Lady Rebels halt rival UNR’s winning streak

Adam Candee

Monday, Dec. 30, 2002 | 9:55 a.m.

All week long in practice, Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller preached the importance of being aggressive to her team. After all, Miller had just watched her team turn into lambs a week earlier against the massive front line of Arizona in a blowout loss.

Consider the message delivered and heeded.

UNLV played an uptempo game at both ends of the floor to disrupt Nevada-Reno, and Sherry McCracklin's 14 points led a balanced scoring attack as the Lady Rebels downed the Wolfpack, 60-55, Sunday afternoon at Cox Pavilion.

Miller enjoyed watching her team's strong moves to the basket and inspired rebounding efforts, as UNLV (7-3) built a 15-point lead in the second half before weathering a late Reno (7-3) storm.

"That's what we've drilled the last three days in practice," Miller said.

The message became easier for the Lady Rebels to execute against a slow-footed Nevada defense. Freshman guard Sheena Moore scored 10 points by consistenly driving to the basket for easy points, and McCracklin added nine rebounds and three steals, mostly on hustle, to her team-high point total.

"We wanted to come out (Sunday) and control the tempo with our defense," Miller said.

By forcing the offensive play toward the hoop, the Lady Rebels went to the foul line 10 more times than Reno, and took advantage by shooting 81 percent, including 15-of-18 in the second half.

"We've just got to make the refs blow the whistle," McCracklin said.

All was not peaches and cream for the Lady Rebels, though, as they turned the ball over 26 times and allowed the Wolfpack to slice into their lead in the final three minutes of the game.

"We just got kind of content with our 15-point lead," McCracklin said.

Reno could not complete the comeback, though, and saw its five-game winning streak halted. Center Kate Smith scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack, who turned the ball over 23 times. Smith scored eight of those points in the final two minutes to cut UNLV's lead from 13 down to five.

Guard Laura Ingham added nine points and eight assists, and forward Jemela Magee totaled seven points and 10 rebounds for Reno.

UNLV's team scoring covered up a poor night from standout guard Constance Jinks, who shot just 2-of-11, committed four turnovers, and finished with nine points. That total is 13 points off her average. Six Rebels scored at least six points each.

"We did a nice job of sharing the ball," Miller said. "When we distribute the ball and let everyone get a touch, we're going to get easy shots."

The Lady Rebels next visit the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona on Saturday.