Shooting 26%, Lady Rebs lose

Friday, Feb. 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

For much of the season, Lady Rebels head coach LaDonna McClain has accepted the blame for her team's erratic performance.

This time, however, McClain could not fault herself for UNLV's atrocious second-half shooting performance in a 72-46 Western Athletic Conference loss to Hawaii Thursday night at South Gym.

The Lady Rebels, who trailed by nine at halftime, made only seven of their 37 shot attempts (19 percent) in the final 20 minutes as the Rainbow Wahine turned a close game into a rout.

"I don't know how we get better shots than what we got," McClain said. "They were underneath the basket and they were open and we weren't sticking them in.

"I thought in the first half we did a good job of playing very smart and taking good shots. In the second half, we came out and I thought we did a great job of pulling the boards -- we got three or four attempts at the basket and you've got to put them in the hole.

"As a coach, I don't know that I can get us any better shots than that. The bottom line is you have 28 offensive boards and you shot 26 percent ... we didn't put them in."

Despite the loss, which dropped UNLV to 3-18 overall and 1-9 in the conference, the Lady Rebels remained in contention for the sixth and final berth from the Pacific Division in next month's WAC Championship Tournament. Both San Jose State and Air Force, with whom UNLV is battling for sixth place in the division, lost Thursday night.

"It's going to be an interesting dogfight," McClain said of the battle for the final tournament bid. "I am relatively amazed that at this point in the season I can sit here and still be talking about playing for something."

Taneisha Gossett led the Lady Rebels with 11 points while Celeste Taylor added 10 points and 10 rebounds. They were the only UNLV players to score in doubles figures.

Hawaii, which improved to 16-4 overall and 9-1 in the WAC, was led by Nani Cockett's 18 points. BJ Itoman (14), Kendis Leeburg (13) and Raylene Howard (12) also scored in double figures for the Rainbow Wahine.

The Lady Rebels continue conference play Saturday when they host San Diego State at 7 p.m. at South Gym.