Lobos Suffer First Conference Loss, Fall To UNLV, 63-60
Jan. 27, 2005
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The New Mexico women’s basketball team suffered its first Mountain West loss of the season as the Lobos fell to UNLV, 63-60, Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos now stand at 14-3 (3-1 MWC), while the Rebels improve to 10-8 (1-3 MWC). Freshman Dionne Marsh led the Lobos off the bench with 19 points and six rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. UNM returns to action Saturday, Jan. 29 at San Diego State, beginning at 6 p.m. MT.
The Lobos, who have been struggling shooting the past few games, shot 48 percent (23-of-48) against the Rebels – their best effort since shooting a season-best 56 percent against Morgan State Jan. 4. The problem, however, was that the Lobos – who entered the game tops in the Mountain West in field-goal percentage defense – allowed the Rebels to shoot 49 percent from the floor, a season-high for a Lobo opponent.
New Mexico and UNLV traded leads early in the second half before UNM opened up a 48-42 lead with 10:30 remaining. Vegas responded with a 12-2 run over the next six minutes to go up 54-50. The Lobos tied it at 54 on a layup by Marsh, but the Rebels went back ahead on a free throw and never trailed the rest of the game.
Marsh hit a jumper with 35 seconds left to cut the lead to 61-60, but the Lobos couldn’t get a defensive stop on the other end of the court as UNLV’s Nikki Hitchens scored on a layup with just 12 seconds remaining. The Lobos missed two 3-pointers in the closing seconds to seal the Rebel victory.
Randee Henry scored a team-high 17 points for UNLV, while Hitchens notched 15 points and Sequoia Holmes put in 14.
Lindsey Arndt and Abbie Letz each got into double-figures with 11 points. Katie Montgomery poured in eight on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench. The Lobos outscored the Rebels in bench points, 33-9.
The Lobos led going into the break, 30-29. Marsh, in only 10 minutes of action, scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and went 4-of-5 from the line. UNLV scored the first six points of the game, but the Lobos bounced back, and went ahead 21-13 midway through the half. The Rebels closed the half on a 16-9 run to close the gap to one point at halftime.