SAN JOSE, California (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV recovered from a poor shooting effort in the first half with a 25-point third quarter on the way to a 53-43 Mountain West road victory Saturday afternoon at San Jose State in The Event Center. The Lady Rebels improved to 3-2 in league play with their third straight win, moving them to sole possession of fifth place in the standings.
While UNLV suffered through a 29.5% shooting performance for the game (16-60), there was no doubting its defensive effort. The Lady Rebels held SJSU to just 26.7% shooting (16-of-60), the lowest by a UNLV opponent this season. UNLV also held a commanding 52-35 edge on the boards and a 15-5 advantage on points off turnovers.
Both teams had their struggles offensively at the start, as the first quarter ended with the Spartans ahead 9-7. Things did not improve in the second quarter, as just 10 total points were scored in the first eight minutes. The Spartans finally found some offense with back-to-back baskets, including a three-pointer, that helped them to an 18-14 halftime advantage.
THE TURNING POINT: UNLV scored eight of the first 11 points of the third quarter to grab its first lead of the afternoon at 22-21 on a Katie Powell layup. SJSU countered with a jumper to take the lead back, but UNLV answered with a game-changing 10-0 run. All 10 points during the spurt came from Nikki Wheatley and Jordyn Bell, who's fast break layup off a Wheatley steal and assist gave UNLV a 32-23 advantage. The lead grew to as high as 13 at the end of the third. San Jose State came no closer then seven points twice in the fourth quarter.
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV shot 56.3% (9-of-16) in the third quarter while holding the Spartans to just 15.4% (7-of-21).
LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: Bell all scorers with 10 points, and she added three rebounds and drew a pair of key charges against the Spartans in the final minutes of the contest.
QUOTABLE: "Good victory today here at San Jose State Defensively we got after it today. Offensively if we had made our free throws it would have been a really good day, but in all a good win for the Lady Rebels."
- UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier
LADY REBEL NOTES:
* UNLV have won four straight in the all-time series against the Spartans.
* A pair of players just missed double-doubles, as Powell finished with nine points and 11 rebounds, while Rodjanae Wade posted nine points, nine rebounds off the bench.
* SJSU's 43 points is the lowest scored by a UNLV opponent this season (previous low was 51 by UC Santa Barbara).
* After several strong free throw nights in conference play, the Lady Rebels made just 15-of-28 Saturday for 53.6$.
* UNLV's win streak of three is its largest of the season. This was also UNLV's first road win of the season.
* The Lady Rebels made 2-of-11 from three-point range for 18.2%. The team's streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer is now at 125.
NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV plays a second straight road game when it looks for a season sweep of the New Mexico Lobos in a Tuesday, Jan. 23 contest in Albuquerque. The game will tip off at 6 pm (PT) in The Pit, and will have both a live video stream and a radio broadcast available at UNLVRebels.com.
