PHOENIX, Arizona (UNLVRebels.com) -  UNLV held a late four-point lead until Grand Canyon's Carla Balaque scored the final six points of the game, while the Lady Rebels' last second shot was off the mark in a 53-51 loss Monday night to the Lopes in the GCU Arena in women's college basketball action. The Lady Rebels had forced a shot clock violation with 5.2 seconds left to give them one last chance to force overtime, but GCU knocked the ball away on Bailey Thomas' drive to the basket. Isis Bey picked up the ball and got off a shot from the free throw line at the buzzer but the attempt was too strong, giving the Lopes the win.

The game started out in UNLV's advantage, as the Lady Rebels raced out to an 11-0 edge just over five minutes into the first quarter. GCU slowly cut into the deficit, and were down just 14-9 after the first quarter, though UNLV would go ahead 23-17 at the halftime break.

THE TURNING POINT: Grand Canyon opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run of its own, part of an eventual 15-2 run to give the home team a 32-25 lead. UNLV battled back and managed to take the lead several times, but had lost its large margin from the first half.

FINAL MINUTES: The game was tied five times in the fourth quarter, the fourth tie at 47-47 on a pair of Justice Ethridge free throws. That was part of a 6-0 run by UNLV, and Ethridge hit two more free throws at the 2:49 mark for a 51-47 UNLV advantage. Those were also the final points for UNLV, as it would turn the ball over twice and miss two field goals on its final four possessions. GCU meanwhile scored on its next three possessions for a two-point lead, and withstood UNLV's final shot attempt.

STATS OF THE GAME: GCU has been outrebounded by seven rebounds a game this season, but held a 41-28 edge on the boards Monday night against UNLV.

LADY REBEL NOTES

* - Thomas finished with a career-high 12 points for UNLV, while LaTecia Smith also posted 12 points in the game.

* - Ethridge was the next highest scorer with eight.

* - GCU held Rodjanae Wade, UNLV's leading scorer, to just four points on 2-of-11 shooting.

NEXT UP: UNLV hosts the Duel In The Desert, a four-team, three-day tournament, Dec. 19-21 in the Cox Pavilion. Mississippi State and USF play in the first game Thursday, Dec. 19 at 4 pm, while UNLV and Virginia face each other in the second game on Friday, Dec. 20 at 2 pm. The third place and championship game will be played Saturday, Dec. 21 at 12 and 2:30 pm, respectively.