Shows of determination

Adam Candee

Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 | 10:40 a.m.

Fighting back from a 15-point deficit to take its first lead of the game against the Lady Rebels proved to be a horrendous mistake for Colorado State.

On a night when forward RanDee Henry and guard Nejlah Clark both banked in 3-pointers and center Amy Loftus connected on a 17-foot jumper - about 14 feet outside her range - UNLV worked enough strange magic to make the Rams pay for their comeback.

The Lady Rebels certainly made coach Regina Miller sweat for the 71-58 victory Thursday night at Cox Pavilion, squandering three separate large leads before regrouping to hold Colorado State scoreless for 6 1/2 minutes after the Rams grabbed their first advantage.

In a situation in which Miller has watched her team crumble numerous times this season, UNLV (13-10, 4-5) finally dusted itself off instead of getting dusted.

"It was nice to see that when they pushed on us during that last run, we responded," Miller said. "We sustained our lead by executing at key times and it came from our defense."

Colorado State (13-9, 4-5) seized momentum with a 15-4 spurt midway through the second half, capped by Kylee O'Dwyer's 3-pointer from the left corner that gave the Rams a 53-51 lead with 7:43 to play. They even had the ball with a chance to extend that edge, but missed another long-distance try.

UNLV guard Sheena Moore converted a three-point play on a strong drive to the basket on the next possession, slashing in and hitting a layup while taking a hit.

"I think that gave us a spark," UNLV guard Brittney Thomas said.

A basket that triggers a 16-0 run during the next 6:33 appears to qualify as a spark. Miller said Moore's play energized her team like she's not seen this year.

"That's probably the first time I've seen this team on the bench saying, 'We can't lose this, we've got to step up,' " Miller said.

Miller did not need to say anything, she felt, because it was up to her players to rally. Luckily, they felt the same way.

"It was on us," Thomas said. "We had to get it done. We were hurting ourselves."

The Lady Rebels helped themselves by reversing fortune on the boards against the Rams. In its earlier 69-66 loss at Colorado State, UNLV lost the battle on the glass, but dominated Thursday by a 48-26 margin. That included 20 offensive rebounds, leading to 24 second-chance points for the Lady Rebels.

"We wanted to stop the inside game," Thomas said. "That hurt us at Colorado State."

Thomas scored nine of her season-high 15 points in the second half, complementing a game-high 18 points from Henry. Forward Nikki Hitchens was instrumental in the inside game, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points.

Inserted into the starting lineup five games ago, Thomas is performing well in the UNLV backcourt. In six total starts this year, she is averaging 9.7 points per game.

"It's just been (getting more) playing time in practice, building my confidence up and bringing it out in the game," Thomas said.

Guard Vanessa Espinoza paced Colorado State with 14 points and forward Lindsey Thomas added 11 points. UNLV takes on Wyoming at 3 p.m. Saturday at Cox Pavilion.