Lady Rebels heed words of wisdom

Monday, Feb. 16, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

Sometimes, it's not what you say, but how you say it.

Trailing San Diego State, one of the Mountain West Conference women's basketball bottom feeders, 31-24 at halftime Saturday afternoon at Cox Arena in San Diego, UNLV coach Regina Miller opted against a long halftime speech to motivate the Lady Rebels.

But that didn't prevent her from getting her point across.

"I didn't say much, but what I said was powerful," Miller said.

So were the Lady Rebels as the second half got under way.

RanDee Henry, the leading scorer in the MWC who was held to one point in the first half, scored 11 points during an 18-2 UNLV run over the first six minutes as the Lady Rebels rallied to 65-56 victory.

Henry finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Lady Rebels (17-4, 6-2) remained in a second-place tie with New Mexico behind undefeated Utah (19-4, 9-0).

Forward Sherry McCracklin also scored 17 points and pulled eight rebounds while guard Sheena Moore led UNLV with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Henry, McCracklin and Moore, who comprise UNLV's "Big Three," combined for 52 of the Lady Rebels' 65 points.

The Lady Rebels switched to a trapping defense in the second half to take the Aztecs out of their rhythm.

"That was pretty much the best they played all year," Miller said of a SDSU team that scored the final six points of the first half to take its biggest lead. "I think just because it says 'UNLV' on our jerseys, they get ready to play us.

"It wasn't that we played a bad game in the first half. We just gave up a run late in the half and they went up by seven."

Miller said the second-half comeback was satisfying, particulary because the Lady Rebels were coming off a lopsided home defeat to Utah. She said she wasn't sure how her players would respond to the disappointing 72-55 loss.

"We bounced back with fire and determination and we haven't had to do that for a while," she said. "Our loss against Utah drained us emotionally and physically. But in the second half, we played like the team I've been coachng the whole year."

The victory enabled UNLV to match its victory total of last year. The Lady Rebels shot 49 percent from the field, and enjoyed a 36-25 rebounding edge, although they turned the ball over 22 times.

Ashlee Dunlap paced SDSU with 18 points, while Michelle Elliott, the Aztecs' outstanding freshman, added 11. The Aztecs shot 50 percent for the game, but were just 1-of-10 from 3-point distance and almost as bad at the free-throw line, where they sank just 3-of-11.

Perhaps San Diego State should have gone to its bench a little earlier as Michelle Stawberry, Candace Mattson and Lindsey Casey, the only three Aztecs reserves who played, hit all seven of their field-goal attempts.

LADY REBELS NOTES: A fan bus of Lady Rebels supporters made the trip and Miller said their presence was appreciated. "They were the loudest ones (in the arena)," she said. ... The Lady Rebels will practice today and Tuesday before embarking on the dreaded Front Range trip. UNLV will play at Wyoming Thursday and Colorado State on Saturday.