Lady Rebels put an end to Utah drought

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Finally!

The Lady Rebels hadn't defeated Utah here since the 1975-1976 season heading into Thursday night's Mountain West Conference game. The two-time defending MWC champion Utes also carried a seven-game win streak over the Lady Rebels into the game.

The streaks came to an end when the Lady Rebels (17-3, 5-2) used a 10-2 run in the final minute to pull out a 79-71 victory over the Utes at the Huntsman Center.

Senior guard Erin Johansson's 3-pointer broke a 69-69 tie and guard Constance Jinks followed with a steal and a layup to put the Lady Rebels up by five points, 74-69, with 36 seconds to go.

Utah (9-9, 2-4) cut the lead to 74-71 on two free throws by guard Kelsy Stireman, but the Lady Rebels sealed the win at the free throw line with All-America candidate Linda Frohlich sinking all four of her tries in the final 24.5 seconds.

Frohlich finished with a game-high 26 points. Sophomore center Petra Glaser added 13 points and Jinks finished with 10.

"Tonight was one of those nights where everybody stepped up for us," Frohlich said. "I'm just so excited because this is the first time that we've beaten Utah since I've been here."

"It's a huge win for us," UNLV coach Regina Miller said. "This tells me our team has the chance to go to that next level now."

The Lady Rebels were heading to the bus to get a postgame meal when they found out that conference leader Colorado State had been upset by New Mexico at The Pit. That means UNLV closed to within one game of the 18th-ranked Rams, who will visit UNLV on Feb. 14.