FRESNO, California (UNLVRebels.com)Â - In a game that featured drastically different halves, UNLV outlasted Fresno State thanks to a thrilling finish in which the Lady Rebels scored the game's final nine points, including the game-winner by freshman
Desi-Rae Young with 11 seconds left for a 75-74 victory in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon in the Save Mart Center. The victory moved the Lady Rebels to sole possession of second place in the Mountain West at 13-5 (15-8 overall), while the Bulldogs dropped to 12-6, 14-9 for the season. It was also the ninth-straight road win for the Lady Rebels, tying for the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.
RECORD-SETTING FIRST HALF:Â No one would have expected the game to come down to the final seconds after the end of the first half in which the Lady Rebels were on fire. UNLV shot 20-of-32 (62.5%)Â from the floor and 9-of-12 (75%) from three-point range to post 55 points, tying the school mark for most points in a half in a Mountain West conference game. UNLV starting five scored 47 first-half points, while Hanna Cavindar was a one-woman show for Fresno State, keeping her team alive by scoring 20 in the opening half to keep the Bulldogs within 55-34 at the break.Â
FRESNO STATE SECOND HALF RALLY:Â It was a different story offensively for UNLV in the second half, beginning with the third quarter in which it made just two total field goals. The Bulldogs meanwhile scored 27 in the third, cutting the deficit down to just five, 62-57 at the end of the third. The Bulldogs kept it going to open the fourth with an 8-0 run, part of a 17-4 spurt over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Hanna Cavindar's layup with 2:50 to play gave Fresno State its largest lead of the game, 74-66 with 2:50 to play.
THE TURNING POINT:Â Immediately after Cavindar's layup, she was whistled for taunting while celebrating the basket. UNLV sank the ensuing two free throws, and the technical foul would be the spark to a game-ending 9-0 spurt for the Lady Rebels. Following the free throws,
Nia Johnson converted a layup and then drained a three-pointer with 34 seconds left to close UNLV within 74-73. The Lady Rebels would foul the Bulldogs, and Cavindar missed both free throws, giving the ball back to UNLV. The Lady Rebels fed Young at the top of the lane, and she drove down the right side before banking in a layup for the game-winning basket with 11.3 seconds on the clock. On the other side, UNLV forced a missed shot and after the Bulldogs forced a jump ball on the rebound to get one more chance, the Lady Rebels did not allow Fresno State to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
LADY REBEL OF THE GAME:Â Young, a Las Vegas native, finished the game with her fifth double-double of the season thanks to 18 points and 10 rebounds. She finished 7-of-11 from the floor in the victory.Â
STAT OF THE GAME:Â UNLV not only outrebounded the Bulldogs 40-31, but held a 16-2 edge on second chance points.
QUOTEABLE -Â "That felt like a roller coaster, the highest of highs, and then, it was a real roller coaster at the end. At halftime we're feeling great, but we knew what they were capable of, and we have some young players out there and maybe it took them a little time to feel it. We got down by eight points, but a few bounces went our way, the technical, we made our free throws, and then Desi hitting the game-winner and getting the rebound at the end. Just super proud. It doesn't feel real in a lot of ways sometimes with what we've accomplished this season, but in a good way. I couldn't be more happy and proud. We wanted to control our own destiny, get ourselves a good spot in the tournament, and we've done that now. But now it'll be a new season, and we've learned that no matter what, you have to play the entire 38, 39 minutes to come away with a win." -Â UNLV head coach Lindy La Rocque
LADY REBEL NOTES
* - UNLV's 9-0 road record is the best in school history. The only other Lady Rebel squad to go undefeated on the road was the 1976-77 team that finished 6-0.
* - UNLV's nine-game road win streak is tied for the longest in program history, as the 1994-95 squad also won nine straight, part of an overall 18-game win streak that season.
* - The 55 first-half points scored by UNLV is its most ever in the first half of a MW contest, and ties for the most of any half. On March 4, 2000, the Lady Rebels scored 55 second-half points in a 96-81 victory at Wyoming.
* - The win was just the fourth-ever for UNLV at Fresno State in Mountain West play in the Bulldogs' nine years in the conference.
* - This was UNLV's fourth win over a top-100 NET team this season, along with home victories over Colorado State and New Mexico along with Thursday's 68-66 victory over the Bulldogs. Fresno State came into the contest ranked 83rd.
* - UNLV's 13 MW wins are the second-most in school history, right behind the 2017-18 team that won the regular season title with a 14-4 mark.
* - This was the first season sweep over Fresno State in Mountain West play. UNLV last swept the Bulldogs in the 1991-92 season when both were members of the Big West.
* - UNLV is now third in the nation in most free throws made this season with 373. That's despite another below average shooting performance at the line in which the Lady Rebels made just 11-of-20 for 55%.
* - Young wasn't the only player with a double-double in the victory for UNLV, as fellow freshman
Jade Thomas posted 17 points and a career-best 12 rebounds for her first career double-double. Also in double-figures was Johnson with 12.Â
* - UNLV shot 48.2% (27-of-56) for the game and was 10-of-18 from three-point range for 55.6%. The Bulldogs meanwhile were 30-of-63 (47.6%) and 10-of-24 from three-point land for 41.7%.
NEXT TIME OUT:Â UNLV's regular season is now finished. The Lady Rebels are currently alone in second place, but will have to wait for New Mexico to play its four remaining games to find out if they will be the second or third seed in next month's Mountain West Tournament, which runs from March 7-10 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
