Jan. 24, 2018 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Fresno State's Aly Gamez hit two three-pointers in the final five seconds, the second at the buzzer, to stun UNLV 74-72 in Mountain West women's basketball action Wednesday night from the Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels not only saw their five-game win streak snapped, they also dropped out of a tie for first place in the league standings, as they now stand at 5-2, 10-8 overall. Fresno State meanwhile improved to 10-9, 5-3 in the MW.
UNLV led for the majority of the first quarter, but the Bulldogs closed on a 13-3 run, which included a pair of treys in the last 90 seconds, for a 23-16 advantage. Fresno State then used an 8-0 run to open up a 36-25 advantage, and were up 38-29 at the halftime break. UNLV climbed back into the game with 10 unanswered points midway through the third quarter, and UNLV went into the final quarter down just one thanks to hitting four-of-seven from downtown.
UNLV opened the fourth quarter with seven straight for its largest lead of the night, 61-53, with 7:36 to play. The lead was 68-61, until the Bulldogs reeled off seven straight to knot the game at 68-68 with 1:20 to play. UNLV answered on the other end, and would go ahead 72-68 on a pair of Brooke Johnson free throws with 20 seconds on the clock.
THE TURNING POINT: Gamez, who finished the night with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-6 from three-point range, drained a three-pointer with five seconds to play to bring Fresno State within 72-71. Nikki Wheatley was then fouled, and she missed both free throws. The Bulldogs grabbed the rebound and passed it off to Gamez, who raced down the court before launching her game-winning shot just before the final buzzer.
STAT OF THE GAME: Fresno State shot 93.3% (14-of-15) at the free throw line, and was 12-of-29 from three-point range (41.4%). UNLV meanwhile made just 12-of-18 at the charity stripe for 66.7%, and only 6-of-22 from downtown (27.3%).
QUOTABLE:
"I thought 22 did a great job, she's fearless and just out played us, she kept us off balance. I thought we did some good things defensively but not enough. We fouled too much, and they got too many offensive boards. We did try to mix it up defensively but we couldn't keep them unbalance enough. I liked our energy and we did push the ball, but they started making shots and then that allowed them to set up their zone and we didn't make enough shots against it."
- UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier
LADY REBEL NOTES:
* UNLV's five-game win streak was tied for its longest ever in Mountain West conference play.
* The Lady Rebels have now lost their past two games to the Bulldogs, both in Las Vegas.
* Katie Powell posted her ninth double-double of the year for UNLV with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
* Wheatley scored a team-high 19 points, while Brooke Johnson added 17.
* Johnson moved into 16th place in career scoring at UNLV with 1,253 points, passing Vicki Lander (1988-91).
* UNLV held a 43-37 edge on the boards, and 36-22 on points in the paint.
* UNLV lost despite committing only 11 turnovers in the contest.
NEXT FOR THE LADY REBELS: UNLV is on the road for two straight games in the Golden State, starting with a Saturday contest at San Diego State with a 1 pm tip.
