February 16, 2008
UNLV's Sequoia Holmes scored a game-high 29 points, and the Lady Rebels made 12 free throws in overtime to top BYU 73-68 in front of a season-high crowd of 1,386 on Saturday night in Mountain West Conference women’s basketball action from the Cox Pavilion.  On a night that the Lady Rebels celebrated Think Pink! Night, they recorded an overtime win over the Cougars for the second straight year, having topped BYU 76-71 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2007.

It was also the first time UNLV has defeated a team with a winning record this season since a 62-61 win over No. 16 George Washington on Nov. 30, and pushed its overall record to 8-16, 4-7 in league play. The Cougars meanwhile dropped to 12-10, 6-4 in the MWC.

UNLV led by one at halftime, and opened up an eight-point lead, 38-30 with 13:21 to play. BYU rallied to tie the score at 48-48, and the score would be tied twice more over the last five minutes of the second half. With the score tied once again at 52-52 following a pair of free throws, Holmes attempted to put the game away by sinking two free throws, and then stealing the ball on the Cougars’ next possession.

She converted a layup for a 56-52 edge 24 seconds left, but BYU quickly got back down the court and scored on a layup to close within two. The lead was three for UNLV after Holmes made one of two at the line with nine seconds left, but BYU got its chances to tie the game, as needing a three-pointer to tie, Mallary Carling was fouled in front of the Cougar bench on her shot attempt from outside. Carling drained three straight to tie the game, and UNLV could not get a shot off on the other end.

In overtime, Carling gave the Cougars a two-point lead thanks to a trey, 62-60 with 4:35 to play. They would miss seven of their next eight shots, while the Lady Rebels grabbed the lead with five straight free throws, with Holmes’ free throw at 2:06 making it a 65-62 game. Lauren Varley made a layup for BYU at 1:14 to make it a one-point game, but Holmes answered with a jumper, and Brittany Halberg then made two free throws for a six-point edge. The Cougars last chance came when Sarah Red banked in a three-pointer that cut the score to 71-68, but there was just three seconds left on the clock, and Halberg made two more free throws to seal the win.

The game was tight in the first half for the first nine minutes, with both teams trading leads. After the score was tied at 10-10, Mindy Nielson’s trey started a 7-0 spurt by the Cougars. Jazmine Foreman’s jumper capped the run to make it a 17-10 BYU lead with 9:12 left in the half.  BYU then went cold for the last nine minutes of the opening stanza, as the Lady Rebels held them to just six more points, and ended the half with a 14-6 run to grab the lead back at 24-23 entering halftime.

Holmes added seven rebounds and four assists to her 29 points, and also tied former Lady Rebel All-American Linda Frohlich for most career starts at UNLV with her 111th. Shamela Hampton posted her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Brittany Halberg registered 16 points, and was 12-of-16 at the line. UNLV did a strong job on the boards, grabbing 47 to the Cougars' 48, partly helped by Hampton and Raquel Jupiter's career-high 12 rebounds. UNLV finished 19-of-57 from the floor for 33.3%, but made a season-high 30 free throws (30-of-45, 66.7%). The Lady Rebels also made 5-of-13 from three-point range for 38.5%.

Carling scored 16 points to tie Nielson for team-high honors, but UNLV’s defense on her was a big reason for its win, as she was held to 4-of-20 shooting from the floor. In the first meeting this year, Carling scored 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Shawnee Slade posted 11 points, while Varley recorded a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.  BYU shot 35.8% (24-of-67) from the floor, 36.0% (9-of-25) from downtown, and 84.6% (11-of-13) at the line.

UNLV will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 23, when it hosts No. 22 Wyoming in a 7 pm contest in the Cox Pavilion.

-UNLV-