Monday, Feb. 2, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.
ALBUQUERQUE -- According to the box score, a raucous sellout crowd of 18,018 -- the largest gathering to watch an NCAA women's basketball game this year -- jammed into the famous Pit Saturday night to watch New Mexico and UNLV go toe-to-toe and elbow-to-elbow in a battle of Mountain West Conference championship contenders.
But if you ask Lady Rebels coach Regina Miller, perhaps the official attendance should be amended to 18,023. That would account for the way the five players with "UNLV" on their shirts stood around and watched as what appeared to be a certain victory slipped away in the closing minutes.
"We were in position to win the game but we didn't finish," Miller said after New Mexico's freshman guard Katie Montgomery scored the game's final four points, including a pull-up jump shot with 20 seconds to go and the shot clock winding down, as the Lobos rallied for a 70-66 victory.
The Lady Rebels, who led by as many as seven points in the first half and nine in the second, had every chance to send the huge throng home in silence but somehow failed to do so, as New Mexico made all the big plays at the end.
"Our plan was to come out and focus on not what was happening outside the lines but what was happening inside the lines," Miller said in reference to New Mexico's frenzied fans, who roared from start to finish. "We came in with focus, and we were in position to win this game in a tough atmosphere.
"This is not the easist place to play," Miller said in an early candidate for understatement of the year.
The loss snapped UNLV's 10-game winning streak and dropped the Lady Rebels (15-3, 4-1) into a second-place tie in the Mountain West with New Mexico (12-6, 4-1). Utah is 5-0 in the conference following a 66-62 victory Saturday at Brigham Young.
Although it is never a disgrace to lose at New Mexico, Miller and the Lady Rebels were shaking their heads afterward, because, as she noted, this was a game they could and probably should have won.
"We definitely have to learn to put somebody away, especially when you're on the road," said UNLV's RanDee Henry, who led the Lady Rebels with 23 points and eight rebounds.
"You can't wait, and that was our downfall. The last four minutes, we were up by seven or eight points and we knew what was coming. We just didn't handle it the way we usually do."
Next time -- and the way these two battled, it wouldn't be a shock if they wind up meeting a couple of more times with even more at stake -- Miller thinks the Lady Rebels may be able to use Saturday's tough loss to their advantage,
"This might be good for us down the road," she said. "At the Mountain West tournament in March, at a neutral court, they won't have that many fans. I'm sure they'll have a few, but not 18,000.
"New Mexico is a very good team ... but we've got to learn from this. Our players have to make plays and we have to finish games."
The Lobos, who came into the game leading the nation in scoring (50.2 points allowed) and field-goal defense (32.7 percent), checked the Lady Rebels on 38-percent shooting while connecting on 47 percent of their field-goal attempts. But the rest of the statistics were virtually even, so it was hardly a surprise that the game come down to the last possession.
After Montgomery's game-winner crawled over the rim -- "She could shoot that shot 50 times and not hit it again," Lobos coach Don Flanagan would say later -- UNLV called time out to set up a try at the tying basket.
Sheena Moore, who got off to a quick start route and finished with 17 points, penetrated the New Mexico defense and had a good look at the basket from about five feet. But as her teammates turned to get into rebounding position, Moore elected to pass off.
Forest stole the ball and hit both free throws after Moore fouled her out of desperation, accounting for the final score.
"We had an opportunity to make a play at the end," Miller said. "I would want Sheena Moore to take that shot any day. I was surprised when she passed it up. But she's a young sophomore, and sometimes young sophomores don't always make the right decisions.
"But I don't think that's going to happen too many more times with Sheena Moore."
Moore also figured in another key sequence. After Henry's steal and layup gave UNLV a 66-62 lead with 3:43 to play, the Lady Rebels came up with a stop and Moore was fouled. But Moore, a 62 percent foul shooter, missed both shots, giving New Mexico new life.
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