UNLV can’t solve Lobos’ defense

Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 | 10:13 a.m.

A few minutes after she was held to just two baskets and 10 points, nine below her conference-leading average, UNLV's RanDee Henry was asked what makes New Mexico so good on defense.

"You know, I really don't have an answer," said a perplexed Henry, after the Lobos withstood a Lady Rebels rally to post a 59-54 victory at Cox Pavilion Thursday night in a battle for second place in the Mountain West Conference.

Sherry McCracklin, Henry's usual partner in crime in the post, wasn't very insightful, either.

McCracklin, who like Henry went just 2-for-7 from the field and finished with a season-low five points, had a one-word response when asked what New Mexico did differently in the teams' rematch.

"Nothing," she said.

But UNLV coach Regina Miller was a little more perceptive than her two frontcourt stars, who were stymied without a field goal during the first 26 minutes. But maybe that shouldn't have been a total surprise, as New Mexico's suffocating 2-3 zone leads the NCAA in both field-goal percentage defense (33.2 percent) and scoring defense (51.4 ppg).

"We came out in the second half and started shooting too quick," Miller said after New Mexico (17-7, 9-2) completed a regular-season sweep of the Lady Rebels. "That's why New Mexico leads the nation in field-goal percentage defense. They sit back in that zone and get teams out of their rhythm. Then when you miss, they get the rebound."

Sounds simple, but it worked extremely well against UNLV (18-6, 7-4). With Henry and McCracklin neutralized in the first half, New Mexico took control by hitting 61 percent of its field-goal attempts (17-for-28) in building a 40-26 halftime lead.

The Lobos never trailed after erasing UNLV's early 7-2 lead. But the Lady Rebels' first-half listlessness was surprising, given the game's importance.

"It was an opportunity for us to tie them for second place," Miller said after Lady Rebels dropped their second consecutive conference game. They were whipped 79-65 at Colorado State Saturday.

"They (the Lady Rebels) knew where we stood in the conference."

Playing with an urgency in the second half that was absent in the first, UNLV nearly battled all the way back.

The Lady Rebels held New Mexico to just six baskets in the second half and forced the Lobos into 14 second-half turnovers after they had just four in the first half.

New Mexico led 48-36 with 12:36 to play but didn't score again until 6:17 remained. UNLV pulled to within 51-50 with 4:13 to go and then 56-54 on a steal and layup by Sheena Moore with 1:12 to play. But the Lady Rebels couldn't get over the hump. They turned the ball over twice in the last minute and New Mexico put the game away by sinking three free throws.

"It took us too long to get fired," Henry said of the Lady Rebels' desperate comeback. "By then it was to late. We've got to be able to do that the whole game."

Added Miller: "We played 20 minutes and we had one player (Moore) play 40 minutes. You're not going to win when that happens."

Moore was brilliant in defeat, scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, but virtually all of her offense came on drives or off steals. The Lady Rebels couldn't hit anything from outside, which might have forced New Mexico to extend its defense. UNLV made just 2-of-16 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"Somebody has to step up and knock down a shot," Miller said.

Or, as McCracklin suggested, perhaps some of the Lady Rebels should stop shooting so much.

"We got behind, and instead of working the ball inside, it seemed our guards just wanted to shoot 3s," McCracklin said.

The Lady Rebels' bench also was badly outplayed, scoring just two points to the Lobos' 23.

Forward Melissa Forest led a balanced New Mexico offense with 14 points while guard Mandi Moore added 11 as did reserve guard Fatima Maddox.

Maddox scored all 11 of her points in the first half as her quick first step gave the Lady Rebels fits, just as it did in New Mexico's 70-66 come-from-behind victory against UNLV in Albuquerque last month.