Jan. 7, 2017 Box Score
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV's Brooke Johnson came up with two steals in the final 20 seconds, the first leading to the go-ahead basket and the second to seal the victory as the Lady Rebels, down to just six available players for the final 16 minutes, escaped with a 55-53 victory over Utah State in Mountain West women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon in front of a Cox Pavilion record crowd of 1,854. The Lady Rebels improved to 11-5 overall, 2-2 in the MW, while the Aggies dropped to 8-1 and 1-3 in league play.
With 1:10 left in the third quarter, Katie Powell from UNLV and Antoina Robinson from Utah State were ejected after a fight following a shooting foul against the Aggies. Three players from each team were also ejected for leaving their team's bench during the fight. That left the Lady Rebels with just six total dressed out players left, as sophomore center Jordyn Bell was unavailable for the contest after suffering a concussion against Boise State on Wednesday night. Utah State meanwhile saw their players available cut to eight the rest of the way.
At that point, UNLV trailed in the game 36-32, and it was a 38-36 lead for Utah State to enter the fourth quarter. The Aggies would lead almost the entire fourth quarter as well. UNLV went ahead just once, on a pair of free throws from Paris Strawther with 5:40 to go for a 43-42 contest. Rachel Brewster then hit a trey to put USU back up two, before Dakota Gonzalez countered with a jumper to tie the game at 45-45. The teams would each score just two more baskets each, with UNLV answering both shots from the Aggies, first at 1:43 to tie the game with 1:47 to play, and then again on a layup from Johnson with 56 seconds for a 49-49 contest. Both teams missed their final shot, leading to the first overtime game of the year for UNLV.
Utah State and UNLV hit their first shots of the extra period, one from Brewster and another from Dakota Gonzalez, that one at 4:31 for a 51-51 game. The tired teams then missed their next 10 combined shots, before Eliza West broke the drought with a layup at 1:25 for a 53-51 lead.
UNLV missed on its next attempt, but came up with a steal, leading to a foul against Johnson. She made one of two at the line to cut the lead to 53-52 with 37 seconds to play. After a foul on UNLV with 22 seconds left, USU would inbound the ball at midcourt, where Jessie Geer was double-teamed by Johnson and Dakota Gonzalez. Johnson grabbed the ball and raced in for a layup that came off the rim, where it was cleared by the trailing Dakota Gonzalez, and she laid it back in for a 54-53 lead with 13 seconds left. On the next possession, Johnson again stole the ball from the Aggies. She then dribbled the ball down to just four seconds before she was fouled. She made one-of-two for a 55-53 lead, and USU's last shot attempt was far short.
The Lady Rebels held USU to just three points over the first 9:58 of the opening quarter, until Robinson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the first quarter score 13-6. The Aggies knocked in 47% of its shots in the second quarter on the way to a 25-23 halftime lead, but turnovers by USU kept UNLV within reach. Utah State led for almost the entire third quarter except for a 35-second span when it was tied, but could never stretch their advantage past five points, 34-29 at the 1:51 mark.
Johnson paced UNLV with 18 points, and she added seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Strawther added a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez both finished with 10 points and six rebounds each. UNLV was held to 32.1% shooting (18-of-56), and shot a season-low 11.1% (3-of-27) from three-point range. The Lady Rebels did finish 16-of-23 at the free throw line for 69.6%, and held a 19-10 edge on points off turnovers.
West posted 13 points and Brewster 12 for the Aggies, who shot 33.3% (21-of-63) from the floor, 43.8% (7-of-16) from three-point range.
UNLV is back in action on Wednesday when it hosts New Mexico at 6 pm in the Cox Pavilion.
