FRESNO, California (UNLVRebels.com) -  UNLV fell behind by 15 at halftime and saw its third quarter rally answered by a rally of its own from Fresno State as the first-place Bulldogs claimed a 72-58 victory over the Lady Rebels Saturday afternoon in Mountain West women's basketball action at the Save Mart Center. Fresno State improved to 12-0 in league play, while UNLV fell to 8-4 (12-11 overall) but remained alone in third place in the conference standings as the second, fourth, fifth and sixth place teams all lost on Saturday as well.

A cold shooting performance in the first half combined with foul trouble were the biggest issues for UNLV in the first half, as the Lady Rebels made just three of 17 shots in the first quarter, and Fresno State turned the missed shots into fast break points on the way to a 17-10 first quarter lead. The Lady Rebels shot better in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs kept up the score, hitting 53% of its shots to outscore UNLV 22-13 for a 38-23 halftime margin. 

UNLV only got four minutes out of second-leading scorer LaTecia Smith in the first half as well, she went to the bench with two early fouls and the Lady Rebels would struggle in her absence on the offensive side. When she came back in for the second half, the senior scored six points in the first four minutes, part of a 15-7 run for UNLV. Freshman Melanie Isbell capped the run with a layup and a three-pointer to bring the Lady Rebels within 45-38 at the 4:40 mark of the third quarter.

THE TURNING POINT: Following Isbell's trey, UNLV missed its next five shots and Fresno State quickly took advantage, scoring on four straight possessions for a 9-0 run to go back up 54-38 at the 2:26 mark. The Lady Rebels came no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

LADY REBEL OF THE GAME: Senior forward Rodjanae Wade, playing in front of her hometown crowd, posted her 14th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV came into the game first in the Mountain West with a league-leading +5.6 rebound margin, but lost the battle of the boards to the Bulldogs by a 42-35 margin.

QUOTEABLE: "I thought at times we played great and could handle them, but then at other times we looked flat and Fresno State took advantage. They are a good team,  they work so hard and work together. We're still a young team, we need to learn how to play like that for 40 minutes, and if we can do that we will be a much better team." - UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier 

LADY REBEL NOTES

* - Wade's double-double gave her 14 on the season, moving her into a tie for sixth all-time at UNLV for double-doubles in a season.

* - After scoring just one point in the first half, Smith finished with 17 on 7-of-14 shooting to join Wade in double figures.

* - UNLV finished the game shooting 34.4% (21-of-61) from the floor and just 1-of-8 from three-point range after hitting eight three-pointers in each of the past two contests.

* - Fresno State shot 40.7% (24-of-59) from the floor and 83.3% (20-fo-24) at the free throw line.

* - Fresno State is the only MW team to score 70 or more against UNLV this season.

NEXT TIME OUT: UNLV will start a two-game road trip with Saturday's 2 pm contest at conference front-runner Fresno State. This is the second meeting between the two, as the Bulldogs claimed a 72-66 win in the Cox Pavilion on Dec. 3.