Lady Rebels take care of UNR

Victoria Sun

Friday, Dec. 29, 2000 | 10:17 a.m.

All the UNLV women's basketball team wanted was a little respect.

After beating Nevada-Reno Thursday night, maybe they'll get some more.

The Lady Rebels defeated the Wolf Pack, 67-57, before 742 at the Thomas & Mack Center in spite of the fact that they played the first half like they were still on Christmas vacation.

UNLV improved to 8-2 while Reno fell to 6-5.

"The second half I was very pleased with," UNLV coach Regina Miller said. "I think the bench got into it and provided us with some energy.

"At one point they were tired and we were tired and it was a matter of who was going to bear down. We made fewer mistakes and did a better job."

Senior point guard Dayna Gambill handed out a career-high 11 assists to go along with 12 points and four steals for UNLV while Linda Frohlich had 17 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Gambill made a 3-pointer with 3:18 left in the game to give UNLV a 55-50 lead and Constance Jinks followed with one of her three steals and a lay-up giving UNLV a comfortable lead it never surrendered.

The Lady Rebels made 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute for the their second consecutive victory while ending Reno's three-game win streak.

Gambill savored the victory because she felt responsible for the team's overtime loss at Reno last year. Had she made two free throws in regulation, the Lady Rebels would have won.

"For me, this win was huge because of what happened last year," Gambill said.

She was fortunate the team regrouped after halftime.

Poor shooting, bad shot selection and unforced turnovers crippled UNLV early. At one point, the Lady Rebels made just 8-of-27 shots, and eight of their 13 turnovers came in the first half.

Frohlich made just 3-of-12 attempts but made up for it in the second half with three 3-pointers that helped the Lady Rebels gain some momentum.

Reno picked up the tempo toward the end of the first half and the Lady Rebels struggled to keep up. UNLV had many steals and chances for fast break opportunities but could not convert.

After Kinesha Davis made one of two free throws to tie things up at 20-20, Reno went on an 8-0 run on a series of hustle plays and quick shooting.

The Lady Rebels responded by making the next three baskets to trail 28-26 but could not stop the Wolf Pack in transition. Smith made consecutive lay-ups to give Reno a six-point halftime lead.

"We were rushing," Gambill said. "We rushed a lot of plays and didn't get into our flow."

Before the game started, the song "Respect" by Aretha Franklin blasted over the loudspeakers while a video of Lady Rebel highlights was shown on the Redd Vision giant screen above the floor.

Miller was encouraged by the way the Lady Rebels played when it mattered most and stressed that this is only the beginning.

"I think this team is more mature," Miller said. "I think we're understanding the system I've tried to put in place better.

"This team is not playing the best we're going to play all year and that's OK. We don't want to peak now. We want to peak during the conference and in January and March."