UNLV whipped by Utes

Monday, Feb. 9, 2004 | 9:55 a.m.

As she stood at center court awaiting the opening tip Sunday, UNLV's RanDee Henry literally was shivering in the Thomas & Mack Igloo -- er, Center -- wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill.

It was a bad omen, as Henry, the Mountain West Conference's leading scorer with a 20.2 average coming in, was held to just six points on 1-of-11 shooting by a Utah defense that blanketed the Lady Rebels' star with a sagging man-to-man defense.

The result was a 72-55 Utah victory in a showdown of the MWC's two best teams to this point that gave further credence to the notion that there is still just one to beat.

The Utes improved to 7-0 in the conference and 17-4 overall while the Lady Rebels slipped to 5-2 and 16-4 with their first loss at home in 13 outings.

Utah's ability to eliminate Henry from the Lady Rebels' offense forced UNLV to play frantic at times and tentative at others.

"Basically, that was their game plan," UNLV coach Regina Miller said.

"We talked about having the discipline in the half court and to work to get the best shot, not the first shot. If you watch Utah play, they had some first looks, too, but they wouldn't take them. If it wasn't to their advantage, they'd pull it back out and start all over again.

"That's something we're trying to improve on. I knew it would hurt us if we got into taking quick shots. There were a lot more red shirts in the paint than there were white, especially when we were standing out on the perimeter shooting 3-pointers."

That's OK if you're making them, but for the second consecutive game the Lady Rebels struggled from beyond the arc. After going 3-for-21 in a 77-64 victory against Brigham Young Thursday, they were 4-for-19 against Utah, including 0-for-8 in the second half.

Many of those misses came during a 17-0 Utah run midway through the second half that stretched a 45-42 Utes lead to 62-42.

Obviously, Elaine Elliott, Utah's veteran coach in her 21st year, saw Thursday's box score, too. Given UNLV's failure to knock down jump shots and Henry's monster 25-point, 20-rebound game, it was clear to Elliott what the Utes had to do.

She put pesky Lana Sitterud on Henry, and told everybody else to help out.

"We couldn't play her one-on-one," Elliott said. "So we weren't going to try. We just needed to get help from the best places available and keep her from getting second shots. Lana wasn't supposed to get any rebounds herself, just to keep her (Henry) somehow in check."

Sitterud, who did manage two rebounds (and scored 12 points), clutched and grabbed and pushed and shoved Henry, keeping her from getting the ball in her spots.

"There wasn't very much room in the paint," Elliott said in paying homage to the Utes' helping defense.

It was the first time all year that Henry was held under double figures. Her only basket came on a 3-point rainbow originating from downtown Barstow, which is about the only distance she could get a good look at the basket.

The constant pressure seemed to frustrate Henry, who even missed a breakway layup after making a steal when the outcome was still in doubt in the second half. Later, Henry, usually a cool customer, made a demonstrative gesture when a foul call went against her.

Guard Sheena Moore, who scored 21 points and easily was the most effective Lady Rebel, said UNLV had better get used to the tactics Utah used to stop the inside game.

"We see that a lot with RanDee and Sherry (McCracklin) having such a strong post game," Moore said. "When teams pack it in on them, it's up to the guards to step up and hit shots.

"They weren't being doubled every time but when they got the ball, there was a lot of contact. That's gonna happen, but we gotta get used to it, getting contact, getting doubled. We've just got to do whatever it takes to win."

The Lady Rebels could start by emulating No. 4 in red, because Kim Smith is the epitome of doing what it takes to win.

Before Sunday, it appeared Smith, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward and the reigning MWC player of the year, would be challenged for that honor by Henry, and she still might.

But on Sunday, Smith easily was the best player on the court. She scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds and made a savvy play every time Utah needed one, whether it was a backdoor cut to beat an overplaying defense, stealing an inbounds pass when the Lady Rebels got too casual under their own basket or tipping out an offensive rebound to give Utah a fresh shot clock.

Miller, for one, was impressed.

"Kim reminded me a lot of Linda Frohlich," Miller said in deference to the former UNLV star now playing in the WNBA. "She played like an All-American today.

"She came out and took it to us. We wanted to shadow her defensively but she's the kind of player where if you overplay her, she'll go backdoor. She's tough on the post, she'll duck inside, she moves well without the ball, she's constantly working. I give her a lot of credit."