DURHAM, North Carolina (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV gave Duke all it could handle in the majority of the first half and threatened to take the lead several times, until the Blue Devils used their pressure defense in the second half to take over on the way to a 66-38 victory over the Lady Rebels Thursday night from Cameron Indoor Stadium. This was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
UNLV struggled on offense all night long, shooting just 29.4% (15-of-51), including only 23% in the first half. The Lady Rebels never faltered on defense however, as they forced 15 first half turnovers by the Blue Devils. They also held Duke to just 25 first half points, its second-lowest first half total of the season. Though Duke led the entire night, they never led by more than three points the first quarter while UNLV managed to tie the game twice. In the second quarter, UNLV closed the edge to within 14-13, and were down just 20-17 with 2:33 left in the half before the Blue Devils scored the final five points for a 25-17 halftime advantage.
THE TURNING POINT: Duke forced five UNLV turnovers in the first five minutes of the third quarter, and opened halftime with a 7-0 run to a 32-17 advantage. Added to the half-ending spurt, it would lead to a 21-4 run over an 8:47 span that made the score 41-21 at the 3:46 mark.
LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: Senior guard Nikki Wheatley posted her second straight double-figure scoring game with a team-high 10 points. She also added four rebounds and four assists in just 22 minutes of action. She would leave the game early in the fourth with an elbow injury, and her status for the next game is unknown at this point.
QUOTABLE: "I just want to say that we were excited to play here. I think it's very obvious that its one of the top universities in the country, one of the top basketball schools in the country. We put up a fight in the first half. In the second half, Duke just picked it up a level and then we couldn't sustain that intensity that we had in the first half. They are a very good basketball team, very well coached, and their defense was tough for us tonight especially in the second half."
- UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier
LADY REBEL NOTES:
* UNLV was held to season-lows in points (38), free throws (5), rebounds (25) and three-point percentage (20% - 3-of-15).
* UNLV was held under 40 points for the first time since a 74-33 loss at Stanford on Dec. 16, 2017.
* The Lady Rebels came up with a season-high 14 steals.
* With her 10 points, Wheatley moved into 23rd all-time at UNLV in career scoring with 1,045 points, passing RanDee Henry (2003-05).
* The next two highest scorers for UNLV were Rodjanae Wade (eight) and Jordyn Bell (seven).
* UNLV is currently playing without two of its top three returnees from last year, as senior center and leading scorer Katie Powell (right ankle) has been sidelined since the first half of the game against USC (Dec. 1). Senior forward Paris Strawther (broken left pinky) has been out since the UC Irvine game (Nov. 13). Both are expected to be out the rest of the non-conference slate.
NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV will play in the state of South Carolina for the first time in team history when it takes on the South Carolina State Bulldogs in Orangeburg, South Carolina at 11 am (PT) Saturday morning. There will be no live video stream of the contest, the radio call featuring Wyatt Tomchek and Mark Wasik can be heard on UNLVRebels.com.
