LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV turned in perhaps its best offensive game of the season Saturday against USC, but the Trojans took advantage of another injury to a Lady Rebel starting post player to outscore the host team 46-22 inside the paint on the way to an 86-72 victory in women's college basketball action at the Cox Pavilion in front of 1,579 fans. The Lady Rebels held the lead for almost half of the first two quarters, until a big run midway through the third quarter put USC ahead by double-digits.
The tone of the game changed earlier then that however. UNLV led by as much as seven midway through the first quarter, and were down just 30-28 in the second quarter when senior center Katie Powell, the Lady Rebels' leading scorer and rebounder this year, suffered an ankle injury going for a defensive rebound. Powell would leave the game and would not return the rest of the night.
UNLV would fall behind by six after the injury, but used an 8-0 run to grab a 39-37 edge, and then Bailey Thomas drained a corner trey to put UNLV ahead 42-39 in the final seconds of the half. USC wasn't down though, banking in a long three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to knot the game at 42-42.
THE TURNING POINT: It was a one-point game, 50-51 with 5:09 to go in the third quarter when back-to-back technicals were called against UNLV just seconds apart. USC converted all four technical free throws, and then hit a trey to give them a seven-point possession. The Trojans added another trey that would complete a 13-0 run for a 65-53 edge. UNLV came no closer then eight (65-57) the rest of the night.
LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: Senior guard Nikki Wheatley broke out of a scoring slump with a season-high 20 points. She also added seven rebounds and three assists on the afternoon while playing a season-high 34 minutes.
QUOTABLE: "Clearly we're disappointing, we want to win every game. We've been challenging ourselves in the non-conference schedule, USC's a good basketball team, they are undefeated right now. We had a great crowd today as well. We hope that we can have Katie back soon, but it was great to see Nikki step up the way she did. We're getting better every game, so hopefully people come out and watch us."
- UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier
LADY REBEL NOTES:
* With the Powell injury, UNLV is now playing without its top two rebounders from a year ago, as senior Paris Strawther is expected to be out the rest of December after her hand injury in the second game of the season.
* UNLV made a season-high eight three-pointers in the game, which included a career-high three from Las Vegas native Justice Ethridge. The freshman finished with a career-high 11 points off the bench.
* Joining Wheatley in double-figures was Jordyn Bell with 12 points and Latecia Smith with 14.
* UNLV posted season-highs in field goal percentage (43.1%), three-point percentage (53.3%) and free throw percentage (73.7%).
* The Lady Rebels were outrebounded by a 36-26 margin, but did force 19 turnovers, leading to a 19-6 edge on points off turnovers.
NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV will play a second straight Power 5 team when it begins a two-game road trip to the Carolinas with a contest at Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina Thursday, Dec. 6 at 4 pm (PT). The game will be shown on the ACC Digital Network, which can be accessed on ESPN3.com, while the radio call featuring Wyatt Tomchek and Mark Wasik will be available at UNLVRebels.com.
