Lady Rebels lose tough one

Friday, Jan. 16, 1998 | 11:56 a.m.

As unlikely as it may have seemed three weeks ago when they were 0-10, the Lady Rebels came within 5.9 seconds of evening their conference record at 2-2 and sitting in the middle of the pack in their division standings.

Leading Texas-El Paso by one point, 59-58 with just under six seconds to play Thursday night, the Lady Rebels watched the Miners' Kiana Taylor make an improbable buzzer-beating shot to hand UNLV a 60-59 Western Athletic Conference defeat at Lied Gymnasium.

UNLV senior Taneisha Gossett had given the Lady Rebels a one-point lead on a short jumper with 10.4 seconds remaining. Following a UTEP timeout, the Miners' Brenda Atwater took the inbounds pass at center court and drove the lane, only to have UNLV's Liz Wolfe deflect Atwater's shot attempt.

Taylor, standing under the basket, appeared shocked as the ball hit her in the hands. She quickly gained her composure and scored from underneath as time ran out to give the Miners their fourth WAC victory in five outings.

"I thought we had it," said UNLV head coach LaDonna McClain. "Liz blocked it ... how (Taylor) came up with it, I'll never have any idea, but she did. We played good, tough 'D' and for 4.5 seconds we didn't get it done but I think the kids played really hard.

"I have no complaints with how we played, right up until the last 1.1 seconds. We played hard and we played smart and we kept ourselves where we needed to be."

The Lady Rebels, showing remarkable improvement from earlier this season, led by 12 points midway through the second half following a 15-0 run that put them ahead 48-36. UTEP went on a few runs of its own in the ensuing 10 minutes, but UNLV never gave in.

In the end, it was their inability to convert high-percentage baskets in the final 10 minutes that doomed the Lady Rebels (2-13, 1-3). UNLV shot 34 percent from the floor, but made only two baskets in the final 9:52 of the contest.

"We struggled a little shooting the ball, especially in the post, but that happens and we kept working hard and I'm really proud of how we played," McClain said.

"We played a good team and we played a good team well, just not well enough. There are no moral victories in this game and we need to be two points better, it's as simple as that. That's a tough loss to take."

Gossett led the Lady Rebels with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Toby Girard added 13 points. Taylor led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Miners.

The Lady Rebels resume conference play on Saturday when they host New Mexico at 7 p.m. at Lied Gymnasium.