LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – In a tightly contested game with 14 lead changes and seven ties, a second-half surge helped Wyoming hold the advantage the rest of the way, as UNLV women's basketball never fully recovered in a 67-62 defeat to the Cowgirls Monday in Cox Pavilion. The Lady Rebels suffered their first conference defeat and fell to 2-3 on the season while Wyoming moved to 2-2 after the two teams split the season series.  
 
With the Lady Rebels sitting within striking distance of Wyoming 41-40 entering the final period, the Cowgirls went a 14-6 run fused together with their final threes by sophomore McKinley Bradshaw and another triple from freshman Grace Ellis. UNLV would crawl back into the game with a lift from junior Nia Johnson and freshman Desi-Rae Young to inch within four twice, as the duo combined for all but three of the Scarlet and Gray's 22 fourth-quarter points, before time cut short a late comeback attempt.
 
THE TURNING POINT: The Cowgirls found success at the free throw line in the first five minutes of the final quarter, getting a pair of free throws each from Ellis and Bradshaw to string together a 9-2 run before Ellis' three-pointer during the difference making outburst.
 
LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: Freshman Desi-Rae Young enjoyed the best performance of her young career with a team-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Reaching double digits for the fourth time in five games, Young scored 10 of her 20 points fourth quarter.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: Wyoming's game-changing three-pointers gave them the six makes from beyond the arc on the day as opposed to UNLV's season-low four three-pointers made to claim the advantage from downtown. Although both teams each shot under 30 percent from deep in the contest, the final two Wyoming threes made gave them a cushion to hold on to the lead the rest of the way.
 
QUOTABLE: "This isn't the outcome that we wanted. Like we said on Saturday, Wyoming's a very good, very well coached team and we knew they were going to bring extra effort today. This hurts for our team, which I think is a good thing because it shows this group of girls really cares. We had a lot of good things to take away, had some good post play but had a little bit of a scoring lull there in the third quarter. It kind of felt like once the momentum turned their way, we really had a hard time combating it. They hit some timely shots and threes down the stretch, and we just weren't able to weather that storm and go on our own run. I thought our effort was good in spurts. It felt a little bit like a roller coaster ride there in the second half. But we're going to use this experience to learn and grow so that we can be better in the next game." -UNLV Head Coach Lindy La Rocque
 
UNLV NOTES:
*-The Lady Rebels racked up a season high in points in the paint with 34 points to finish with an eight-point advantage in post scoring on the day. The majority of the scoring in the painted area came from Young and sophomore Keyana Wilfred, who chipped in 11 points in the contest.
*Young and junior Nia Johnson carried the UNLV offense down the stretch, combining to score 19 of the 22 Lady Rebel points in the fourth quarter.
*In spite of Wilfred's spark off the sidelines, the Lady Rebels were held to their fewest bench points on the season with 17. The Scarlet and Gray's second unit had entered the day averaging 25.2 points per contest.
*After holding the lead for a total time of 31:14 in Saturday's victory over Wyoming, UNLV held the scoring advantage for just 7:32 in the second meeting.

NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV will return to action this weekend when it hosts the Duel in the Desert in the Thomas & Mack Center December 19-21. The Lady Rebels will face Pacific on Sunday at 3:30 pm, and will then play Loyola Marymount on Monday at 1 pm.