Streaking UNLV cruises to easy win

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

Eastern Washington focused its attention on stopping UNLV offensive stars Linda Frohlich and Constance Jinks with a triangle-and-two defense on Wednesday night at Cox Pavilion.

But that left guard Erin Johansson free a lot of the time on the perimeter. And the senior sharp-shooter from Enumclaw, Wash., made the Eagles pay early and often.

Johansson connected on three consecutive 3-pointers in the first eight minutes in helping UNLV jump out to an early 21-4 advantage, and the Lady Rebels (8-1) went on to cruise to an easy 84-40 victory in the opening game of a five-game homestand.

Frohlich, who finished with a game-high 18 points, 14 rebounds and five steals in just 27 minutes of action, popped a big smile when asked about Johansson's rainbow bombs that seemed to deflate the Eagles (3-9).

"That was big-time," Frohlich said. "We need her to score outside like that. Teams can't afford to sag off inside when she's making those shots."

Johansson finished with 15 points in just 17 minutes. She hit two other long shots that were ruled regular two-point baskets because her toe was touching the 3-point arc.

"My teammates do a good job of getting me the ball when I'm open," Johansson, who was 7-for-7 on treys in the Lady Rebels' 83-50 victory at Nevada-Reno earlier this month, said. "I don't get a lot of people running at me. I get open shots. I can't complain."

Johansson said she didn't develop her 3-point shot until she came to UNLV.

"Actually, I started out as a post player in high school," she said. "I didn't really shoot a lot of 3s in high school. It all really started when I got here."

"When I first saw Erin I thought she shot the ball pretty well in practice," Miller said. "Since that time I've told her that she's a shooter and she's really worked hard on accepting that role. Her job is basically to hang out behind the 3-point line and we'll find you. I want other teams to have to worry about her. It has really worked well for us."

Just ask Eastern Washington.