Miller wins No. 100

Nick Christensen

Monday, Dec. 22, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

Sherry McCracklin tallied a career-high 21 rebounds Sunday and Sheena Moore scored 19 points as UNLV defeated South Florida 74-61 at Cox Pavilion.

The victory marked two milestones -- the Lady Rebels scored their 550th all-time win, and coach Regina Miller won her 100th game at UNLV.

But the win didn't come easy, nor cleanly.

The two teams combined for 54 fouls and 57 turnovers in a game that took well over two hours to complete. UNLV held a 19 point halftime lead, but allowed USF to come within seven in the second half.

McCracklin, who leads the nation in rebounding, said she felt the Rebels got complacent in the second half.

"In the first half, we put them away, but they wanted it more," McCracklin said. We kind of gave it to them. We were too laid back."

Miller's 100th win makes her the fourth coach in UNLV history to reach that milestone. Dan Ayala, Sheila Strike also had more than 100, and longtime coach Jim Bolla had 300 wins in his 14 seasons with UNLV.

"Honestly, I didn't think about it. It was the farthest thing from my mind," Miller said. "My concern is that we played well. I think of it as, teams have wins, and coaches have losses."

But her focus Sunday wasn't on wins and losses, it was on the sloppy play by her team.

"Turnovers killed us, and we can control that. There weren't many forced turnovers. They were travels, fumbles and throw-aways," Miller said. "We played extremely well in the first half. I wish we could have better executed in the second half for the fans. If we have 28 turnovers against Utah, we'll lose by 25."

McCracklin said she was surprised by her career night.

"It only felt like I had 12 (rebounds)," she said. "We knew coming in that South Florida rebounds well."

Miller said she'd like to see more rebounds spread around among the team.

"Sherry had 21 rebounds, but the next closest was RanDee (Henry)," who had four rebounds, Miller said. "Our guards have to help us."