2005 MWC Basketball Tournament Postgame Notes

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March 11, 2005

With today’s victory, New Mexico has now won eight straight MWC Championship games dating back to the 2003 tournament, a Mountain West record. The Lobos won the 2003 and 2004 MWC Championship titles and both games so far in this season’s tournament. New Mexico is now 10-3 all-time in the MWC Championship, while UNLV falls to 5-6. New Mexico is now 1-1 vs. UNLV all-time in the tournament. After falling down by six points with 7:42 to play in the game, New Mexico went on a 11-2 run to turn a 63-57 deficit into a 68-65 advantage with just over two minutes remaining in the game. UNLV ended its almost five-minute scoreless drought with a bucket by Nikki Hitchens with :58 seconds remaining to pull the Lady Rebels to within one point, 68-67, but they would not score again as the Lobos pulled out the win. UNLV had the ball with just over five seconds to play but Sheena Moore missed a trey as time expired. New Mexico’s Dionne Marsh came into today’s contest averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 2 games vs. UNLV this year. The MWC Newcomer of the Year notched her second career double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. She almost scored her average in the first half alone, scoring 16 points. Marsh also grabbed six boards in the first half. Marsh tied the MWC Championship record for field goals in a game with 11, tying Melissa Forest of New Mexico (2004) and Constance Jinks of UNLV (2002), while she set the freshman record for points scored with 27 and field goal attempts with 19. She broke Colorado State’s Sara Hunter’s mark of 25 points set Wednesday, and also broke San Diego State’s Ashlee Dunlap’s 2003 record of 14 field goal attempts set in 2003. Her 19 attempts and 11 field goals are both career-high marks, while her 27 points was just one behind her career-best of 28 points at Air Force, Feb. 10. The game featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes, including seven ties and six lead changes in the first half. With UNLV up 7-4 and New Mexico’s ball out of bounds with less than five seconds on the shot clock, New Mexico’s Dionne Marsh hit a three-point bucket well beyond the NBA arc to tie the game at seven apiece. It was Marsh’s first trey of the season in two attempts. The Lobos’ Mandi Moore set a new career-high with 12 rebounds, bettering her previous mark of 11 boards, which she earned several times, including Wednesday’s game vs. San Diego State. UNLV’s Brittney Thomas tied the MWC Championship junior record with seven assists. She tied Julie Sullivan of BYU (2004) and Molly McKinnon of New Mexico (2001). New Mexico set a MWC Championship semifinal record with 28 field goals, breaking the previous record of 27 set by BYU twice (2000, 2003). The Lobos also set a semifinal record for field goal attempts with 65, breaking Colorado State’s mark of 60 (2002). It was also a season high. New Mexico committed just six turnovers today, a season low. The Lobos’ previous season low was seven vs. Colorado State, Feb. 5. UNLV shot 92.9 percent (13-for-14) from the free-throw line. It was its best effort from the foul line since shooting 14-for-15 against New Mexico, Feb. 26. With the score tied at 24-24 and 5:22 remaining the first half, UNLV went on a 7-0 run to go up 31-24 with 3:43 left. Dionne Marsh hit a layup to end the run and start a 10-0 spurt by the Lobos as they pulled ahead 34-31 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half. In that stretch of the opening half, Marsh scored 10 straight points for New Mexico and 10 of the Lobos’ final 14 points of the first half. UNLV’s Sheena Moore then hit a three with time winding down to tie the game at 34 going into the locker room. With 12 minutes remaining in the first half, New Mexico broke a 13-13 tie with a 6-0 run over a two-minute stretch to go up 19-13. UNLV committed two turnovers in three trips during that stretch. The Lady Rebels then broke a three-minute scoreless streak with back-to-back buckets to pull to within one point, 19-18.