Lady Rebels let one get away

Adam Candee

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 10:48 a.m.

UNLV women's coach Regina Miller could do nothing but smile in disbelief and shake her head Thursday night.

Her Lady Rebels turned the ball over 29 times and missed 10 of 16 free-throw attempts in a 48-45 loss to BYU at Cox Pavilion in a game UNLV needed to finish third in the Mountain West Conference.

"We could have won this game if we had just executed," Miller said. "It was a game for us to have. What else do you say?"

Saturday's contest against Utah to end the regular season now has little practical value for UNLV (15-12, 6-7), which is now locked into the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game against likely opponent Wyoming to open next week's MWC tournament in Denver. It didn't have to be that way, though, especially after the first six minutes of the game.

The Lady Rebels played arguably their best short stretch of basketball thisyear in racing to a 15-4 lead in that time. Five different Lady Rebels scored as they used a pressure defense to rattle the Cougars, converting turnovers into quick points.

After the first six minutes, UNLV slowly crumbled during the next 34, scoring just 30 points in that span. BYU (17-9, 8-5) routinely switched to a 2-3 zone defense that frustrated the Lady Rebels into some rushed decisions and poor shots. The Cougars also double-teamed UNLV forward RanDee Henry in the post while playing man-to-man defense, forcing her to settle for long jump shots that did not fall.

UNLV did not score for more than nine minutes after taking that 11-point lead, allowing BYU to rally back within a point and make the game competitive again.

"I went into the zone and made them hit some shots from the outside," Cougars coach Jeff Judkins said.

UNLV didn't hit those shots, finishing 3-of-17 from 3-point range as they hurried shots against the zone. Two of the missed 3-pointers came in the final 13 seconds, as guards Sheena Moore and Brittney Thomas both misfired with a chance to tie the game before time expired.

Worse than the ill-advised shots, though, were the poor passes and ball-handling. In the first half, the Lady Rebels attempted 20 shots and committed 17 turnovers.

"We just went away from what makes us successful," Miller said. "We started to get quick offensively."

After pulling within 45-42 on a Thomas 3-pointer with 2:26 to play, UNLV committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions, including a double-dribble call on forward Nikki Hitchens as she mishandled the ball unguarded about 35 feet from the basket with 22 seconds to play.

Henry finished with seven points - six of which came in the first half - and 14 rebounds. Moore scored just about half of her average with eight points, while Hitchens led the team with her 10 second-half points.

What's even more maddening for the Lady Rebels is that BYU did not do much on offense either. The Cougars made up for their poor shooting (36.4 percent) by outshooting UNLV at the free-throw line, hitting 9-of-10 in the second half compared to 5-of-11 for the Lady Rebels.

"It wasn't a real pretty game," Judkins said. "It was kind of a defensive battle."

The Cougars found a defensive scheme that worked and executed it well enough to grab the lead eight minutes into the second half and never gave it back. BYU expected this challenge from UNLV after whipping the Lady Rebels by 26 points earlier this year in Provo.

"We knew they play better at home," said BYU guard Julie Sullivan, who scored all of her game-high 12 points in the second half. "We just knew if we can stay within five to 10 points, we'd be fine."

The loss snapped a 10-game home winning streak for the Lady Rebels, who must win the Mountain West playoffs to have any chance at an NCAA tournament berth. Otherwise, they must hope for a call from the Women's National Invitation Tournament, but even that would likely be a short stay with an effort like Thursday's.

"Players have got to make plays," Miller said. "You can't step in like practice and say, 'Here, let me walk you through it.' We're 27 games into the season."