47-45 at the 1:45 mark. NMSU tied the game with 1:18 to go on a pull-up jumper in the lane, but Johnson answered right back with another trey, this time from the corner right in front of the UNLV bench with 58 seconds on the clock for a 50-47 lead.
Johnson wasn't done, as she stole the ball on the next possession for the Aggies, giving UNLV the ball with just 34 seconds left in the game. NMSU choose to not foul, allowing UNLV to run the clock down before Johnson found Paris Strawther alone under the basket, and the Las Vegas native converted the layup for a five-point lead with just seven seconds left to seal the win.
The game was back and forth for the entire afternoon, as both teams made series of runs at each other. NMSU led for nine of 10 minutes in the opening quarter, and went ahead 13-8 with 2:38 to go off a three-pointer from Zaire Williams. UNLV cut into the lead by finishing the quarter with the final four points, and then opened the second with six straight for a 10-0 run over a four-minute stretch. Dylan Gonzalez capped the run with a jumper with 7:37 to go in the quarter for an 18-13 edge, which would tie for the team's largest lead of the afternoon. A 7-1 spurt by NMSU resulted in another lead change, this time 20-19 in favor of the Aggies, off a trey from Tamera William. UNLV again ended the quarter on a 4-0 run, off free throws by Johnson and Katie Powell for a 23-20 halftime lead.
NMSU opened the second half with back to back treys from Williams, part of a 12-2 run that put the Aggies up 32-25 with 6:43 to play in the third quarter. It was at seven points one more time, 37-39 at the 2:38 mark, but once again UNLV closed the quarter on a run, this time a 5-0 spurt, thanks to a trey from Alyssa Anderson and two Powell free throws. Anderson opened the fourth with another three-point bomb, while a jumper from Dylan Gonzalez capped the 10-0 run for a 40-37 UNLV lead at the 8:30 mark. The Lady Rebels kept the lead for the next six minutes, until Moriah Mack connected on a three-pointer to put NMSU briefly ahead 45-44 at the 2:51 mark. That set the scene for Johnson's heroics.
Johnson finished with a game-high 17 points along with five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Powell just missed a double-double after posting 12 points and nine rebounds. UNLV shot 37.8% (17-of-45) for the game, was 7-of-16 from three-point range for 43.8% and made 11-of-17 at the free throw line for 64.7%. Both teams finished with 35 rebounds each, while the Lady Rebels held a 20-14 edge on points off turnovers.
NMSU was paced by Brooke Salas with 14 points, with William chipped in 12. The Aggies were held to 34% (18-of-53) from the floor, and hit 8-of-23 from three-point range for 34.8%.
INJURY UPDATE - UNLV also announced that junior point guard Nikki Wheatley will miss the rest of the season after suffering a meniscus tear in her right knee in Monday night's loss to Oregon State. She had been the team's fourth leading scorer this year with 10.3 points per game while leading the squad in assists with 3.1 per contest.
