Lady Rebs’ upset falls flat

March 9, 2009 by Sean Jaramillo 

Aztecs overcome UNLV rally, teams prep for tourney

The Lady Rebels basketball team’s senior day hit a snag in the final minutes as they fell to San Diego State, 61-55.

UNLV fell to 5-11 in the Mountain West Conference and they will enter the conference tournament as the seventh seed. San Diego State advanced to 13-3 in the conference and won the tiebreaker with Utah to claim the top seed in the tournament.

Jamie Smith finished with a double double, 10 points and 10 rebounds, to lead the Lady Rebels. Senior center Shamela Hampton scored a team-high 13 points in her final game at the Cox Pavilion.

“I felt good about my effort and the team’s effort today and I was confident that we were going to win,” Hampton said. “I guess it just didn’t work out for us tonight.”

UNLV played an even game from the beginning, but they were able to take a seven-point lead on the Aztecs with a minute to go in the first half. 

That momentum would be cut short almost immediately.

Jene Morris scored back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 45 seconds of the half to cut the Rebels’ lead.

“She had those two big shots at the end of the half, but that’s what good teams do,” UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier said.

The Rebels still held a 26-25 lead going into the second half and managed to extend the lead to four after SDSU fouled for the ninth time with 10 minutes left in the second half. India Chaney, who tied for the team-high 13 points, led the Rebels during the rally.

“I just like to play at home,” Chaney said. “I think we are more confident playing in front of our home crowd.”

But the Rebels also got into foul trouble. UNLV fouled the Aztecs 10 times in the final 10 minutes which allowed SDSU to score eight points on at the charity stripe.

UNLV now must prepare for the Brigham Young, their first round opponents in the first in the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. 

The Cougars swept UNLV this season, but UNLV kept the games close, losing by five points in the Cox Pavilion and by one in Provo, Utah.

“We need to stop the post players down low if we want to be able to win this time,” Hampton said.