UC Irvine's Andee Ritter scored on a running one-handed scoop shot with just three seconds left to send UNLV to a second straight loss, 57-55 Tuesday night from the Bren Events Center in women's college basketball action. In a game that had featured 21 lead changes and nine ties, UNLV was held to just two made field goals in the fourth quarter, and struggled at the free throw line as well, connecting on 12-of-21 (57.1%) at the charity stripe.
 

UNLV played a good majority of the first half with Katie Powell and Nikki Wheatley on the bench with two fouls each, yet the Lady Rebels were able to hold onto the lead at halftime thanks to a jumper by LaTecia Smith at the buzzer for a 26-25 lead. The Anteaters stayed within distance the entire game thanks to a full court press that was able to force the Lady Rebels into 22 turnovers.
 

THE TURNING POINT: Ritter opened the fourth quarter for UCI with a trey, and the Anteaters added a pair of free throws for a 5-0 run in the opening minute to give the host team a 48-44 edge. UNLV would come back to tie the game twice, (53-53, 55-55), but never could grab the advantage back over the final 10 minutes.
 

LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: In her first ever start in the Scarlet and Gray, guard LaTecia Smith posted 11 points and also grabbed four steals.

QUOTABLE:

"We're clearly not playing our best basketball right now. One of our strengths is getting to the free throw line and right now that's hurting us because we're not making our free throws. Defensively we were solid tonight (UC Irvine shot 32.3%), but offensively there were too many turnovers and too many missed free throws. We must keep improving."
- UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier
 

LADY REBEL NOTES:

* UNLV lost to UC Irvine for the first time since 1994-95.
* This is the first 0-2 start for UNLV since the 2007-08 season.
* Powell led UNLV in scoring with 15 points, while Jordyn Bell and Smith both had 11 each.
* UNLV did hold a 48-37 edge on the boards, but that was countered by the 22-13 turnover difference between the squads.
* The Lady Rebels shot over 40% in two of the first three quarters, but made just 2-of-13 in the final 10 minutes to finish at 35.8% (19-of-53).

NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV is home against Gonzaga Saturday at 3 pm in the Cox Pavilion The game will have a live video stream available both on Facebook and on Stadium, which can be accessed through WatchStadium.com, Stadium mobile apps and over-the-top connected devices (such as Apple TV, Roku, Sling TV, Amazon Fire and XBox) as well as UNLVRebels.com. The radio call featuring Adam Candee will be on ESPN 1100 AM, while Wyatt Tomchek and Curtis Stelzer will call the action on the video stream.